<p>^Based on what arbiter said, he does seem to have that as one of his goals. But I also believe he wants to achieve it the right way, without compromising his values or other goals (such as making the school socio-economically more accessible and diverse) or diverting too many resources for other priorities. Regardless, changing ED rate would not be his way of achieving it (see posts #34/39).</p>
<p>Then I believe it! He is a hell of a speaker. I heard him for the first time at freshman parent orientation, and he is smart, personable and funny - a great combination for a University President. Perhaps someone here can send him an email and ask him? I nominate you Sam!</p>
<p>WildCatAlum, I like math, and I would never have taken the time to do that 
Thanks for the breakdown, it was really interesting. Only point I’d like to make is that I’d guess that yield for ED is more like 95% as I’d guess that at least 5% end up not being able to pay, but that’s pure speculation.</p>
<p>And, just to point something out, increasing the ED acceptance rate by 15% or so (To 50%) might encourage more people to apply to NU ED rather than RD, when maybe they aren’t actually sure, which could cause more people to transfer out. Just a thought</p>
<p>Northwestern is definitely not aggressive enough when it comes to identifying prospects. I remember in HS, I got just one postcard when schools like UChicago mailed booklets, brochures and places like Swarthmore gave out mini CDs. Northwestern now goes on tour around the world with Harvard, Princeton, Duke, Vanderbilt, and Dartmouth though.</p>
<p>That is so true, wildcatalum. In the east coast, NU is not agressive enough compared to other top tier schools.</p>
<p>Daughter’s a senior and we still have to correct people - NorthWestern not NorthEastern! Who cares, those who need to know, know.</p>
<p>Wildcatalum, that’s so completely true it’s not even funny. I would barely even know about it (Other than the little my dad mentioned, since my grandparents went there) if it weren’t for me happening upon them being highly ranked. (I talked about that in my Why NU essay in fact. It was kind of a thing my dad mentioned every once and a while, but I didn’t think it was that good. By luck I saw it mentioned just browsing around USNWR, which I don’t even look at that often). They seem to get enough applications though, anyway :-D</p>
<p>AMTC, do you live near Northeastern, because I had never heard of it until I mistyped Northwestern once, and I’m sure no one around here (SC) has heard of it, especially since most haven’t even heard of NU.</p>
<p>We live in NY so Northeastern is very well known here.</p>
<p>Ah, that makes much more sense. I had never heard of it until recently, but since you’re much closer to Boston than we are it makes sense that you’ve heard of it. I’m sure you probably haven’t heard of Presbyterian, Anderson, North Greenville, or some of the other schools around where I am, haha.</p>
<p>If Northwestern were to mail something to prospies, what item do you think would be good and useful? Something tasteful but gets the message across and stays true to Northwestern’s fun-spirited nature?</p>
<p>Northwestern was actually very good with mailings for me (I’m from NY) - they mailed a large book (kind of like the one they give out on tours) about the whole school, a small booklet about things to do in Evanston and Chicago, and recently, another large book completely dedicated to their SoC (even though I applied to WCAS). </p>
<p>That being said, a lot of these recruitment letters and books came VERY late compared to UChicago, Yale, and Harvard. I would say they need to send out the same info, just EARLIER. </p>
<p>If it makes any difference, though, this year the NU info session at my high school was PACKED. And we have like 6 ED NU this year, more than any other year (wish me luck!).</p>
<p>To give everyone an idea of where Northwestern stands in their mailings:</p>
<p>Actual Mail</p>
<p>Princeton - 2 mailings, one about financial aid, one flip book with about 30 pages, lots of pictures, little info
UChicago - 3 different mailings, one came with a poster, another with a 25 page book, and one with just a letter.
Northwestern - 2 mailings, one about financial aid, another with a 56 page book chock full of info and pictures
Stanford - 1 mailing, a 71 page book loaded with information and pictures for days
Columbia (requested)- 1 mailing with two books totaling 168 pages</p>
<p>Emails (all from student selection service through college board, didn’t ask to be put on any mailing lists)</p>
<p>UChicago - 58
Columbia - 38
Dartmouth - 10
UPenn - 10
Johns Hopkins - 7
Vanderbilt - 5
Northwestern - 5
Princeton - 4
Stanford - 2</p>
<p>It appears Northwestern is right up with similar tier schools in terms of actual mailings (which every student prefers), but falls short in emails. I almost considered applying to UChicago simply because of how interested they seemed in me. Also, UChicago had the most interesting emails, while Northwestern’s just had general info.</p>
<p>I always like the interesting mailings. When I was first getting college stuff originally (Back in like sophomore or junior year) I got one that was the periodic table of things about that school.</p>
<p>Something that I always thought would be interesting is to mail a copy of the Newspaper or News Magazine from a school (Like sending the Daily, or N by NW)</p>
<p>Where NU really falls short is in outreach to elite HS’s. I remember they had a program where students could volunteer to bring info to their HS over thanksgiving break. I went to volunteer, and when I went to pick up the packet, they wanted to check if they already recruited/were in contact with the counseling department at my school, since they “heavily recruit” my county. I figured they must when I heard that, but was floored when they said they did not have a contact at my HS (top 50 nationally, probably #3 in my county). Their outreach efforts in the northeast, at least back in 2007, were abysmal.</p>
<p>I just don’t think that Northwestern’s stuff is interesting enough, to be honest. For being such a quirky school (Theater, News, all that) the stuff was really boring. They should include something more interesting than just a gigantic book. The best outreach I got was a call from a student (I think) but I was having dinner, so I couldn’t talk long.</p>
<p>Northwestern has it ALL. </p>
<p>Beautiful campus.
On Lake Michigan.
Safe suburban location.
Just outside a major metropolitan area.</p>
<p>Highly ranked and respected in the region, USA, and world on every chart out there.</p>
<p>$80m coming into its endowment yearly from past discoveries.</p>
<p>Athletics, Arts, Academics at the highest levels. </p>
<p>The Midwest. (The Northeast and West Coast are so overrated).</p>
<p>Engineering, Med School, Law School, Journalism, Theatre and arts, and strong liberal arts and much more. </p>
<p>What is not to love about this school?</p>
<p>And of course, the student body. Smart, intelligent…yet laid back, and not as cut throat as in most other top tier schools. Go Cats!</p>
<p>Hey, NUDad, I don’t know if you’ve said this before, but are you just a father of someone who went to NU, or did you go to NU too?</p>
<p>Just a “doting” father whose S is a sophomore at NU Engg :-)</p>
<p>Me too! - Have a son that is a Soph in Engineering, that got in last year ED - although actually a Frosh with Soph ranking because of APs. I also have a D that graduated recently from Engineering.</p>
<p>Good luck to everyone</p>