Northwestern University / Washington University in St. Louis Chances

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hello. I’m a high school junior looking to see what my chances are at Northwestern and WUSTL. I know that these schools are super compeitive and that there are probably tons of applicants that look better then me, but I thought it would be good to know if it’s even worth my time visitng these schools and applying. So…here’s a little information about me.

As I said before, I’m a high school junior that goes to a college-prepratory school in a medium-sized city. My school is considered one of the best, if not the best, in the state in regards to academic rigor. We have 13 AP courses and numerous honors courses for those that wish to challenge themselves. Many of our graduates go on to highly ranked schools as well.

My GPA: 3.96/4.0 (raised up from a 3.63)
Class Rank: N/A (due to the competitivness and rigor, my school doesn’t publish class rank)
ACT Score: 30-32 (will recieve my scores later this week, but this is what my projected score will be)
AP Courses: AP European History (Junior), AP Biology (Junior), AP Chemistry (Senior), and AP Physics 1 (Senior)
Honors Courses: British Literature Honors (Sophomore), American Literature Honors (Junior), and Pre-Calculus Honors (Senior)
Accelerated Courses: mathematics for all four years
*Note: My school likes it when kids take only two AP classes per year as homework loads become increasingly stressful and problematic if they exceed two AP courses.

Extracirulars (In school):
Green Edge Environmental Club (President-12)
National Honors Society (President - 12)
Book Club
National Spanish Society
Close-Up (Planning Commitee - 11 and 12)
Fine Arts Week FIlm Festival Presenator (11-12)
*Note: I wasn’t involved in sports for 3 specific reasons:

  1. My dad couldn’t drive me to practices (he’s a single parent)
  2. Once I got my car, I had to go and pick up my brother from school
  3. I suffer from an eating disorder so I thought it would be best not to involve myself in sports due to health concerns

Extraciriculars (Outside school):
Eager Reader Summer Reading Program (11-12)
Mass Server (9-12)
Vet Intern / Volunteer (11-12 on Monday, Tuesday, and Wedsenday)
Canine Companion at our Humane Society (10-12 during the Summer)
Head Phone Staff at Pizza Hut (10-12 on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays)
Babysitter (When Needed)

Awards:
Acadmeic Excellence Award (11-12)
*Note: School doesn’t give out awards until graduation so (hopefully) this category will fill up a little more.

Degree Pursuement:
I want to into science and get a degree in either biology, physics, or chemistry. From there, I plan on attending Vetrinary school.

Additional Details:

  • The vet I work with knows people that work in the Presidental Office at Northwestern as she is a graduated herself.
  • My dad went to Marquette and obtained a business degree, while my mom never went to college.

Thanks so much for reading this lengthy post. I wanted to make sure that I gave as much information as I possibly could so that if may help make your guys decision making easier. Also, if there’s any possiblity that I could get scholarships to either Northwestern or WUSTL, I would like to know as only my dad will be helping me pay for college and he can’t afford to pay $60,000 a year for school. Thanks again and have a great day, year, and life!

2

Sorry, I meant University of Washington in St. Louis:)

3

-That ACT score would be a bit low for Northwestern. Most applicants who are admitted will have at least 34.
-Extracurriculars look decent, but they won’t carry your application.
-Even if your vet knows people at Northwestern, I wouldn’t count on that to ensure admission.

I wouldn’t hold my breath, but you have a shot. I don’t think a scholarship is likely, but financial aid is a possibility if your family’s financial situation is precarious. Remember to fill out the FAFSA next January as well, since you may well be eligible for federal grants. The actual price will probably be far lower than $60,000.

Even if it isn’t, I think you ought to consider taking out a student loan. The benefits of higher education are enough that, if you can get into a good college (and you will, although top schools like Northwestern are a reach for everyone), taking out a loan is almost always the right decision. A degree from a 4-year college will increase your lifetime earnings by $900,000 on average, so even at a cost of $60,000 a year college is easily worthwhile.

4

@NotVerySmart Actually, 75% of Northwestern students have an ACT score of below 34. And yeah, $60,000 for 4 years is easily worthwhile. But $250,000 over 4 years isn’t. No 22 year old should have that looming over their head. OP, Northwestern only gives need based aid.

