***Official Northeastern University Class of 2021 Early Decision and Early Action Results ONLY***

Colleges and Universities A-Z Northeastern University
81

Deferred

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown): 2180/2400, 740CR, 710M, 730W
ACT (breakdown): didn’t take
SAT II: 780 US History
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): my school doesn’t have GPA out of 4.0, weighted GPA is 94.21 (unweighted GPA unknown)
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): school does not rank
AP (place score in parenthesis): US GovPol (4), APUSH (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP Lit and Comp, Honors Bio, French 1, AP German, Accounting, Human behavior, AP Economics (this course covers Micro and Macro)
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): None, part of National Art Honors Society (NAHS) but idk if this counts

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): varsity women’s fencing (captain), ran a fencing camp for the local children this past summer (organizer), helps out with winter and spring programs that teach the local children fencing (manager), NAHS for two years, Model UN for four years, Race Relations for 2 years

Job/Work Experience: Associate at TJMaxx since Sept 2015
Volunteer/Community service: the summer fencing camp (25 hours), the winter and spring programs (30+ hours), various NAHS activities
Summer Activities: See above
Essays: strong common app essay, chose prompt about solving a problem and I discussed honesty in fencing
Teacher Recommendation: 9/10, i’ve known this teacher for multiple years
Counselor Rec: 8.5+?/10
Additional Rec: 8/10, didn’t mean for this teacher to submit her rec as i wanted her recommendation letter for only one school but it is what it is! i doubt there was anything negative in the letter of course
Interview: N/A

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: International Business for Germany (I’ve been studying the language for six years now)
State (if domestic applicant):
Country (if international applicant): N/A
School Type: Public, one of the top schools in my state
Ethnicity: Chinese American
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: 40-50k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): minority candidate, woman

Reflection

Strengths: Essay and recommendations, community service, GPA
Weaknesses: Test scores, didn’t show enough interest in school
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: Deferred b/c did not show enough interest in school
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: accepted into my ED school so I’m not sweating this deferral too much
Your “Big Red” factor - the most unique thing in your application: my essay probably

82

My D was not accepted ED. They suggested she put her name in the hat for RD.

She was accepted earlier this week at Villanova School of Business. Prior acceptance at Indiana Kelley School of Business Direct Admit and Hutton Honors College there and U of MN Carlson School of Management.

A bit baffled by NE for not accepting her ED. Oh well, all the best to every applicant and the college search process. She is not upset. In the que for several other schools with the RD process now.

Weighing all her options, merit aid and national ranking of all the business schools. Good choices for her already.

83

A friend of mine was rejected ED. She had a 4.76 weighted at #1 public school in MA, ACT: 36, legacy, rec. from NE professor, captain of 2 varsity sports, and several academic awards. Nobody from my school got in and normally Northeastern is a safety for many students. I applied EA and was rejected, although it was definitely a reach school for me so I was not surprised. Although Northeastern is a very good school, in the last two years they have completely rigged the system by making their statistics way higher than they should be for the rank of the school. Currently the GPA and standardized testing scores are on par with Cornell and some other Ivy’s. The problem is that unless Northeastern is able to give a substantial amount of money to ALL of their students, many of these kids with 4.0uw and perfect test scores will not end up at schools such as Northeastern. I am from Boston and know many people who have gone to NE and loved it, but I think recently they have been too ahead of themselves and it will impact them negatively in the long run. It certainly isn’t a school that makes you feel wanted. They are known for sending students away on study abroad programs their 1st semester so they don’t have to count those students scores and GPA. If you ask me, that’s some sketchy business.

84

^^^http://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/article/2014/08/26/how-northeastern-gamed-the-college-rankings/

85

@collegehalo That article has been linked here many, many times.

No school wants to be considered a safety and they may sense that in certain applications. Perhaps ED applicants from your high school have reneged on ED applications in the past.
Sounds like sour grapes.

86

@collegehalo Thanks for sharing that. I did know that NU sent freshman overseas but thought it was because of dorm constraints. I did not realize they only sent the lower scoring kids overseas and retained the higher scoring kids on campus to boost the stats. That is just awesome. So smart of NU. Hahaha. Cheers to them!

