Starting this thread! Is anyone planning to apply?
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I am!
what major are you considering and what are your reasons for transferring?
I am! Waitlisted last year, so hoping that bodes well. Going for Mechanical/Manufacturing engineering.
That sounds great! Would you be willing to share your stats ?
Sure!
HS
3.9 uw (4.0something weighted)
1520 SAT / 34 ACT
MUN president
Student council treasurer
Volunteer tutoring
Some research at a local hospital (not that interesting/major applicable)
Foreign exchange
Essays were pretty middle of the road, Recs were probably 8.5/10 (went to a very small school and knew teachers personally for 4 years)
Accepted at BU Honors, NEU, Case, and a few safeties
Waitlisted at Columbia, NU
Rejected at CMU
College (ended up attending a state safety for finance reasons)
4.0 (so far)
Engineers without borders (non competitive)
Engineering student council (competitive)
Honors student council vp (not that competitive)
2 research positions (1 competitive, 1 volunteer)
Robotics (probably going to drop soon)
Cycling
Volunteering teaching kids in middle school with disabilities STEM
Essays will hopefully be stronger this year, recs will probably be weaker.
Planning on just applying to Columbia and NU, as my current school is pretty good.
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Hello, everyone.
I’ll be applying for Fall 2021 transfer admission. I’ll be applying to Medill. I graduated from high school in 2014. I turned 25 last week.
I’m a community college student in New Jersey. I have two more classes before I graduate this spring. I’m a double major in Political Science and Journalism.
Here are my stats:
GPA: 3.52 with 87 credits
Honor societies: Psi Beta and Phi Theta Kappa
Test scores: 21 ACT (super score). Took in Feb. 2014.
Letter of recommendation: I have a great relationship with the Political Science/History chair at my CC. He taught in all my core classes for Political Science, which was a total of three classes. Told me he would write a “very supportive” letter of recommendation.
Now, I attended a 4-year university before going to a CC. In 2015, I attended a private university here in NJ. I can honestly say it was the worst decision of my life. I couldn’t afford it, but for some reason, I very much wanted to attend. I attended only for the Spring semester. I lived off-campus with a family friend family, 20-30 minutes away. I didn’t have a car, so there were many instances of transportation issues. I could go on and on as to why it didn’t work out for me and hence why I did badly in my classes here.
I’m not 100% what my GPA was at the end of the semester, but I’m sure it was below a 3.0. I’m currently paying them back to get access to the transcript before I send my application. This will hurt my chances, but it is what it is.
With that said, I believe I have an EC that will stand out, especially since I’m applying to Medill. For nearly four years now, I’ve been a freelancer for a blog. I’ve been covering the NBA at large. Before COVID, I would attend NBA games as a media member. I interviewed players, coaches, team staff, etc. I’ve covered between 70-80 NBA games. I’ve done an exclusive, one on one interview with two players from the same team. I’ve interviewed over 30 NBA players and have covered games in five different stadiums/cities.
I’ve also spoken to players’ agents and broke trade deals via Twitter.
Since August, I’ve done the same for the MLS. I’ve covered games and interviewed players over the phone, due to COVID, and written stories on them.
So yes, I think my chances are very slim. If anything, I believe I have a 20-30% of getting it.
I hope to see your stats and hear your stories throughout this process.
Those stats sound really good! I can’t imagine that many other applicants have the same depth of experience. If you can make your relationship to NU’s programs an extremely unique need, I’m sure you have a good shot. But it’s always a bit of a crapshoot. Good luck, I’ll hope to see you on campus next year!
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bro that’s sick! How did you get into sports media? Lifelong basketball fan so this is something I am very interested in and want to learn more about
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Thank you!
Long story short, a friend from high school reached out to me in 2017 about writing for the blog. At first, it started far fetched, too good to be true. But, one thing leads to another, and here I am.
It’s honestly one of the best things that have happened to me. I’m very happy and blessed with how things turned out.
I’m glad to hear that you’re a lifelong fan and are interested in it. Are you a current college student? If so, are you planning on applying for transfer admission to NU?
At first, it sounded far fetched, too good to be true.*
Hi all, I am also applying as a transfer student for the Fall 2021 Semester. I will include some information below to help you all out.