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@CaliCash‌
Whoops. My bad on the ACT (I had assumed the ranges were in line with SAT midranges, which I’m more familiar with)

In my post I actually said $60,000 a year. I still think it’s worthwhile. I also think it’s absurd how much an education costs these days, and I find it ridiculous that a fair chunk of that money goes towards amenities or facilities that are designed only to improve the college’s ranking in various publications. It’s faintly ridiculous that the largest football stadium in the world is a college stadium. It’s absurd that schools are measured by their faculty-student ratio, rather than the quality of those teachers. It’s all well and good for the University of Chicago to fund a “zombie defense club” to show how creative their college is, until you consider that the money allocated to that club is partly responsible for increasing every student’s tuition. I think the recent rise in college tuition is absurd, and socially regressive, and unfair to those who can least afford to pay.

But it’s still worthwhile, or colleges wouldn’t continue to receive more applications than there places in their freshman class, year after year after year.

6

Try to bring up the score a little bit. 30-32 in ACT is around the lower half of mid 50.

7

Yeah, if you brought your scores up to 34+, you would be really competitive, especially if you maintain your current GPA. Good luck!

8

Wow! Thanks for all the feedback. I can’t tell you how much this means to me! I also forgot to mention that I have a good essay and great recommendations (GC, Chemistry, and Vet). Is there anything else that I cou stand to improve on? Again, thanks soooo much:D

9

@lovesdogs101‌

Well, first of all it is Washington University in St. Louis, not The University of Washington in St. Louis. Before you think I am nit-picking, I absolutely am not. Two reasons. The more trivial reason is that The University of Washington is way out in the northwest corner of our country and has its main campus in Seattle. It does not have a branch campus in St. Louis, Mo. For the school you are interested in, people usually use the abbreviation WUSTL for obvious convenience. I fixed this in your original post to avoid confusion.

The much less trivial reason is that if you made that mistake on your application, you would be rejected immediately. WUSTL is used to people confusing them with UW-Seattle, George Washington U, Washington and Lee, etc. But if an applicant seems to have not done enough research on the school to understand what the correct name is, I can’t imagine they would give the application a second look. So I am not trying to be harsh with you, I am just trying to impress upon you the importance of perfection on an application, especially to a school as competitive as WUSTL.

Which segues to my second point. Your post is full of spelling errors. Now I understand this is just an internet forum and so picking on spelling is usually silly, and you might have been typing all of that on a phone. But the number of errors concerns me, so just consider this a cautionary note that mistakes such as those will not be tolerated by admissions at a school like WUSTL.

Finally, a question. You say you raised your GPA from a 3.63 to a 3.96. Is that 3.96 your weighted GPA? I rather suspect it is. If so, it really isn’t on a 4.0 scale. We would need to know your unweighted GPA. And when you get your actual ACT score in, post it as well. Projected scores really do little good for telling people their chances.

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Just from personal experience, my sister attends Northwestern and her total costs for EVERYTHING last year was $72,000. She did not receive any financial aid. NU is a money sucker, don’t be fooled.

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@illinoisgolf‌

Yes, NU is very expensive, especially if you are not eligible for need based aid. The fact that NU has EXTREMELY limited aid of any other kind (a few scholarships that involve people that are from the local area I think) is a legitimate issue, IMO. But to be clear, the sticker price for NU for the total cost of attending is quite similar to many other private schools.

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Yes, indeed the sticker price is quite similar. However, the net financial aid it offers, is quite stark, say, to the top 20 ranked universities. For a similar education, (obviously depending on your major), you would be better-off at Rice, WashU, or Vandy–at least in terms of aid.

13

Okay, I’m sorry that that individual’s sibling had a hard time with money at NU, (they must have a lot or a really decent amount of family money?) but NU is not a money sucker at all. They are one of the best in the country, if not world, for financial aid. I’ve been accepted to NU this year (I did ED) and they gave me 48,000 in scholarship alone. That’s FREE MONEY! My EFC is about 9,000. My friend goes there and she pays $6000 a year. I’ve met a lot of people also accepted and their situations are very very similar. NU is an incredible school and you should apply! As long as your family qualifies for financial aid, you’ll be fine. Also, Northwestern financial aid staff has been kind enough to work with my parents and I throughout the whole process. She was kind, took a lot of time to talk to us on a regular basis and made very helpful suggestions that helped us a whole lot in our appeal for money. This is because NU cares about its students, considering barely any get accepted. Lastly, NU allows you to make a css profile, which outlines many, very specific details of your financial situation that the FAFSA does not allow you to explain. For example, my mom had to pay medical bills completely out of pocket and had to take money from her 401k to pay for food. She was able to explain this in the CSS profile and it helped tremendously. Not all schools offer that. I strongly recommend NU. :slight_smile: Good luck!

14

I think that you have a good shot at both schools, especially if you raise your ACT score to a 33 or 34.
Take a look at my thread if you could :smiley:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1743297-ecs-will-chance-back.html#latest