87

@collegehalo

I find this hard to believe. Friend was rejected, not deferred or offered NU In? There had to be a serious flaw with this applicant.

88

@collegehalo

“A friend of mine was rejected ED. She had a 4.76 weighted at #1 public school in MA, ACT: 36, legacy, rec. from NE professor, captain of 2 varsity sports, and several academic awards.”

Sorry, but there had to have been some circumstance in their app that caused this reject. Many students with a lot lower stats were accepted ED.

“Although Northeastern is a very good school, in the last two years they have completely rigged the system by making their statistics way higher than they should be for the rank of the school.”

I don’t see that. BU is ranked similar to NU and they have similar stat %.

@gopher119 what were your D’s test scores. They are very test focused at NU.

89

I do think it is more difficult to get into Northeastern from the Boston area these days as they push for geographic diversity. That said, though my S was deferred Early Action, one of our close friend’s son (same “VERY highly rated suburban Boston HS”) was accepted Early Decision. Both boys have somewhat similar stats and both have compelling personal stories. I think the real difference was that their son was able to convey that Northeastern was his first choice (through ED and through his essay). My son was not able to convey that because he is planning on competing athletically in college and he isn’t quite there with the Northeastern coach.

My point in all of this is simple: if Northeastern is your (or child’s first choice), then make it clear to Northeastern. It’s a great school…and it is very in demand.

Congrats to all who have been accepted…and for those of you now in RD…best of luck!

90

**EA Decision: Accepted: Physical Therapy **

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown): Did not take
ACT (breakdown): Did not send but 29 composite
SAT II: Did not send
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): School does not do unweighted, weighted 3.63/4.8
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 38/58
AP (place score in parenthesis): AP Eng Lang (5), AP Macroeconomics (4), AP world history (3), AP Environmental Science (2)
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP Eng Lit, AP US gov, AP Microeconomics, reg calculus, Chinese, Thespian elements, cooking (overall not that hard)
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Girl’s basketball team (captain), Cross country, Swim team, InterAct
Job/Work Experience: Had a summer internship but I don’t think I mentioned it to the school.
Volunteer/Community service: InterAct
Summer Activities: None
Essays: Uhhh I didn’t really like my common app essay, but I think it was written ok
Teacher Recommendation: I think pretty good but I didn’t get to read them, I asked my macroeconomics teacher who was also my basketball coach and I asked my physics teacher ( I didn’t do great in his classes B+, but he was also my homeroom teacher and we are a small school so everyone knows everyone)
Counselor Rec: It was pretty good, got on his good side while doing apps
Additional Rec: None
Interview: None
Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yep
Intended Major: Physical Therapy
State (if domestic applicant):
Country (if international applicant): Taiwan
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Asian American
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: Middle
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): coming from international place? double legacy (graduate)

Reflection

Strengths: TBH nothing except that I came from a school with a good rep.
What you tried to focus on in your application - any hooks you tried to make for yourself: being international gave me more diversity?
Weaknesses: TBH my test scores and grades were pretty crap, but competition in my school is also really high
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: Accepted cause of my school I think, plus I’m double legacy (graduate school doe)
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: No other results yet
Your “Big Red” factor - the most unique thing in your application: double legacy?

91

**Decision: Accepted **

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): N/A
ACT (breakdown): 34C 36E 33M 31R 34S 30W
SAT II: N/A
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/95 but school doesn’t report
AP (place score in parenthesis): self studied: APES (4) Lang (4)
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: most rigorous course load offered
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): no major awards

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):

-FREERUNNING (like parkour or American Ninja Warrior)
-I practice around 15-20hrs a week and was recently hired by my academy to become a coach. I rank #1 between the three Freerunning Academies in LA and SD (they share 1 ranking system)
-offered a spot on the Olympic Freerunning Committee (will hopefully be a sport in 2024 Olympics)

-PIANO/VIBRAPHONE

  • I play around 5 hours a week, take lessons, and have participated in the national piano guild
  • I am in my school’s jazz band (play piano and vibraphone in it)

-IMPROV/ACTING
-I’ve been participating for 5 years; I’ve been on the team for 3 years and am team captain
-I’ve also been in some commercials and short films

