Yes. You have to reset your password. Change it
@pogchamp111 I remember that when I visited the campus, one of the students mentioned that they pretty much walked up to a financial aid officer once they got on campus and explained their family’s situation, and they got more financial aid. I’d recommend emailing them! I know they are pretty open with giving away money.
Hey guys I have a genuine question.
I was waitlisted yesterday for my application to Medill school of journalism. They told me that if I accept my position on the waitlist, I will be notified after May 1st. The thing is, I will have to commit to other schools by that date so I will either be giving up my chance of being a NU student or giving up my deposit to the other school if I come off the waitlist.
The other schools to which I have been accepted are equally as good, but I love Northwestern so much that I don’t know if I can let it go.
Do you guys think I should let go of Northwestern and commit to another school or should I risk staying on the waitlist after May 1st?
Also is there a possibility that people come off the waitlist before May 1st?
Please let me know! Any input is welcomed! Thanks
Here are my stats:
Asian Male at Pennsylvanian private boarding high school
SAT 1540
TOEFL 120
7 AP all fives
SAT II Math II 800
SAT II French w/ listening 740
Weighted GPA 95/100
Class President
Editor-in-chief of Yearbook
Managing Editor of Newspaper
Varsity Squash
multiple summer studies abroad
multiple national and international awards for writing and photography
also I spent a week by myself at NU to go to classes, tour, meet with professors, etc to get the experience and demonstrate interest
@PPofEngrDr , need-based aid varies per school, which I discovered from the two schools from which we have heard so far. We’d be paying twice the amount (a significant amount!!!) at NU. The financials presented by NU IS a burden that we are currently trying to remedy.
@jz2020 Congrats to you on your great achievements and acceptances. I think it is a no brainer to accept the spot on the waitlist followed by a hand - written genuine and unique love letter to NU admissions. Pay the deposit for your second choice, knowing that it may be forfeited. If you go to a PA boarding school, I would hope that losing it would be small potatoes for your family. ? What do your parents and boarding school’s college counselor think you should do? Good luck to you and please share your decisions. Your future is bright regardless of the outcome! Namaste.
Curious…did NU’s FA offer match their net price calculator (NPC) estimate?
@Busy_Momma it is true from school to school, NU doesn’t just cover full ride for a true need, they are also need-blind admission, they don’t know your financial situation to make a decision on applicant (ED or RD). How did you determine twice, NFC calculator? What @ohnoitsme has said earlier is accurate, a personal visit to financial aid office can make difference, which in current environment is not going to possible as most administrative functions are online now, you may still request video call, nothing hurts. We were equally concerned 2 years back but being local, visit to fin aid office was turned out to be a deal breaker.
For us it turned out better than NPC. YMMV.
For us, the family contribution was triple the FAFSA EFC. It was $5K more than the NPC and I think $10K+ more than the intuition estimate. I can swing these first year costs but to help estimate future years (with one less kid in college and higher business income), I would love to know how it was calculated using the profile. I think I will write a detailed thread, maybe someone has insight into the calculations.
If you contact fin aid office, they will open whole spreadsheet in front of you. Ofc, that is not available for public sharing. I would start with CSS profile, It is not that complicated!
Congratulations to those accepted! My son has not been able to visit the campus. Would love to hear from those of you who have visited. What is your pros/cons list?
@derJudge It’s a beautiful campus! It’s close to Chicago, too, so you get the best of both worlds 
If you’re from somewhere warm, it does get very cold and windy, but if the people from California manage to survive, so can you. The people seemed to be pretty happy and normal. If you have any more specific questions let me know!
