<p>I am pretty surprised as to how people on CC completley underestimate the difficulty of getting into NU. I saw some chance boards where ppl listed Wesleyan, Emory, and Carleton as reaches and listed NU as "possibe" or "probable." I thought NU was really difficult to get into.</p>
<p>trust me---it IS very hard to get into! CC is a sounding board, and sometimes people don't want to hurt someone's feelings-or dash their hopes. My sense is many people of the HYP caliber also applied to NU-and chose NU for a variety of reason-not the least academia.</p>
<p>I definitely consider NU very difficult to get into, just slightly below the most of the Ivy League (I would say it is more prestigious/wonderful/hard to get into than Cornell).</p>
<p>The schools you listed all have lower test scores; these basic stats are readily available on the web but unfortunately some people are too lazy to look them up while having no problem with posting their opinion. I never understand their rationale. Anyway, you probably know more than they do so I wouldn't worry about it if I were you.</p>
<p>I think people underestimate how difficult it is to make NU due to the information sessions. I attended one in NJ and the admissions officer kept stressing that GPA and SAT were important but not overly so. They were looking for the whole person - and they gave stats that appeared to be lower than what I expected. I walked away thinking my s would deflinitely get in - now I think that the admissions officer did not give an accurate picture of admissions. I guess we will know on April 1 for sure!</p>
<p>Collegebound/NewJerseyMom,</p>
<p>What I'd tell (and have told) anyone applying to Northwestern is that "what you see is what you get." The school is probably the most transparent of any elite in releasing data regarding admissions. With regard to standardized test scores, they provide medians AND means. They provide data for both admitted (i.e. accepted) AND enrolling students. They provide data for both early AND regular decision acceptances. There are still schools out that won't even publish a Common Data Set. </p>
<p>In general, a holistic look and ECs become most important for applicants to the sub-specialized schools (Medill, Music, Education, Communications). Grades and standardized test scores will still reign supreme for Arts and Science and Engineering. The surge in applications to Northwestern these last few years has certainly increased the uncertainty of application outcomes. Best of luck to you both.</p>
<p>bala, where do they provide data for enrolled students for class of 2011?</p>
<p>For the average SAT scores:
2011</a> leads NU's classes - Campus</p>
<p>For the median scores (WCAS):
Announcements</a>, Office of the Provost, Northwestern University</p>
<p>For ED admit rate last year:
Common</a> Form Attracts More Early Decision Applicants - Campus</p>
<p>For the CDS:
2006-07</a> First-time, first-year (freshman) admission, Common Data Set - Northwestern University</p>