I have one day.

Paying for College Access Programs (Questbridge, Posse)
1

<p>I ranked seven colleges for Match like Dartmouth, Stanford, and Northwestern University. NU gives finalists who applied for Match with them the opportunity to apply ED by December 2. In the Match, I was rejected by all seven, but here's the rub: I'm not sure if I was rejected because of my "quality" or finances (my EFC is $1000-$4000, but I'm under $60,000 and a QB finalist). If I would have a chance for universities like Dartmouth, Stanford, or Brown in RD (in other words, if I was rejected because of finances), I'd rather not ED to Northwestern. However, if I was rejected because of "quality," I need to take this ED opportunity. What should I do?</p>

<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown): 2290 (750 R, 740 M, 800 W)
[</em>] ACT: 35
[<em>] SAT II: 770, 740, 760 (Bio-M, Lit, History)
[</em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
[<em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 3/375
[</em>] AP (place score in parenthesis): Cal BC (self-study) (5), US History (5), Eng. Language (3), Bio (5), Stats (5), Macro (self-study) (5), Env. Sci. (self-study) (5), Psych (self-study) (5), Human Geo. (4) all junior year.
[<em>] Senior Year Course Load: Most rigorous possible, courses at my local university and lots of self-studying.
[/ul]
Subjective:[ul]
[</em>] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Interact service club (president), Community Emergency Response Team (founding member), martial arts (many hours), theatre (lead roles, stage manager), Key Club (vice-president)
[<em>] Job/Work Experience: none.
[</em>] Volunteer/Community service: Interact service club, key club, city work (lots of hours overall)
[<em>] Summer Activities: stage managed children's theatre production
[</em>] Essays: heard they were great, who knows?
[<em>] Teacher Recommendation: seemed to be just fine
[</em>] Counselor Rec: I saw this one, all perfect scores.
[/ul]
Other[ul]
[<em>] State (if domestic applicant): TX
[</em>] School Type: rural public
[<em>] Ethnicity: White
[</em>] Gender: M
[<em>] Income Bracket: <$60,000
[</em>] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): nope!
[/ul]</p>

<p>Should I apply ED to Northwestern or do I have a strong enough shot at the Ivies/Stanford?</p>

2

<p>Hardcoure, do NOT do ED II or whatever it is to NW if that is not where you want to go, I can assure you that you will have nice acceptances come RD</p>

3

<p>I agree strongly with GA2012MOM</p>

4

<p>I do want to attend Northwestern. And if they didn’t reject me in Match because of finances, my chances are extremely slim at those schools I’d rather attend.
And this might be my only chance to get into one of my top choices…</p>

5

<p>Just for fun: </p>

<h1>SAT I (breakdown): 2290 (760 R, 740 M, 800 W)</h1>

<h1>ACT: 35</h1>

<h1>SAT II: 770, 740, 760 (Bio-M, Lit, History)</h1>

<h1>Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0</h1>

<p>They did not reject you because of academics. :)</p>

6

<p>Haha… maybe it was finances? Thanks… :)</p>

7

<p>The match heavily favors first-generation applicants and URMs, while the RD boost is significant, but far lower. You’re a great applicant, the match just uses different criteria.</p>

8

<p>just don’t apply ED. it seems like you’d almost regret getting into northwestern ED for the missed chances of applying to other schools. i say just be patient and wait for RD. you still have a fresh chance at admission into the partner schools, and i think based on your resume, that you have a great chance at getting accepted to at least one of your school of choice… hopefully. good luck!</p>

9

<p>Hey man, I got similar stats, 1/576, 4.0 GPA, 12 5’s on AP’s, 35 ACT, lots of EC’s and stuff, ranked the same schools you did. My income was a couple hundred bucks over $60k and no match. We’re in this together… I feel a bit depressed but hopefully we’ll be fine! Wish you the best of luck.</p>

10

<p>Don’t panic because you didn’t get matched and apply binding ED to someplace you don’t really want to go. Just think of the match as an extra swing at the ball. Just because you didn’t get matched, don’t assume that now you won’t get into a good fit RD.</p>

11

<p>Thanks for all the advice. I passed up the ED on Northwestern, but I emailed Brown Undergrad Admissions yesterday asking if I could ED there since they have already reviewed my application. They haven’t replied! Would they just ignore me as a form of saying no?</p>