Is it even worth applying ED to Northwestern?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Northwestern University
1

***Please be completely/brutally honest with me. I won’t be hurt or discouraged if you tell me that I don’t have a decent shot at getting in ED. This will really help me in finally making a concrete decision

I’m having a lot of trouble choosing between Emory or Northwestern for Early Decision. I visited and loved both this summer.
The dilemma here is that since my stats are so wishy-washy, I feel like if I apply to Northwestern ED and don’t get in, I won’t get into Emory RD either and I will regret not applying to Emory ED… Vice Versa, if I get into Emory ED I might be a bit annoyed that I never got to apply to Northwestern.

Stats
UW GPA- 3.68 - I know it’s crap - Did horrible freshman year but did quite excellently sophomore and junior year. ( Moved from Top 33% - > Top 10.9% )
W GPA- 4.6250
ACT- 32 composite ( 32 E, 35 M , 33 R, 29 S ) ( Going to Retake - Going for a 34 )
SAT - 2140 ( probably won’t send )
SAT Subject Tests - 690 Math II and US History ( DEFINITELY need to retake Math II - Going for at least 750. 690 in History might be aight tho )
Ethnicity: Korean ( This makes me especially nervous )
AP Scores :
US history - 5
English Language - 5
Psychology - 4
World History - 3

Senior Schedule: Will be taking 7 AP’s Senior Year, will graduate taking 13 total.

State: Texas. Go to quite a good/competitive school.

Ranked 88/806 ( 10.9% UGH SO CLOSE )

Extracurricular:
Debate Captain ( LD )
President and Founding Member of Philosophical Inquiry Club
Founding Member and Leader of a Church-Based Organization ( Distributes Flowers and Cards to Elderly Homes )
Head Activities Director for Church
Tech Solutions Club ( Nerd Herd )

No Major/National Awards

Community Service: ( About 120 hrs )
Volunteered at Special Education Facility
Service Trip to Fix Poverty-Ridden Homes and Communities in West Memphis
Homeless Ministry

Essays: Expect them to be good, I’m hoping my Why NU supplement isn’t too generic.

Recs: Might be a slight weakness… I’ll probably get good ones albeit a bit generic and nothing amazingly stellar.

Prospective Major: Philosophy or Cognitive Science with a Critical Theory Minor

***Please be completely/brutally honest with me. I won’t be hurt or discouraged if you tell me that I don’t have a decent shot at getting in ED. This will really help me in finally making a concrete decision

2

Tough call.
If 3.8 GPA and 34 ACT, I’d say you have a good shot, but with those stats, I would not be surprised by a rejection.

Some kids with your stats get in NU ED, but I’d say more are rejected.

3

It all depends how admissions takes your GPA and weight your upward trend. You have great stats that would get you in otherwise ED. Usually I would say any UW GPA below a 3.7 isn’t competitive but if your UW GPA Sophomore/Junior year is 3.8 or higher you might be able to get in if you apply at your absolute best. With good essays, the 34 ACT if you can get it (though 32’s fine), maybe a paragraph in the additional comments section on how hard you’ve worked since freshman year, you could maybe do it.

One thing to consider is that you probably stand absolutely no chance RD so if NU is your top choice ED is your only shot. Also there is a chance they could defer your ED which can be almost worse than being rejected because NU hardly takes any kids deferred because the RD applicant pool is so much more selective. If you’re also strongly considering Emory as another top choice, you need to evaluate how much you’re willing to risk for your top choice and what you’re willing to accept as a backup plan if one or two of your top choices don’t work in your favor because of your ED round decision. Both schools are great but its up to you to evaluate what personally would be best for you-- there’s no wrong answer!

Also another side note if you’re frustrated about SAT subject tests and you can’t get the scores you want it doesn’t matter if you don’t send them. However if you do well its another good factor to brag in your favor! Same with AP scores (though all your scores except World History would get you college credit at NU so if you’re concerned that they’re not all 5s don’t worry). Good luck!

4

It’s going to be tough. My D applied RD with similar stats (and with both parents as alums) and got rejected.

5

Emory has ed 2

6

@Heisenbergyk
Erm… Yeah, I don’t really have a perfect upward trend…

Freshman Year - 3.012
Sophomore Year - 3.875
Junior - 3.75 ( Took 4 AP’s and Physics screwed me over lol )
UW GPA without Freshman Year - 3.8

Haha I wish I could switch my sophomore and junior years. Or just get rid of freshman year and have a 3.8 uw lol…

Mmmm… It’s not looking good for me haha

@educateddarcy
While calculating the acceptance rates for each cycle, ED II for Emory seems to have a lower acceptance rate than RD and it oddly actually seems more difficult than RD.