<p>Accepted to the School of Communication 
</p>
<p>Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): didn’t take</p>
<p>ACT: 28 (34E, 31R, 26S, don’t quite remember Math)</p>
<p>SAT II: didn’t take (I don’t go to a competitive school so the SATs are rarely talked about and the SAT II are unheard of to most people)</p>
<p>Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.8 (That may be my weighted GPA and that’s how I reported it on the Common App. We get 5 points added to our grade for Pre-AP classes and 10 for AP classes. So we only get one GPA, not two.)</p>
<p>Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): school doesn’t rank</p>
<p>AP (place score in parenthesis): English Language, Government, U.S. History (didn’t send scores, so my scores are irrelevant)
IB (place score in parenthesis): didn’t take</p>
<p>Senior Year Course Load: AP English Composition, AP Statistics, AP Psychology, AP Spanish, Multi-Media Design, Law in Society, Management Principles (wasn’t on my Common App because I changed my schedule), Economics
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Red Cross Exceptional New Volunteer, Red Cross Leadership Award, Spanish Honor Society Most Volunteer Hours, Spanish Honor Society Highest Average in all Spanish Classes Attempted</p>
<p>Subjective:</p>
<p>Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Red Cross Youth Committee (10th grade: First Assistant, 11th: Vice-Chair of Documentation, 12th: Committee Chair/President), Red Cross North Alabama Board of Directors (voting member, Service Deliveries Committee), Spanish Honor Society (President), Spanish Club (11th-12th Vice-President, Activities and Fundraising Coordinator), Student Government Association (Advertising Committee, Homecoming Logistics Committee), Future Business Leaders of America</p>
<p>Job/Work Experience: N/A</p>
<p>Volunteer/Community service: A lot of Red Cross and Spanish Honor Society volunteer hours, Hospital Volunteer</p>
<p>Summer Activities: Hospital Summer Volunteer, University of Alabama Culverhouse Majors Awareness Program (business school), UAH Entrepreneurship Camp, etc (I don’t see this anywhere in my Common App anywhere so me writing this seems irrelevant)</p>
<p>Essays: Common App (10/10) I really think this made the difference with me being accepted. I talked about me getting moved from free to reduced lunch although my family doesn’t make anymore money. I went on to talk about my transition after immigrating to America and how I adjusted. I ended with saying that I would never change anything in the progression of my life, but it still isn’t perfect. I think I was very well written and I got an English teacher to proof read it. I used this essay from Questbridge but I didn’t get in, but I think that had more to do with my supplemental essays.
Why NU (9/10?) Talked about how I have never even been to Illinois and I don’t know if I’ll love it or hate it. Talked about what I’ll major in and all the clubs I’ll join. Made it clear that Northwestern was the ticket to a better life.
Teacher Recommendation: Both (7-8/10): My counselor read them to me and said they were a little above average. One mentioned how when a teacher abruptly quit at my school, I stepped up and taught the Spanish class. In general, just talked about how amazing I am</p>
<p>Counselor Rec: (11/10) Amazing. I almost cried when I heard it. I would admit me after that! She makes us write about ourselves, what we’ve done throughout high school and how we would describe ourselves and a parent has to do it before she will write anything so she can get a better understanding of us. She explained my bad grade in Science. write a lot about my personal life and transition to America. She also knows me better than other students because I made sure that I was her Office Aide and before that I went to talk to her a lot so I could be one of her priorities.</p>
<p>Additional Rec: n/a</p>
<p>Interview: didn’t even ask for one</p>
<p>Other</p>
<p>State (if domestic applicant): AL</p>
<p>Country (if international applicant):</p>
<p>School Type: public, VERY average (our average ACT score after state testing is like a 19, which is the highest in the county, if that tells you anything)</p>
<p>Ethnicity: Black (originally from the Caribbean)</p>
<p>Gender: Female</p>
<p>Income Bracket: $31,000</p>
<p>Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): first generation, immigrant, low-income</p>
<p>Reflection: I really was scared I wouldn’t get in. I feel like Northwestern will forever change the trajectory of my life.</p>
<p>Strengths: upward trend, Essays, Counselor’s Rec</p>
<p>Weaknesses: grades and ACT score maybe?</p>
<p>Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I believe my essay really showed who I was, how different I am and how my life experiences my be different from the average applicant and how much I wanted to go to Northwestern. My application showed how much I am dedicated to Spanish (about to take fifth class, volunteer in Spanish, Honor Society, club, etc), showed how much I care about the Red Cross. My counselor Rec also was a great deciding factor, I believe.</p>
<p>Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Only heard back from and got accepted to the University of Alabama and Wesleyan College. Need to withdraw my app from NYU, Penn State.</p>
<p>General Comments: I looked on here and sometimes its hard to believe all the people with perfect ACT/SAT scores and GPAs. I felt really discouraged when I looked on here, so I felt like it was really important to to put my stats out there to encourage people whose application may not be perfect and who may want to apply to a reach school. If you have a story to tell, tell it. It’s very possible to get in if a part of your application may not be as strong as others. Just work really hard and really try to separate yourself from everyone else. Also, I didn’t get into Questbridge and that was a little discouraging, but I told myself there is more than one way skin a cat. If you don’t get in, although it may feel like it, it’s not the end of the world. </p>