-STUDENT GOVERNMENT/STUDENT BODY PRESIDENT
-elected high school body president as a freshman, current senior class president
-10th/11th grade representative

  • been an active member for all years of HS
    -fund raise for school apparel and school goods

-NHS (member)

-KEY CLUB (member)

-PHOTOGRAPHY CLUB ~4hrs/wk (President)
-Hold an exhibition at the end of the school year

-ASTRONOMY CLUB (VP)
-also took college astronomy class and got an A

-WRITING/YEARBOOK
-writing a novella over summer and will be self published
-internship with my city’s newspaper company
-senior yearbook editor

Job/Work Experience:

Coach at freerunning academy

Volunteer/Community service:

-COMMUNITY SERVICE

  • through NHS and KC, I have done 350+ hrs of CS (includes volunteering to teach kids freerunning and active beach cleanup)

Summer Activities: coaching, volunteering, etc.
Essays (rating 1-10, details): Wrote about how freerunning gave me the freedom to explore and create. I thought it was unique.
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
Teacher Rec #1: honors wold history teacher 10/10
Teacher Rec #2: honors environmental science teacher 9/10
Counselor Rec: know her well. I know she talked about freerunning in my rec 8.5/10?
Additional Rec:

Other:

Applied for Financial Aid?: yes
Intended Major: English
State (if domestic applicant): CA
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: public charter
Ethnicity: white
Gender: male
Income Bracket: high
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): none

Reflection:

Strengths: GPA, weird EC but accomplished in it?
Weaknesses: IDK how good my essay really was
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: My weird extracurriculars and maybe leadership
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: Also applied to: Harvard, Brown, Pomona, Berkeley, Cal Poly SLO, WashU, and Tufts

General Comments: I love NEU!! Can’t wait to meet everyone at admitted students day!

92

@collegehalo there are a lot of kids with similar stats where one gets accepted and one rejected. If every kid with top scores was accepted, (1) there’d be no room for anyone else in the acceptance pool, except that (2) those same top scorers would get into a bunch of different schools for the same reason but could only choose one, leaving many schools with large numbers of empty spots unless they risked over-acceptance on a grand scale. I think admissions officers look for something unique about applicants and also for signs the applicant has some goal specific to the school. They can probably judge certain kids aren’t going to go to Northeastern if accepted and bypass them. They may see a lack of self-direction or something else that turns them off. A kid could write a generic or just plain bad essay or even an essay whose tone or content offended in some way. I think it’s risky to make assumptions off statistics though I can see why folks do it.

93

[ b][ size=4][ color=#FFA500]Decision: Deferred [/size]**[/color]
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Objective:

SAT I: 1440/1600
ACT : 31
SAT II: 650 Physics, 620 Chemistry
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.15
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): NA
AP: Physics 1, Physics 2, Chemistry, Biology, Government, BC Calculus
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: AP Biology, AP Government, Honors Literature, Honors Psychology, BC Calculus
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
4 years varsity swimming, club swim teams since elementary school, manager of the boys varsity swim team, science team, engineering club, helping the homeless club, beta club, quiz bowl, helping out at a nonprofit organization run by a close friend since middle school
Job/Work Experience:
intern at a renewable energy startup company. lifeguard for two years
Volunteer/Community service:
helping the homeless club, Katie’s Krops
Summer Activities:
Harvard Summer School classes junior year
Essays: My dad’s in the US Air Force and I’ve moved 15 times in 18 years, including twice in high school. I wrote about how that has impacted my life and my education as well as my attitude
Teacher Recommendation: Not sure how good these are considering I only knew my teachers for a few months before asking them to write my recommendations (New school). They’re probably generic.
Counselor Rec: Should be good, I know my counselor pretty well and he’s really committed to getting us into the best schools
Additional Rec: none
Interview: none
Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: no
Intended Major: Aerospace Engineering
State (if domestic applicant): South Carolina (but did most of high school in Boston)
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: 3 years public, one year private
Ethnicity: caucasian
Gender: female
Income Bracket:
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): female in engineering, interesting circumstances with all the moving around.

