NU Chance Me?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Northwestern University
1

<p>I visited Northwestern University recently, and I liked the campus and the environment/atmosphere there. I was planning on majoring in Mechanical Engineering and their McCormick School of Engineering seemed like a good option. I'll try to post as many stats as I can. Thanks :)
Highschool Courseload:
Freshman year: Alg2 Honors, Biology Honors, World History Honors, English 1 Honors, Lifetime Wellness, Spanish 2 Honors.
Sophomore year: PreCal honors, Chemistry Honors, English 2 Honors, Spanish 3 Honors, Biology AP, European History AP
Junior year: AP Calc BC, AP Chemistry, AP Physics C, AP English Lang & Comp, AP US History, Spanish 4 Honors
Senior year (predicted): AP Statistics, AP Physics B, AP Government&AP Econ(each as ½ semester), AP Environmental Science, Personal finance (required), AP English Literature, and maybe AP Spanish Language.
My class rank of Jan. 5, 2012-May 24, 2012 was 9/506, but now I think it slipped down, but not sure, so it’s probably somewhere between 7-12 out of 506. Cumulative GPA is 4.60555 where there is a max of 5.0 for AP, 4.5 for Honors, and 4.0 for standard classes, such as Physical Education. The only reason I took physics C before B was because our school was only offering it this year, and I wouldve rather taken C then B later than simply just B. </p>

<p>Extracurriculars:
4 Years Debate team: 4th place, 5th place, and 6th place in 3 regional highschool invitational tournaments.
3 Years Science Olympiad team: Regional Awards (2012): 1st place Water Quality, 2nd place remote sensing, 3rd place experimental design.
Regional Awards ( Science Olympiad)(2011): 3rd place Wind power, 4th place experimental design, 6th place remote sensing
For the State competition (SciOly) I’ve won 1st place in Remote sensing (2012), 5th place in water quality(2012) and 6th place in remote sensing (2011).
Our team won 6th place in the state, and I’m currently the Vice president of the club.
2 years Spanish National Honors Society Member
3 years Mu Alpha Theta Honors society Treasurer
2 years English Honors Society Member
2 years Science National Honors Society Member
The debate team is part of the Forensics National Honors Society, so 4 years there
1 year National Honors Society
Black Belt in taekwondo (took me 7 years), and registered black belt in CTF. (My instructor thought very highly of me so maybe a reco?)
1 full year varsity tennis (had to drop because of time)</p>

<p>Summer:
Summer of 2011 I was part of Vanderbilt’s STriVe Program where we volunteered in the Children’s hospital for 105 hours in the summer, and talked/learned about various medical professions.
Summer of 2012 I am currently doing a paid internship at TSU with robotics where we have to design and build a robot with a certain function, and operate it remotely via a virtual rendition of the robot on the computer. I think the professor is publishing/ giving a speech about it and I might have a chance to be in the published work, idk though. I am also working with a racing team on building race cars and racing them in competitions for money.</p>

<p>Test Scores:
AP Scores: I only know the ones I took sophomore year: AP Biology (5), AP Euro History (5). I can make a prediction of the other ones though, AP Chem (5), AP US Hist (4-5), AP Calc (4-5), AP Physics Mechanics (3-4), AP Physics E/M (3-4), AP English (5).
SAT: Haven’t gotten the results back.
ACT: 33
Breakdown (test 1) Rdg: 34 Math: 34 Sci: 32 Eng: 32
Breakdown (mandatory test at school so idk if this counts): Rdg:30, Eng: 31, Math: 36, Sci: 35
I’m planning on taking it once more, hopefully I can get at least a 34-35 if I put some effort.
SAT II’s
Math II: 770 (may retake)
Biology: 750
Chemistry: 800</p>

<p>And I’m taking some courses on Coursera.org, like poetry and humanities purely out of interest but I don’t know if I should put that on the application.
I would be applying to McCormick School of Engineering. What are my chances ED vs Regular? Oh, and I’m Indian too, race will probably play a negative factor :(. Another thing is that my class is EXTREMELY competitive, and a few might also apply to NU regular decision, that's why I'm considering ED.
Let me know if there's anything i left out, thanks :)</p>

2

<p>Even though I want to go to NU’s Engineering school, I have started to take a liking to literature- I bought like 8 classics from the bookstore the other day to read and have been blazing through them. Is it okay if I want to take some literature courses while doing engineering as well?</p>

3

<p>You have a good chance of getting in, but whether you will or not will really depend on your essays and luck. I’ve seen people with your stats both get accepted and rejected.</p>

<p>If you really want to go to NU, I’d advise applying ED, as it’s easier to get in ED than RD.</p>

<p>Yes, you can be in McCormick and take classes in Weinberg (the College of Arts and Sciences). If fact, you could dual major in both colleges if you really wanted to.</p>

4

<p>Race may not be a negative factor. Northwestern is known to like to have a diverse student body. If anything, you will not get turned away due to race. Especially not with an application like that! I’ve heard it’s best to apply RD because most competition applies for ED. Either way, I think you’re definitley what they’re looking for. Good luck! :)</p>

<p>Sent from my MB501 using CC</p>

5

<p>Northwestern filled approximately 40% of the freshman class with ED applicants this year. I’d expect that number to rise next year, and I also wouldn’t be surprised if the brutal RD acceptance rate drops even further. If you’re sure that Northwestern is the school for you, I strongly disagree with RosH and recommend applying ED.</p>

