Do i have a shot?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Northwestern University
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<p>White male. Tennessee private catholic school. top 10% of class. UWGPA 3.85 WGPA 4.15. ACT: Composite 31, math 30, English 32, reading 31, science 31. Almost completely straight A's with only 3 B's or so. AP's include AP Chemistry (5 on exam), AP Biology(not taken yet), and AP US History(4 on exam). Dual Enrollment English, and pre calc. All other classes are honors.</p>

<p>Varsity Crew rower.(3 years)
Symphony member, (Have been a cellist for 9 years).
Eagle Scout - I heard colleges look very favorably at this?
In the national honor society, as well as Mu Alpha Theta- the math honor society.
100+ hours of community service.
Member of student government (Committee Chairman)
Member of student enhancement committee- a fund raising committee.
Was just elected "senior captain". We operate on a 4 house system, with students from each grade broken into them. I am in charge of mine. So essentially 1 of 4 co-presidents of the entire school.
received American citizenship award- for students with exceptional leadership and academics.
received school awards for Honors physics, spanish, and honors english as well.</p>

<p>Can get great letters of recommendation from science teachers.</p>

<p>I also spent 5 weeks at the Tennessee Governor's School for Humanities- was very competitive for admissions. Spent 5 weeks at a university of tennessee campus taking college courses, completely paid for by the state. I got A's in both my classes. The chancellor of the university is going to use my 2 professor's ratings of me to write me a really good letter of recommendation.</p>

<p>I also attended the American Legion's Boys State school for a free 1 week camp this summer. It focused on leadership, citizenship, and the government. It's the number one boys state program in the nation.</p>

<p>work experience as a Host at famous Daves Barbecue for a year.</p>

<p>Interested in Chemical Engineering.
I am also considering army ROTC. Would this influence my admissions chances?</p>

<p>I understand it's a reach and I know that if I bump up my ACT to a 33, etc. i will have a better shot, but my question is what are my chances right now with these stats? high match, low reach, far reach? what? 50/50 shot? 20% shot?</p>

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<p>Your ACT is a bit below average, but still in the range. Your unweighted GPA looks ok. The only thing that stands out is that the gap between unweighted GPA and weighted GPA looks a bit tight. You say that you took all honors or AP, so I’ll assume this is just how weighted GPAs run in your school How is your class rank?</p>

<p>ECs look good.</p>

<p>Overall, if you like the school, you should apply. If you write a good essay and get good recs, you definately have a shot. Given NU’s low overall acceptance rate, I don’t think anyone here can give percentages, but if your school Naviance, you should get a read from there.</p>

<p>As to bumping the ACT – more is better.</p>

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<p>you got a shot- that’s all i’m gonna say</p>

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<p>Yeah weighted GPA’s do not run very high at my school. I’ve only gotten 4 B’s all of high school. class rank I’m in top 10%. I understand how everyone says the ACT needs bumping, but I mean, the average is a 32. 1 point below average does not seem like much of a difference. I am going to get terrific letters of rec. and I can write some pretty solid essays. so hopefully! thanks</p>

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<p>Yes, you certainly have a chance.
Good luck!</p>

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<p>OP – that’s why everyone says you have a shot!!! but you knew that before you posted, right???</p>

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<p>Yeah, I’m going to try to get to a 32 or 33 on the act. but I’m worried i can’t. And i mean a 31 is only 1 point below their average, but on CC its as if anything below a 33 is garbage haha. This is the first group that didn’t say, well if you don’t get at least a 33 you will never get accepted, even though the average is only a 32… But hey, i’ll cross my fingers. Does applying early give me any sort of advantage? easier to get accepted early?</p>

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<p>cjrrower said: And i mean a 31 is only 1 point below their average, but on CC its as if anything below a 33 is garbage haha.</p>

<p>rower – my truly best advice – with your numbers, if there’s a school you want to apply to, apply. Even if your ACT is low, it costs you $70 and a few hours of time to fill out the supplement. If your list overall is realistic, give it a shot.</p>

<p>I’d say you’re a ‘match’ for NU (which isn’t the same thing as saying you’ll get in). Beyond that, it’s all in the hands of the admissions committees.</p>

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<p>I would say Northwestern is a reach for you. While the average ACT score from last year was a 32, my guess is that it probably went up this year. Also, a lot of the lower 50% of accepted students’ ACT scores are likely from students who are underrepresented either racially or socioeconomically. Plus, NU’s acceptance rate is steadily decreasing, with a 5% decrease this year alone. It’s a reach, but you should go for it. After all, the only way to get into a school is to apply.</p>

<p>Also, if you’re sure that you want to go to Northwestern, you should apply early. It doesn’t necessarily make it “easier” to get in, but Northwestern wants to keep their yield high, and accepting ED students at a higher admissions rate than RD makes that possible.</p>

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<p>Looks like you have a good chance. Just make sure your essays are as strong as possible. Good luck!</p>

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<p>Last year my son was a 3.80, 33 ACT, 8 APs, strong essay writer, v. good EC’s and was turned down ED. He did get into U of Michigan EA. Not saying you won’t get in but may be a reach. Better luck with higher ACT. Best of luck.</p>

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<p>Thanks, party on wayne.</p>

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<p>A 31 is at the 25th percentile, and since the acceptance rate this past year was 18%, I’d say you have anywhere in a 5-15% chance, depending how good your essay is.</p>

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<p>Might as well go for it though!</p>

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<p>mathmaniac:</p>

<p>I’m not sure how anyone can give a percentage, as NU does not release statistics that correlates scores and acceptance percentages. I’m not saying you’re wrong, just that I don’t think that we have the tools to do this.</p>

<p>(Not meant as a flame, just an observation).</p>

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<p>I see what you’re saying, but my main point was that he’d probably have less than an 18% chance given what his stats are. I’m not an admissions person, so I know I’m probably not qualified. This is just what I figured from personal experience.</p>

<p>I know it’s not meant as a flame, so hopefully you don’t take what I say as a flame either.</p>

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<p>So, neither of us are flaming ^5.</p>

<p>I see where you’re coming from. I think the 18% number is a little misleading as I’m sure there a certain number of applications that have fundamentally a zero percent chance of getting in (which raises the percentages for everyone else). Also, OP’s other stats are above average, which may offset a relatively low ACT and increase his shot.</p>

<p>But as neither of us knows for sure, it’s just guesses.</p>

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<p>So, bottom line for the OP: Apply. You’ll either be accepted, waitlisted, or rejected. There’s honestly no way to predict the outcome.</p>