Reflection

Strengths: SAT and ACT scores, essays
What you tried to focus on in your application - any hooks you tried to make for yourself: scores and personal background
Weaknesses: GPA definitely, my extracurriculars weren’t too impressive
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: GPA
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: accepted at Hartford, Glasgow, Illinois Tech, Michigan, Clemson.
Your “Big Red” factor - the most unique thing in your application:

94

**Decision: Accepted **

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown): R 730 M 760 W 18(?)
ACT (breakdown): DNA
SAT II: USH 730 M2 620
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): No clue. 4.35 weighted
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/330
AP (place score in parenthesis): USH (5) Physics1 (3)
IB (place score in parenthesis): DNA
Senior Year Course Load: AP Calc, English Honors, AP Chem, AP Bio, Honors Band, Spanish 5, Italian 4
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): I wouldn’t consider my awards major.

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Best Buddies (Established at School/President); Student Council (Treasurer); WL Club; Indoor Track (Weight Throw); Outdoor Track (Hammer Throw); Special Olympics; All-State Band
Job/Work Experience: Jamestown Town Beach (Life Guard); Westwood and Kent County YMCA (Lifeguard/Swim Instructor)
Volunteer/Community service: Special Olympics; Vision DR (A service project I organized to the DR to provide vision screening and correction to an impoverished community. 12 Volunteers, 2 optometrists, 2 opticians, served 400)
Summer Activities: Job Shadow w/ Orthopedic Surgeon affiliated with Brown Medical School; Lifeguarding
Essays: Talked about growing up with a brother with severe disabilities and how he motivated me every day. Talked about starting Best Buddies at my school and its impact.
Teacher Recommendation: 10/10. Good connection with teacher.
Counselor Rec: 10/10. Good connection with teacher.
Additional Rec: 10/10 Good connection with VP
Interview: None
Other: I developed really great connections and relationships with each of my recommenders. I owe a lot to them and they really advocated for me throughout HS and they were all a major part of my experience. I’m lucky to have had such a great group of people supporting me through this process.

Applied for Financial Aid?: Y
Intended Major: Chemistry
State (if domestic applicant): Rhode Island
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Hispanic/White
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: 180,000+
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Don’t think so. I’m as plain as a saltine cracker.

Reflection

Strengths: Well balanced and well rounded. I am a ranked hammer/weight thrower, proficient on three instruments, and do well in school. I think my community service and passions are unique as I have a very personal reason for doing everything that I do. I hope my AO saw that; I believe that my AO saw that.
What you tried to focus on in your application - any hooks you tried to make for yourself: Me.
Weaknesses: SATII Scores
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: No clue
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: Deferred from Yale EA. Have yet to hear from any other school.
Your “Big Red” factor - the most unique thing in your application: No clue.

95

^^^^
Honors Program w/ a renewable scholarship of 20,000 per year (10,000/semester while taking classes). Think its called Honors Scholarship. No clue.

96

Decision: Accepted

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown): N/A
ACT (breakdown): 34
SAT II: 1410
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.9
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 13%
AP (place score in parenthesis): French (4), Stats (5), Eng Lit (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis): Na
Senior Year Course Load: Heavy
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): None

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Job/Work Experience:
Volunteer/Community service:
Summer Activities:
Essays: Being raised as a Biracial child; black stay at home dad
Teacher Recommendation: Yes.
Counselor Rec: Yes
Additional Rec:
Interview:
Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: BS Nutritional Science
State (if domestic applicant): MI
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Mixed
Gender: F
Income Bracket: 200k+
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):

Reflection

Strengths: Intelligent and highly focused; great social skills; personality
What you tried to focus on in your application - any hooks you tried to make for yourself: Tried to show diversity is good
Weaknesses: organization
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: solid essay content
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: Acpt: Wisconsin, Purdue, Butler, Mich St, Toledo. Derfer: U of Mich, U of Virginia, UNC-chapel hill. No rejections.
Your “Big Red” factor - the most unique thing in your application: No idea

97

My son was accepted yesterday!

Decision: Accepted to Computer Science and Music Composition & Technology
Also admitted to Honors College and received a $28k/year honors scholarship.