Current University: Arizona State University - Barrett Honors College
Current College GPA: 4.02 (Capped at 4)
Current Year: Freshmen (Transferring as a Sophomore)
Race: Hispanic
ACT: 31
Current Major: Political Science
HS GPA: Can’t remember but pretty poor, somewhere around average unweighted.
Hope this helps you all! Good luck everybody!
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Thanks for replying! Yea I’m a freshman at UCLA but I’d really like to head east and Northwestern is on my list. I’m a Bill Simmons/Zach Lowe fan and their stuff at Grantland was amazing and something I’d look into pursuing. Any tips for getting started?
Best of luck on your application!
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Absolutely.
UCLA is a great school. I wanted to go there when I was a junior in HS. I wish you the best of luck with your NU transfer application process.
That’s funny, I’m a Zach Lowe fan myself. I listen to his podcast often and yes, I loved Grantland with Bill Simmons via ESPN. I loved their content, interviews, etc. It’s a shame that ESPN discontinued them, but that happens in the business.
For sure. NU is the best school in the country IMO when it comes to sports journalism and a career in sports. Michael Wilbon, Mike Greenberg, and many other ESPN personalities and others graduated in Evanston. In terms of tips, I would say push out content in regards to writing stories, player profiles, etc. Get in touch with a blog and try to go from there. The best tip I can give is to be consistent. In this industry, there is a lot of competition. I’ve been doing this since late 2017 when I was 21. From then to now, there will be people in the industry who support you and there will be the ones who don’t. Working in sports, working for a reputable company, and receiving a good salary is a fantasy, hence why it’s difficult to make it. To simply put it, you have to outwork everyone with quality and consistent work.
If I’ve learned anything is that sometimes in life, you have to get lucky. On a personal note, I often felt like life “never threw me a bone.” I reached out to a blog on writing for them when it came to international NBA prospects a few years back (before I started covering the NBA). We exchanged a few e-mails, but nothing came out of it; they eventually stopped getting back to me. 5-6 months, my high school friend reached out to me and the rest is history. So yes, I can say I got lucky in regards to that. My Dad always told me as a teenager, “sometimes, it’s not what you know, but who you know.” And in this industry, that’s how it is sometimes. It can make or break you in terms of climbing up the ladder and making a good living.
Sometimes, people have told me, “you’re already doing it, so why do you still want to pursue a degree?” For me, that’s simple. NU was my dream school when I was a senior in HS. But, grades, scores, and others were mediocre at best. I want to be a part of this university. I want to make connections and receive a world-class education with world-class instructors. I had to fight my demons and other struggles to get to where I’m at now.
I apologize for the lengthy answer. I hope this helps! Please don’t hesitate to ask more questions.
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Hi guys! I am also applying as a transfer for fall 2021. I was waitlisted last year and currently attend a similarly-ranked institution that is also in the midwest! I just submitted my application yesterday, and had a few questions:
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Did you all receive an email after submitting the application to create a portal? I applied to NU last year for first-year admission and was immediately emailed regarding creating a portal. This year, I haven’t received anything yet!
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Does anyone know the latest date NU will release admissions by? Someone told me May, is that true?
Thank you and good luck everyone!
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According to their FAQ here Transferring to Northwestern: Undergraduate Admissions - Northwestern University all decisions will be released by May 15, unsure about the other question.
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Awesome, thank you so much!
Hi!
Would you be willing to share your stats for transfer/why you submitted so early? I am in a similar boat being waitlisted last year. Best of luck, and I’ll hope to see you on campus next year!
Yeah of course! My GPA is currently a 3.90 and I’m involved in a few clubs on campus and have 2 leadership positions (since I’m a first year and with COVID, it hasn’t been too easy joining clubs). I also have a campus job and am employed by a museum in Chicago! My HS GPA was a 3.98 I believe and my ACT is a 33. I think I got solid recs from my employer and a professor, and I was really happy with how my essays turned out! I applied pretty early since I knew I wanted to transfer around the middle of the semester so I spent a lot of my downtime in November/December grinding through the essays. I did a lot of research on NU over the summer when I was waitlisted so I didn’t have to do much this time around. And same to you, best of luck and I hope to see you on campus 
I’m applying this year as well. Good luck everyone!