<p>Decision: Accepted to the Judd A. and Marjorie Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences</p>
<p>Objective:[ul]
[li] SAT I (breakdown): 730R/800M/770W–2300 (Took it 3 times, this was my superscore–though I also got it in one sitting on that third try). My first try was 650R/670M/610W (1930), and my second try was 630R/710M/750W (2090).</p>[/li]
<p>[li] ACT: Didn’t take; got my 2300 a couple weeks before the one I was registered to take, so I just skipped it xD</p>[/li]
<p>[li] SAT II: 780 Math IIC, 790 US History, 700 Biology M (I didn’t send the biology score; only took it because two colleges required a science, so I already sent most scores to most colleges before I took it, and considering how hard it was I’m pretty happy I got a 700 lol…)</p>[/li]
<p>[li] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): my school doesn’t do unweighted, but if I had to do it myself I’d say 3.9+/4. My school weighs on a 5.4 scale (but highest possible is only a 4.9)</p>[/li]
<p>[li] Weighted GPA (and scale): My school weighs on a 5.4 scale (but highest possible is only a 4.9); weighted GPA is 4.534</p>[/li]
<p>[li] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 15/267ish</p>[/li]
<p>[li] AP (place score in parenthesis): AP US History (5) [Note: juniors in my school are only allowed to take a couple APs; there is a way around the schedule to fit 3, but you will have to drop other classes that will lead you to APs senior year–most people who do take APs take only one, either APUSH or APChem).</p>[/li]
<p>[li] IB (place score in parenthesis): School doesn’t offer IB</p>[/li]
<p>[li] Senior Year Course Load: AP Bio, AP Gov, Engineering Honors, AP English Lit, AP Calculus AB, AP Spanish (relatively difficult, especially because I’m taking so many classes compared to others in my school; couldn’t get the hardest possible though because I had to fulfill an art requirement–thus, engineering xD)</p>[/li]
<p>[li] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): None 
Only minor awards like George Washington University Book Award and National Merit Commended :3</p>[/li]
<p>[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[li] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Chess Club (4 years-president, secretary junior year)[/li]FBLA (this year lmao)
SMART Team (this year only, but it was first year of the club, and it’s only for AP Bio students)
Physics League I (1 year, only available junior year)
Spanish club (1 year)
Latin Club (4 years)
Stock Market Club (3 years)
Track (1 year)
I’m sure there were more, but as you can see, I sort of just crammed in a bunch of clubs my junior year 
Juniors seeing this, as long as you have at least a focus on your application, don’t worry too much. I wanted to do Economics, and I wrote my essay about it, was in Stock market club for 3 years, did a summer program on it, etc.-- the point is, even though I don’t have many long-term ECs, the ones I did have were often business based (summer program, 3 years in stock market club), and the fact that I made it the concentration of my application through my essays showed my interest and overshadowed the relatively mediocre amount of ECs.</p>
<p>[li] Job/Work Experience: None</p>[/li]
<p>[li] Volunteer/Community service: [/li]Worked with a NGO in India in my hometown of Chennai that took in mentally ill women who were thrown onto the streets by their families and rehabilitated them. I helped the accounting department mostly, but did work at times with the patients. (150+ hours)</p>
<p>Amnesty International activities over the summer in the NYC area. Part of their teen group and took part in activities (protests, awareness things, etc.)</p>
<p>[li] Summer Activities: Took a summer program on the Stock Market, finance, and economics at Columbia.</p>[/li]
<p>[li] Essays:[/li]Common App: this essay was about my visit to my dad’s factory, and how it made me remember my Indian roots, how I am and will always be both Indian and American (though I was born in India), and why I am so interested in business and economics.</p>
<p>Common App (Short Essay): About my time at the Banyan, and how it made me smile and enjoy the life I have, considering those women who were abandoned could manage to still smile everyday.</p>
