Hey everyone, was hoping to get some feedback on my chances on transferring to Northwestern University (and also your guys too!).
I’m a sophomore at the University of Wisconsin-Madison at I’m studying Political Science with minors in Entrepreneurship and Criminal Justice. The reason im trying to transfer is that I’m looking for a more comprehensive political curriculum and i hope to attend a university with a community that focuses on building leaders and offers internships/jobs/research opportunities in a larger city…lastly at a public ivy league school i think i can compete at northwestern, despite my lackluster performance on the ACT. THANKS!!
HS: 3.8
ACT: 25 (yeah, I wasnt that great in high school)
SAT Subject US History: 700
AP: US and Comparative Gov
College: 3.6 (4.0 last semester)
Activities:
Student Government:
-Served as the student body secretary as a freshman
-Served on the finance committee (in charge of $45M in funds for orgs, transportation, rec sports, student unions, health services, etc.) as a freshman and sophomore
-Served on the transportation board and renegotiated a $20M/5year bus contract for 45k students
-Served on the misconduct panel and decided on cases of academic dishonesty and cheating
-served as the head of phone banking for 3 semesters
-elected for two terms
Politics:
-field intern for gov quinn of IL
-finance intern for the democratic party of wisconsin
-currently running for the finance director of the college democrats of wisconsin
Work:
-Admistrative assistant at a home health company for one summer
UWM is a good school, and sometimes known as the public Ivy League school, but I slightly doubt it’s on the same radar as Northwestern, given the resources, student body, etc. The most evident is that UWM is raked way lower than NU in many US college rankings (just as an argument, not to say rankings are important).
That said, I still believe that outstanding students do stand chances to be transferred into NU if they have good results. I hope you understand that ACT scores will be taken into account, and when your score is way below the 25th percentile of NU, you have to shine in a lot more places. I see a good but not stellar GPA, limited AP placements, good extra curricular activities, but nothing special in that, if I were an AO, I would look past your ACT score and see where you shine in these aspects.
I would argue that if you have a 3.8+ GPA, 30+ ACT and shinning ECs, you might be able to transfer, but from the stats you’ve posted, the odds might be slightly against you. Good luck though, show some interest and tell NU why they’re special and why you fit it!
@AndreH34 it looks like you have a decent shot, except for your ACT. Your grades while could be a little higher, seem overall fine. There’s a lot of competition to transfer I would imagine though, so I would agree the odds are slightly against you unless you can supplement your profile a little more.
@murpadh great midterm grades are always really important, as an upward trend can have a great impact on your decision, but everything is evaluated holistically so your base stats for your application can’t be horrible. With more info (grades, test scores, ECs) I can’t really say how much midterms will affect your chances (positively or negatively).
@muradh I would say it kind of depends. If your a A/A+ student at a school-- no matter where you go-- that’s always a huge plus even if it is a lower ranked school (with the lower you go, the worst your grades are valued). If your more in the B+/A- range at a school closer to Northwestern’s vigor, your not exactly super appealing off the bat compared to some other candidates, but with well rounded stats and activities you could still be better off than that student at the lower college. Again to what degree your better off? It kind of depends. If your grades or more of a B average or lower, I would say you chances start to slip a lot unless you currently attend a university with very similar standards to NU, and have a really attractive resume (high ACT/SAT, diverse or highly specialized extracurriculars, awards for cool stuff you’ve done, a rare talent or skill, a strong supplement essay that stands out from the crowd, etc). Nothing’s a sure thing though no matter what stats you have so it’s really hard to say. Good luck!