<p>You have a competitive application. That’s pretty much all that you can be sure of, and to maximize your chance of acceptance, I would apply ED. </p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

6

<p>I take it from attending camps at Vandy and TSU that you’re from Tennessee, where I also am from. It’s no secret that Northwestern’s weakest area of the country is the South, and I believe that will help you tremendously in getting in. I had less ECs than you, a lower GPA, and the same ACT, so if I got in you surely should get in.</p>

7

<p>^but you probably weren’t indian :P</p>

8

<p>IF you don’t get in with a 33…then you don’t want THEM!</p>

9

<p>I don’t see the logic with your post, MitchKreyben.</p>

<p>Thousands of applicants with a 34+ get rejected each year.</p>

10

<p>@Mitchkrey: You are misinformed.</p>

<p>Below is what NU disclosed in April 2011 about its “2011” admission: “Over 3,300 applicants with a 1500 SAT (CR+M) or higher (the equivalent of a 34 ACT) were not offered admission.” This year was tougher, they say. OP stands a decent chance for ED, but not for RD, especially becase he is an ORM.</p>

<p>================= </p>

<p>Northwestern Univ 2011 Admission:

  • We received 30,975 applications for freshmen admission, up 12% from last year and up 22% from two years ago. We admitted a total of 5,573 students, or a record low 18% of the applicant pool. Last year, we admitted 23% of the applicants, and two years ago 27% of the applicants.
    Despite the lower number of accepted students, we admitted our highest number of African American and Hispanic applicants in at least twenty-five years as well as a record number of Chicago Public School applicants. Our goal, as it every year, is to enroll a class that is academically first-rate and from a variety of backgrounds. We hope their experiences, perspectives and talents will make Northwestern a more dynamic, interesting place year after year. Selecting the candidates for admission was particularly challenging this year when you consider the following:</p>

<ul>
<li><p>Almost half of our applicants earned the equivalent of a 4.0 or higher grade point average.
Of our applicants reporting class rank, 71% were in the top decile. Half of our applicants earned a 1420 (CR+M) or higher on the SAT (the equivalent of a 32 ACT).</p></li>
<li><p>We admitted 1,300 fewer applicants this year than two years ago.
We will all hear from upset students, parents and alumni about a deny or waitlist decision. Some points I like to stress every year: The review process is a holistic one and each application submitted is evaluated by multiple members of the admission staff. I assure you we didn’t miss anything. </p></li>
<li><p>We do not have quotas of any kind for high schools, states or regions. We review each applicant within the context of the entire applicant pool, not just their high school or state. With 6,390 high schools represented, it would be impossible for us to admit one candidate from each school. Given the highly selective character of our applicant pool, it is not possible for us to offer admission to all of the applicants who present strong credentials, especially when one considers all of our institutional priorities. Over 3,300 applicants with a 1500 SAT (CR+M) or higher (the equivalent of a 34 ACT) were not offered admission.</p></li>
<li><p>We denied more applicants this year than the total number of applicants we received two years ago.</p></li>
</ul>

<hr>

11

<p>Yes, I view the 33 ACT as the weakest part of my application, and hope to bring it up to a 34/35 with some work. I am planning to apply ED, and what my friends/people i know tell me is that I have a fairly good chance of being accepted ED. Hopefully my essay will be a strong point as well in that it is also an important factor that needs to be considered.</p>

12

<p>i guess it might help to add that our school’s tennis team is the second best in the state… :P</p>

13

<p>Hey would you guys say CarnegieMellon (CMU) is a match school for me?</p>

14

<p>It is highly likely that you will make CMU.</p>

15

<p>what other schools would you consider matches? Vandy? WashU?</p>

16

<p>Update on AP Scores:
Biology(5), European History (5), Chemistry (5), Calculus BC (5), U.S. History (5), English Language & Composition (5), Physics C Mechanics (5), Physics C E/M (4) (didnt study for E/M lol)</p>

17

<p>=====================Chance Me’s are dumb. Thread closed==================</p>

18

<p>Try to get at least a 34 ACT (or 2250+ SAT w/ 800 in math), and retake the math 2c and you should be good (unless your essays are horrible). In your essay, make sure to use specific examples from your visit to NU (don’t just use stuff from the website-- take notes on what tour guides and counselors in the info sessions say). The essay plays a big role, so make sure you write it as if it’s your first choice school. If it really is your first choice school, don’t be afraid to apply ED. The new dean of admissions is increasing ED acceptances by a lot each year because they want students who want to be at NU and who will be a good fit there, and their RD acceptances are going down by a lot. (The fact that they want more kids who have NU as their first choice should show you that your essay better show that you took some serious interest in the university and that you’re not just applying because it’s a really good school).</p>

<p>Also, I feel that the NU’s engineering school is A LOT harder to get into that its other schools. It almost seems random, and many students who seem to have amazing science/math ECs, great grades overall, amazing test scores, etc. don’t get in (thus added importance on your essay). Taking the difficulty of getting into engineering into account, you might want to consider applying ED.</p>

19

Did you get into NU through ED?

20

Yeah, i ended up applying with a 35 ACT instead of 33, so that was the difference from what you see there…

Tbh if I could go back, I’d probably go to a more chill school. The quarter system is too intense.