@ambitionsquared Uhm… that’s pretty much not true. NU is not an “ivy-reject” school or anything like that. You’re really splitting hairs when you come up to NU’s tier of schools (“Lower” Ivy tier like Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, Duke, etc.). One acceptance or rejection can’t really determine anything about similar schools’decisions if you are qualified (and you know you are for these elite schools if you got into NU).
Don’t listen to all the negativity here. It’s a cesspool, but what do you expect from college confidential lol. Honestly those who are saying such things about NU are simply mad because they felt entitled to an acceptance, and are trying to justify their rejection by bringing down northwestern lol.
Northwestern does not reject their best applicants (yield protect). Arguably, they are ranked higher than some Ivy League schools even (if that means anything to you). Rejections of qualified and strong applicants are not evidence for such behavior. I mean, you are definitely going to have to reject a very high amount of superstar applicants when you have to reject about 95 out of 100 applicants (which NU did during this RD round) if the admissions council doesnt determine that you would be amazing at NU
@Boothie007@ambitionsquared I don’t think it’s that black and white. They might be playing the yield game, but it’s not like they’re rejecting ALL top applicants. I got into both NU and an Ivy already.
Keep in mind NU rejected more than 90% of the applicants in this round (in fact, the overall acceptance rate is projected to be in the single digits this cycle). There will be some folks bitter about this.
But to have a legitimate case that NU is yield protecting, one needs to bring forth enough data points where students are rejected at NU but have multiple, more competitive offers (i.e., not just one offer from Penn, but acceptances from HYP, Columbia and maybe Penn). Most arguments other than this ilk are more likely random data points that folks fit into their own narratives. For example, it happens all the time where a kid is accepted to Princeton, but rejected to say, Dartmouth.
Having said that, it’s no surprise that many colleges are concerned about yield (NU included):
It is noteworthy to see that NU has continued momentum in popularity in both ED and RD rounds (20%+ growth in ED applications and mid-single growth in total, outpacing most Ivies). So, it may just be the case that more people are appreciating the intrinsic value of NU more and driving up competition (vs. yield protection).
"Admission interviews are not required and are an optional addition to your application for admission. All interviews are conducted off-campus by Northwestern’s regional Alumni Admission Council (AAC), situated throughout the United States and abroad.
Alumni admission interviews provide applicants with an opportunity to learn about the Northwestern student experience through an alumna/us perspective. Given the limited availability of alumni interviews, only a very small percentage of our applicants are ultimately able to schedule an appointment. Interviews are not a significant component of the application, therefore applicants who are unable or choose not to interview are not at a disadvantage in the admission process."
The purpose of the interview IMO is for applicants to learn more about NU not so much as for interviewer to evaluate your qualification. Yes, interviewer will write a report about you but it is general impression as I don’t think that they have your application materials. My S didn’t have an interview but admitted. I was surprised to see how quickly some of those who didn’t get in have turned to bad mouth NU, an excellent institution. That is sad.
@efr009
As a long standing member of my local NU Alumni Admission Council, you are correct that the alumni interview (NU no longer conducts on campus interviews with Admissions) has a negligible impact on an applicants chance, if any at all. While I hate to diminish my role and the time and effort I’ve devoted over the years to interviewing interested applicants, I always inform my interviewees that my write-up can’t keep you out and won’t get you in. I describe it as one more piece of information the Admissions Office has to evaluate you, but IMO its must be at the bottom of the list. I know plenty of accepted students who never had interviews and I’ve interviewed high schools students I deemed to be outstanding (even though its not requested, they bring transcripts, test scores, resumes, etc) both personally and academically; who I was shocked to learn were rejected.
Furthermore, for those students who are not skilled at small talk and are not comfortable with the interview process, I strongly urge them to NOT request one. That’s how minimal the weight of an interview is!
I was so excited to learn of my acceptance that I already committed and paid my deposit. Does anybody know if this will mess with my financial aid since they know that I will attend regardless of what they give me?
So…I’ve got a question for all. Would a person be considered a legend if he ended his NU supplemental essay with, “By the way, did I forget to mention that there is a Chipotle in Evanston” and was admitted…?
I hope that’s the case!