<p>Apps this year doubled from five years ago:</p>
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EVANSTON, Ill. --- Northwestern Universitys early decision applications for undergraduate admission have reached an all-time high and are now more than double than those received in 2007, only five years earlier.</p>
<p>Early decision applications at Northwestern are up for the eighth consecutive year, with the number for the Class of 2017 so far totaling 2,625 and representing a 7 percent increase from last year.
<p>I’m just really happy to be applying now and not in 5 years…although it will still leave a bitter aftertaste for quite some time if I don’t get in.</p>
<p>A recent trend has been the steady increase in the number of international students applying to the universities in the US. While it obviously increases the profile of schools such as NU, it cuts into the admission rates for the local (US) students overall.</p>
<p>I think a rise in the number of international students is a great thing. These universities need to prepare for a more globally interconnected world.</p>
<p>I am strongly in favor of having at least 50% of the freshman class admitted via Early Decision. 60% would be even better. It’s just right for a school to give priority to students who consider the college their first choice. Students deserving of financial aid will get a generous financial aid package whether they get in ED or RD. </p>
<p>I noticed Northwestern is especially lenient with Chicago Public Schools and inner-city students who apply ED (who are in the top 5% of their class but might have 29-31 on the ACT, and strong but not spectacular extracurriculars) in the interest of trying to maintain its relationship with the city of Chicago. Suburban kids/private school kids with those stats normally wouldn’t cut it even in the ED round.</p>
<p>@wildcatalum: Some of the best students who could really shine at Northwestern and do the best at NU are going to apply in the RD round because they don’t want to reduce their chances of getting into other schools by applying ED. Many students don’t know if a certain college is their first choice that far in advance and those that love Northwestern the most and will help the school reach its greatest potential are largely going to come from the RD round. A 50-60% rate is way too high for the ED round considering highly qualified applicants that are going for the top schools, i.e. Ivies, but also really like Northwestern are most likely going to end up applying RD.</p>
<p>"… they don’t want to reduce their chances of getting into other schools by applying ED."</p>
<p>What’s the connection? If accepted to NU ED they don’t care and won’t apply to other schools RD, and if not, the other schools won’t know or care.</p>
<p>If they apply to ED in November and get accepted in December, they can’t apply in January. In other words, whatever chances they had will reduce to 0. </p>
<p>Well, I expected as much that it would increase. But, 2600, not too… bad I’d say.</p>
<p>aangel, admitting those who ARE aware that NU is their first choice benefits both NU and the students by guaranteeing a student body who is passionately excited about attending Northwestern.</p>
<p>I’m a bit nervous about whether my d should apply to Northwestern for journalism. She’s got a wealth of experience; however, the student reviews, both positive and negative, trouble me. My d has extreme allergies to mold (to the point where she nearly had to have surgery for sinusitis and had to switch schools), and I read the dorms were run down and smelled and there was mold found. Additionally, the journalism students only had a choice of going to Qatar or Africa for residencies. She’s not interested in either, but Medill has a good rep. We are more than sure that we will take them out of the running, not only for the above, but because I just can’t afford the plane fare back and forth and additional 1 hour drive from Chicago to Evanston. </p>
<p>Can someone shed a positive light on whether we should keep them on the list? We are considering east coast schools currently with one CA exception - USC (and we have family and friends out there). </p>
<p>The distance between downtown Chicago and Evanston is 12 miles; usually it doesn’t take an hour unless the traffic is really bad. Evanston is the first suburb north of Chicago, so technically, if you are at the border, it takes one step to go from one to another.</p>
<p>the person who is considering USC to stay away from mold, has never done research on Southern California beach cities and Black Mold, which is everywhere. The only way to get away from that is to move to a desert city, like Las Vegas.</p>
If Northwestern accepts 50% of ED applicants (thats 1300/2600), the RD rate will be lower because there would only be 700 more spaces left out of 30,000+ who will apply RD. </p>
<p>To have 50% of the freshman class admitted via ED (1000 out of 2000 total slots available), the ED acceptance rate will be 38% (1000/2600). This means in the RD round, there will only be 1000 more spaces left that 30,000+ RD applicants will compete for.</p>
<p>Of course, you should also take into consideration the yield, which will be about 45% this year. Though the freshman class has 2000 spaces, many more will be admitted to account for yield. The exact number is unknown and will depend on the number of ED students admitted (for which yield is ~100%).</p>
<p>If Northwestern admits 800 via ED like last year (making for a 31% ED acceptance rate, 800/2600), it will need to admit 1200*3=3600 in the RD round (RD has ~30% yield). Total accepted is 800 ED + 3600 RD= 4400. Based on 32000 applications, the overall (ED and RD combined) acceptance rate will be a little under 14%.</p>
<p>If Northwestern admits 1300 via ED (making for a 50% ED acceptance rate, 1300/2600), it will need to admit 700*3=2100 in the RD round (RD has ~30% yield). Total accepted is 1300 ED + 2100 RD= 3400. Based on 32000 applications, the overall (ED and RD combined) acceptance rate will be 10.6%. </p>
<p>Honestly, Northwestern could admit 50% of ED applicants if it wanted to, but it probably won’t.</p>