I have 3.87 unweighted GPA and 4.11 weighted
My last ACT was 27, but definitely bringing that up to at least a 30
Member of French Club, Interact Club (volunteer club), my high school dance team, French Honor Society, Drama Club, Culinary Club, and possibly National Honor Society
I do volunteer work at the local humane society, was a bell ringer for the Salvation army this past Christmas, and do many other volunteer things with dance, adding up to 50 hours so far, and will have at least 25 more
I plan to have a job this summer.
I’ve received awards on dance team for “Best Attitude” and “Stepping It Up”.
Do you think I might get in? It’s like my dream school but I don’t think I’m good enough to get in… 
Please help. If there’s anything you think I could do to boost my chances let me know! 
Look up the common data set for Northwestern. It will tell you where you fit compared to students who’ve been admitted in the past. Your stats will probably need to be in the top 25% of accepted students to have a realistic chance.
For comparison’s sake, my son was admitted this spring. He is 2nd in his class, 35 ACT, 1530 SAT (math & reading). We were slightly surprised that he got in.
His GPAs were pretty similar to yours, only took a couple of APs, and is attending what I would consider an average public school in the midwest.
Your ACT should definitely be higher to have a better shot. You should consider applying Early Decision for the best chance.
Northwestern accepted 4,187 applicants from a pool of 32,124 for the class of 2019. The acceptance rate was 13%.
Ten years ago Northwestern’s acceptance rate was 31%.
In addition to applying to Northwestern, be sure to find and visit some schools that are less selective. It’s always good to have a reliable backup plan.
ED helps alot much for Northwestern. Even with a 30, Northwestern is a huge reach. It is very, very selective.
I got in ED this year and I can say it dramatically helps. Your grades look good enough, though I don’t know how many AP/Honors course you’re taking so I can’t say for sure. Try to get straight As for the end of Junior year and maximize an upward trend in grades as much as possible. Your ECs are okay. You really need to get your ACT up to at least 30-32, or 33 or higher if you can. I know a low ACT can be brutal for admission (but WAYYY more for RD than ED-- a ED a 30 is okay for RD your odds just dropped really low unless your super rich and have donated a building or are poor). Luckily improving it’s not impossible (I myself jumped from like a 28-30 from my first few practice tests to a 34). The later you take the ACT, the better I find you generally do on it just from more knowledge from the school year (I’m fairly sure my AP english class last year was the single reason I I gained like 5 points each in the English and reading sections; same with science and math). Also for NU the school you apply to affects your odds. Weinberg and SESP for example are easier to get into than McCormick for engineering. Also essays are important for NU so spend LOTS of time to make them stand out. Good luck you can do it!
This might sound like a dumb question, but what is ED? And as for Honors classes, freshman year I took honors english, sophomore year I took Honors english and Honors Chem 1, this year I’m taking Honors French 3, Honors Psych, Honors Physics, Honors American Lit, and next year I’m taking all honors and 1 or 2 AP, not sure yet. I’m kind of mad at myself because I could be easily taking honors math because I have had an A+ in trig and pre-calc this year… but oh well. And you think my ECs are okay? I didn’t know if I had enough, but unfortunately the dance season is 10 months and we aren’t allowed to do any clubs that take up too much time
@jennacv97 ED is Early Decision. It’s where you apply to a school at an earlier deadline. ED would also mean you’d be required to attend if accepted, but the reason people are saying you should apply ED is because usually universities accept higher percentages of students applying ED.
Okay your definitely taking challenging classes, even more than my initial impression so on that end your set up fairly well for admission ED. For ECs quality is more important than quality; I’d say one or two main clubs (like dance) with a few smaller things (particularly some volunteering like Interact or NHS) your into or some variation of that is good enough. Based on what classes your taking I’m guessing you would apply to Weinberg (the fine arts college)? I’d say if you feel NU is really your top choice by the time college application season comes around, you should ED if you really want to get in because otherwise it’s really challenging and no guarantees are likely in the regular decision (RD) round. The only reason you wouldn’t ED maybe if it was your top choice is financial Aid, but honestly NU has amazing packages and likes to assure its students graduate with limited debt so unless your considering shopping for a free ride on a scholarship somewhere there’s little disadvantages to applying ED (unless it’s not your top choice because it’s binding).