Looking at NU as a serious contender - chance me?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Northeastern University
1

Senior in high school
Desired major: Computer Science(or possibly Computer Science combined with another focus) in the College of Computer and Information Science

  • GPA: UW: 3.42(expected to hopefully go up to 4.5 by end of semester) W: 4.09(will also go up)
  • SAT: 1900(retaking in November)
  • Decile Rank(out of 608): 3
  • Gender: Male
  • Ethnicity: Hispanic
  • AP Classes: 13 over 4 years(AP Psych(5), AP Comp Sci(4), AP World(3), AP Lang(3))
  • Always took the most rigorous courses except for the IB program and also only normal chem, not AP chem
  • Have never taken any physics
  • I had almost all B's sophomore year which hurt my gpa a lot, but never any C's.
  • Clear positive trend in gpa/grades throughout highschool.
  • 2 community college classes: Intro to Databases(using MySQL) and Intro to Computer Science 1A. A in the database class, CS1A is currently in progress.
  • Teacher aid for AP Computer Science this year, getting a letter of rec from the teacher

Honors:

  • superintendent/principals honor role
  • National Hispanic Scholar award from College Board
  • AP Scholar

Extracurriculars/Activities:

  • Founder and President of Capo++ (a computer science club, capo is the abbreviation for my school, Grade 12)
  • Learning how to code/make things in my free time
  • 4 years of community service(grades 8-11) through Jewish synagogue - over 600 hours total through classroom helping in religious classes, board member and Communications VP of youth group, participated in a charity board(fundraising for charities and researching specific details of each one to ultimately decide on one charity to donate to), and “Teen Leadership” which involved community projects as well as group sessions on team building and leadership.
  • Community of Character Committee member, local committee dedicated to promoting character throughout the city. Help plan and/or organize community service events like Relay for Life, Walk Against Drugs, also led and participated in subcommittees to carry out responsibilities of the whole committee.(Grade 11-12)
  • Quizbowl member(10-12)

I really hope to get into NU because of the variety of programs offered in relation to Computer Science as well as the Co-op program(basically guaranteed internships!!!???).
Also, if I get into NU, they offer National Hispanic Scholars 30k a year and consideration for the honors college!

Thank you for chancing.

2

Also I’ve been invited to “NU Preview Day” with a $150 travel voucher. Although I’m not going(inconvienant + only $150 to fly cross country), I think that they view me as a good candidate.

3

How is a 4.5 an unweighted GPA?

I think you’re in, based on your rank and your awesome ECs. Your GPA is low, but a positive trend definitely helps! Good luck!

4

@dessie411

thanks! Yeah, my GPA is a little low as well as my SAT, but I feel that if I can bring them up a little I could be seen as much more competitive.

5

The fact that they’re showing such interest is a great sign! I got into the NU.in program as a freshman with a 3.3 UW and a 2040; they didn’t offer any of that to me, so I’d say you’re in!

6

@dessie
wow that’s awesome! How do you like it there? I’m very excited about the co-op programs.

7

It’s the best school ever, in my opinion. There’s always something to do and there’s always a challenge. Co-ops are such an amazing opportunity.

8

@jfleit18 How are you going to bring your cumulative UW GPA from 3.42 to 4.5 in one semester? I think that is mathematically impossible, unless I am missing something.

9

@suzyQ7 I’m figuring it’ll get close?

10

Doubt it, but your stats are great, so I’d say you will be accepted. It would be great if you could attend that Preview Day, so you can decide if you really want to go there. Did they tell you how many students get invited for that?

11

I’m not sure how many students, but I saw a video from Instagram from last year’s preview day. It looked like about 100 people maybe? But that could include parents. Not exactly sure.

As much as I want to go to Preview Day, it’s kind of in the middle of a lot with school and all, and I plan on visiting all the colleges I’m applying to during Winter Break, so I’ll just visit and take a campus tour/info session then I guess(plus the voucher only covers $150, so we’d still have to pay for myself and my dad and hotels, and we live in California so 1 round trip ticket is about $380). I know it’s not the same, but I hope I can still see a lot.

12

In case the decile rank is unclear, a decile rank of “3” means I am in the top 30% of my class.

13

1900 SAT is not going to be an automatic. SAT or ACT is the key, everything else is just an extra.