<p>Why NU?: Talked about their lack of a core curriculum, and how it allows me to apply my interest of economics into other fields, thus allowing me to spread my horizons (I didn’t say “spread my horizons” though) to other fields through a medium I enjoy, instead of forcing me into. I also talked about how the NU administrators care about their students, and do whatever it takes for them to have fun and create the education they desire (I cited specific examples from tour guide’s personal experience). Also mentioned the Happiness Club and charitables organizations (didn’t spend too long on it though). But I definitely did show I was interested, and I had a lot of examples that you couldn’t really find online, so i think they liked that.</p>
<p>[li] Teacher Recommendation: Didn’t read them. Got one from both my APUSH teacher and Junior year english teacher. I think both were okay, though. Both are used to writing a lot of college recs, they probably made it pretty good. My english teacher had everyone make brag sheets (short essay in which you brag about yourself and the experience in the class), so that made it a bit better though I wasn’t the most active student in that class. My history teacher only got to know me well this year because of AP Gov, but I think he liked me a lot, so I’m sure it was good. Either way, it got me in to a great school in NU xD so it can’t be that bad.</p>[/li]
<p>[li] Counselor Rec: Didn’t read it, but I think it was pretty good. I’m one of the top students my counselor has, so I’m sure it was somewhere between good-very good.</p>[/li]
<p>[li] Additional Rec: Read it! Got one from my professor at Columbia summer program. It was very good, showed that I was ready for a college level class (especially in economics). Showed I was a leader in the class as well :).</p>[/li]
<p>[li] Interview: Didn’t have one / ask for one.</p>[/li]
<p>[/ul]Other
[li] State (if domestic applicant): New Jersey</p>[/li]
<p>[li] Country (if international applicant): Born in India, but moved to USA when I was 6. Not international though, because I have a green card (which means I am a permanent resident).</p>[/li]
<p>[li] School Type: Medium sized (around 1200 people, ~300 per grade), wealthy neighborhood, very competitive</p>[/li]
<p>[li] Ethnicity: Asian (Indian)</p>[/li]
<p>[li] Gender: M</p>[/li]
<p>[li]Income Bracket: 250,000+</p>[/li]
<p>[li] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): First generation (though my sisters did go to college, I still think I’m first gen because my parents didn’t…)</p>[/li]
<p>Reflection
[li] Strengths: Essay, economics concentration throughout application, stats</p>[/li]
<p>[li] Weaknesses: ECs, possibly teacher recs (even though I think they were good, I didn’t participate much, partly because both those classes were huge…thus, there is the chance they were relatively generic recs)</p>[/li]
<p>[li] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I think I showed them that I really liked Northwestern, and was focused and had a passion, in addition to wanting to find new ones. </p>[/li]
<p>[li] Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:[/li]Accepted- Boston College CSOM Honors Program (CSOM = their business school)</p>
<p>Waitlisted- Wesleyan (wasn’t one of my top choices, and NU is one of the schools at the top of my list, so I don’t care anymore. I’m happy for the people who had Wesleyan as their first choice got in over me, they deserve it :))</p>
<p>Deferred/Rejected- UChicago. It was my first choice, but once I got deferred I started to realize maybe it wasn’t for me. Now that I am rejected, I can move on completely and not have it linger in my mind what I would do if I was accepted there. Plus, honestly, I think I’ll have a better time at a school like NU or BC which offers a more traditional, fun college experience xD. Congrats to those who got in!</p>
<p>[li] Where else did you apply?:[/li]Harvard, Dartmouth, Columbia, UPenn (Wharton), NYU (Stern), Carnegie Mellon (Tepper), Duke, Tufts, Cornell, Emory, and Vanderbilt. </p>
<p>I only care about NYU (I applied to the BPE program, so if I get in then it’ll make my choice pretty hard…), Cornell (only if I get into the AEM major), and UPenn now. The other schools I simply don’t care/like as much as NU, or know I have a very low shot at getting into xD </p>
<p>General Comments: I am ecstatic right now!!! NU is one of my top choices (if not the top)! I was feeling so down after getting waitlisted and rejected from UChic and Wesleyan on the same day xD I was so scared i’d be rejected by NU on the same day too… This acceptance totally makes up for the delays w/ the e-mail link haha! To those who didn’t get in: don’t worry, move on, and you will find a great school to go to! Remember, it’s what you do with your education!</p>
Good luck to people still finding out! And to those who aren’t accepted, don’t worry, you’ll be happy wherever you go!</p>