Chicago suburbanite here. Middle kid graduated from NU with comp eng degree in 2018. Youngest kid applied to NU and many smaller private schools as his first choice for BioE last year. Long story short he’s now studying at U of I. Never thought he’d like a large public school but loves it and can’t imagine being anywhere else. Definitely missing being there now as the univ closed for rest of the semester. So don’t sweat the admission decision too much. You will land where you’re destined to be!
We are crossed again, parent of current U of I junior and NU sophomore student. 
@hsparent13 I don’t think the interview is necessary, it’s more for you to feel comfortable and gather information. We were too late to get an interview as well, and then had arranged a skype interview with an alumni as an alternative (which we ended up cancelling). I don’t think it means anything in your application.
what time does the decision come out
Never felt this anxious before. Best of luck everyone.
For RD, NW loves the local applicants. If you are from the Chicagoland area, your odds of acceptance are significantly better than those who are not. If you are oos, your best chances come from applying ED. NW is a school that goes all in to protect yield. At some point, the actions these schools take to protect yield is going to attract government scrutiny, as it should when they are using taxpayer funds to support this maddening process.
Decision day is the worst. I wish kids, and parents, wouldn’t worry so much. I was guilty, too, but after going through it three times you learn it all works out for a reason.
Think about it this way. What is it really that these colleges want? Generally, their number one priority is outcomes, they want to show that going to their school leads to positive outcomes (high graduation rates, high retention rates, as close to a 4 year average graduation duration, etc). So what they are looking for are students that seem to have a high probability of future ‘success’.
So that means that they are both very sensitive to those to have good stats but are red flags for failure (e.g. not well rounded, essays that reflect not as strong communications skills, etc) but also those who don’t appear to be prepared to compete and prosper in a challenging environment. So to you in particular, given that background, the question you ask yourself could have gone:
***Northwestern (or any other competitive school) gets a lot of folks to are high achievers, so ‘trying my best’ without a subsequent high level accomplishment, is probably not in your favour. Rather, what are other areas I can show my special set of skills and ability to achieve (essays, extra curriculars, etc). ***
Good luck to you either way.
Just want to make sure, you know that NU is a private institute, not a public one.
for NU, the interview matters…if u get one…make the best of it…it can significantly push into the competition to get accepted.
@Ultra39w85 really? I did get an interview, even as an international, and it went well according to me.
Let’s hope for the best!
Do decisions come out in the morning or evening?
decisions come out today at 4 pm CST
@Anisqoyo , I might add that if you’re an OOS talented musician, that would also greatly improve chances of admission?
Omg my interview was so bad, my interviewer did not ask me any questions and wasn’t conversational at all, he just asked if I had questions. I had like 30 min worth of questions prepared abt the school but that was it, and so our interview was legit 30 min. You think this will hurt me a lot, I heard that Northwestern interviews were mostly informational on Reddit but someone here said they were super important.
I believe they don’t care about that piece as much unless you are auditioning for their School of Music? My daughter plays french horn and intends to do it at the collegiate level, but did not submit any music portfolio to NU since she is not planning to be a music major.
@ajowers , my ears perked up when you mentioned OOS musicians. I think my S has a great chance for Bienen, but unfortunately his expressed interest in a dual degree probably decreases his chances. His numbers are just below the 25th percentile. Oh well, we’ll all find out soon enough. And I’m a believer in everything happens for a reason. Good luck everyone!
My interviewer for Northwestern asked me a lot of hypothetical questions like 'if I was principal of my high school, what would I change?". It was really different than my other interviews.
[ul]northwesternadmissions
It’s the #firstdayofspring, and we have a #RegularDecision update and a bright spot during these challenging times. Applied #RegularDecision? You can see your admission decision Tuesday, March 24 (we’ll email you ?)?, #NU2024! Pro-tip: If you are already logged into your Northwestern applicant portal when we release decisions, you will not receive an email from us and you will need to REFRESH your portal to see your admission decision SPRING to life ?. Stay healthy![/ul]
^ From Instagram
i didn’t interview because i’m on Long Island and when i clicked on the link to make an interview appointment it said i would have to go all the way to new york city so i didn’t make an appointment, not to mention there weren’t even any dates left to schedule one.