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown): 790 Math, 790 Reading/Writing
ACT (breakdown): 35 composite
SAT II: didn’t take
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): school doesn’t calculate but probably about 3.65
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): top 14%
AP (place score in parenthesis): he has taken a lot of AP classes and made scores between 3 & 5. 5s in computer science & music theory.
IB (place score in parenthesis): n/a
Senior Year Course Load: 4 AP classes, second-year computer science, band
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Job/Work Experience: none
Volunteer/Community service: mainly through boy scouts and NHS
Summer Activities: minor other than scouts
Essays: good
Teacher Recommendation: 2 from STEM and 2 from music; haven’t read them
Interview: none
Other - overall strong ECs but no Nobel Prize yet ha ha. He has done some CS-related projects and music composing on his own. 4 years of band and many years of piano lessons. Close to Eagle Scout.

Applied for Financial Aid?: yes but didn’t qualify
State (if domestic applicant): TX
School Type: highly rated public
Ethnicity: white
Gender:M
Income Bracket: upper middle
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): none

Good luck everyone!

98

sorry, just realized I posted in the wrong place. my son applied regular decision - so we were happily surprised to get a decision already. but he did complete his application in November.

99

Decision: accepted
Submission Date: 10/14/16
Decision Date: 2/16/17

SAT: 1300 (700e, 600m)
Unweighted GPA (out of 100): 94/100
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Does not rank

Extracurriculars: (place leadership in parentheses): Avid Runner (half marathons, 10ks, 5ks, etc), Gay straight alliance, anti-sexual harassment club, bike club
Summer Activities: running programs
Teacher Recommendations: One was from a college professor at nyu probably 10/10(grade A) (the class was free through my high school during the school year with real college students, it was not a summer program), the other was from my history teacher, probably 8/10
Counselor Rec: 10/10 i have a great relationship with my college counselor
Common app essay: 9/10 (I wrote about a very personal experience from my childhood. It was definitely a risky essay to submit, but it appears that the admissions officer appreciated it)

Other
Projected Concentration: gender studies, english
State (if domestic applicant): NY
Country (if international applicant): USA
School Type: public
Ethnicity: white
Gender: F
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): none

Reflection
Strengths: nyu college class, professor rec
Weaknesses: test scores, my school doesn’t offer AP

I really wanted to post my decision on college confidential because it is not often that someone with my test scores gets into a school like northeastern, so hopefully this gives ppl hope. I think it is important for people to understand that low test scores may not prevent you from getting into your dream school. Unfortunately, I did not know about the sat 2s, and my school does not offer AP classes. But throughout high school I pursued activities that I was truly passionate about. I worked hard in school because I loved learning. I trained for a marathon because I fell in love with the prospect of qualifying for the Boston marathon, sometimes running 55 miles per week in preparation. This is not something that I did with college in mind. I did this because I loved it. It is intimidating to scroll through this forum and see people’s outstanding credentials, but don’t let that stop you from applying to nu if you are confident that nu is a great fit for you. My biggest piece of advice is to not let others tell you that you should do something because it will look good on your college application. You should do things that you really care about :slight_smile:

100

Decision: Accepted to Computer Science and Math

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown): 1340 (680M 660R)
ACT (breakdown): 32 (35E 31M 32R 30S 8E)
SAT II: 720 (Math 2), 680 (Physics)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): don’t rank
AP (place score in parenthesis): Calc(3), Lang(3)
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP Stats, APES, AP Lit, AP Gov, AP Spanish Lang
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): none

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Job/Work Experience: Tech Shop Intern
Volunteer/Community service: Library (Chair of Membership)
Summer Activities: Girls Who Code
Essays: 8/10
Teacher Recommendation: 8/10
Counselor Rec: 9/10
Additional Rec:
Interview: none
Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: yeah
Intended Major: Computer Science and Math
State (if domestic applicant): CA
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Public Charter
Ethnicity: Filipino
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: 100-150k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM

Reflection

Strengths: academics
What you tried to focus on in your application - any hooks you tried to make for yourself: idk
Weaknesses: leadership for sure
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: test scores
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: Santa Clara, UC Irvine, Purdue, SJSU
Your “Big Red” factor - the most unique thing in your application: lmao ask them

late but whatever