@derJudge We live in the western suburbs of Chicago and have toured NU’s campus twice. Once in the summer of 2018 and again in the summer of 2019, right before admission season began. Both times the sky was cloudless and blue, perfect days. The location is unmatched. Located directly on Lake Michigan, incredible architecture and a sailing school - and walkable to charming commercial district of Evanston and its restaurants! Looking south from the beach you can see the Chicago skyline. The brand new Henry Crown Sports Pavilion is world class and the athletic fields are also right along the Lake Michigan shoreline. We toured many charming campuses with D20 and never saw one in a better spot. Enough of the positives…let’s get to the negatives. There is GRAFFITI all over the rocks along the Lake Michigan shoreline. Yes, the artsy NU folk may call it art, but I call it graffiti. The frat houses are in the center of the campus with academic buildings around them…not something that necessarily boosts inclusiveness and intellectualism on the campus. The original library is charming- with an enormous green space between it and Sheridan Road - complete with gargoyles and Latin inscriptions, but the new library looks like it was designed by the same architect as the Brady’s house. Total 1970’s and not welcoming at all. There is also a huge theatre crowd on campus that is apparent in the information sessions. One of the guides thought she was quite cute and referred to her job in the neuroscience lab as being a member of the guillotine team. Great way to turn off nature and animal lovers, valuable applicants when ‘building a class’ these days. They pulled this same scripted nonsense the following weekend when another friend and her daughter visited. It may be advantageous to google ‘Evanston Homeless’, ‘International Student killed on Sheridan Road’ and the ‘Northwestern Rock WebCam’ to see the graffiti firsthand. My daughter was a legacy and I was pushing her to love NU, but we came away both times very turned off. She had the test scores, GPA, and financial means to be the ideal candidate, but opted to go east to one of the top tier liberal arts colleges. Good luck to your son - depending on what type of kid he is, it may be perfect. Both visits gave the vibe that extroverted, urban loving kids would thrive at NU. Lastly, I must restate - the location can’t be beat - but I think it is important to know the culture too. Best to you both!
Yeah the brutalist architecture of the main library is unappealing externally but the inside is amazing and full of wonderful resources and study spaces! Also the “graffiti” is all a part of northwestern tradition–traditions that build a sense of community between the students! At the end of your 4 years at NU you may paint a rock and whenever you come back to visit be able to sit by that rock, looking out onto the beautiful lake and Chicago skyline, and remember all the amazing times you had as a wildcat
@Mwfan1921 , honestly we only did gross estimates in entering data for NPC, long before the actual application, so we really don’t remember how close it was to the offer. Again it was S’s dream school, so we thought we’d shoot for the stars.
@PPofEngrDr , it’s the EFC that’s twice the amount. I’m guessing it’s because NU also took info from CSS in addition to FAFSA to determine that number. I have to say that both NU and state school met “need” as determined by their respective EFC. I prefer the latter’s number though as it reflects more my own perceived need.
And can’t forget the lifetime experience when my S as a freshman class gets honor at first home game of Wildcat season. Pro tip, sit on opponent team side for closest view (section 132/133) at Ryan Field and bash opponent fans (it was UMich 
). And don’t forget dance marathon!
NU (and all meet full need schools) meet need as defined by their calculations. Schools that use the CSS Profile use only that information to calculate a family’s contribution…FAFSA is used to qualify for Federal Aid, e.g., pell grants, direct student loans, work study, etc.
Definitely meet with someone from financial aid to go thru the details. Good luck.
@Mwfan1921 - NM, DH just going through old notes and found his back-of-napkin NPC estimate as being only about 1k off. He recalls reading somewhere how pretty spot on NU NPC usually is. Guess it really is!
@derJudge We are in the same position - it’s the one school we didn’t actually see in person, and yet now it is so far the highest offer my son has received (full ride+) so I feel we need to consider it. However so hard when we didn’t go and of course now we can’t…
@delynnel can certainly understand, compare with other options you have,. As classes are online, I won’t be surprised if there is an online version for admitted students too. Worst case scenario, accept admission multiple places and let go afterwards once you visit all schools as time may permit in future, loose some deposits at end (unpopular opinion as you may hostage wait listed hopefuls)