Thank you, @saintfan.
I think it’s mean spirited to back her and then question her acceptance. This is an 18 yo whose parents put her through the wringer. Shame on some of you.
I think that Calicash was admitted on a holistic basis. She’s a writer and likely her essays and other accomplishments and perhaps her URM status helped with her admissions.
Since NU is a CSS school, they can manipulate need as they see fit. Nu may have decided to be more generous and give a preferential pkg. We may remember there was a high income URM athlete a few years ago whose dad was able to negotiate more money from an ivy.
These are private schools, they can do what they want.
However, I would caution Cali’s family not to trust that the there won’t be a huge jump in cost once the sibling graduates. NOT ONLY will there be one less in school, but there will be one less in the household count. If the family is fine with being possibly full pay or near full pay then, then great.
I for one am not “questioning her acceptance.” I simply remarked that I assumed all along that she had accomplishments that she wasn’t talking about, because she probably wasn’t getting in on her SATs. And that’s fine.
Parents should save money to help their children pay for college. It doesn’t have to be for all of it, but at least show a little effort. Teach your kids about saving money and not spending it all.
*The OP is not a repeat identity of those others that have been mentioned. There are several indicators of this. Also it is off topic to make that accusation on the open boards, not to mention a bit unseemly when you are wrong. Just report such suspicions. We don’t mind when there is good reason to suspect it, as there was in this case. It just didn’t turn out to be true in this case.
I would also throw in that I am always a bit mystified when people say things like “I am surprised you got in because you have stats in the bottom 25%”. A quarter of the entering class got in having stats in the bottom 25% of last year’s entering class. It happens, as they say, by definition. Are you surprised that every one of them got in? Did you really think that every student entering NU (or any elite school) were going to have stats so identical that there would be no tiers? Yes, a lower stat student seems less likely if you only know their stats. But of course there are many factors. The point is even those stats put them in that school’s range. Again, virtually by definition, or at least by historical example year after year.*
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I am always a bit mystified when people say things like “I am surprised you got in because you have stats in the bottom 25%”. A quarter of the entering class got in having stats in the bottom 25% of last year’s entering class. It happens, as they say, by definition.
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@fallenchemist
No mystery. Yes, there obviously are 25% of students in the bottom quartile, but we’ve been used to seeing that those students are: athletes, children of super-donors, the artistic talented, or some other hooked student. I do think that this student was hooked. She has a writing talent and she’s a URM.
I want to clarify. My opinion… Calicash earned her acceptance to NU. It is terrific that she is able to attend, and that the finances have worked out for her family.
My only reservation… This might not be a guarantee for another student.
But it does show, it is always worth asking.
@thumper1 Even if Cali had perfect stats, her acceptance would be an occurrence, not a formula. We say that all the time on CC (no, 4.0 GPAs and 2400/36 do not guarantee acceptance.) No acceptances are guarantees at elite colleges, no matter what your stats are.
And @mom2collegekids - can you verify beyond a shadow of a doubt that those spots are reserved for “hooked” students? Or is that just your opinion?
Albert…to clarify further, I meant to say the finances might not be guaranteed for someone with a similar financial appeal.
Nothing is really guaranteed.
But no question, Cali earned her acceptance.
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can you verify beyond a shadow of a doubt that those spots are reserved for “hooked” students? Or is that just your opinion?
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lol…as if colleges put that out in writing somewhere. Besides, WHERE did I say that those spots are RESERVED for hooked students.
@albert69 And why are you acting offended that we believe that the bottom quartiles of top schools consist largely of hooked, talented, athletic, children of super-donors, or similar??
That said, I do remember a Harvard recruiter and a Yale recruiter saying that they allow for X number of lowish stats athletes …those would be in the bottom quartile. I can’t remember what the number was.
Well, let’s do the math. NU has an entering class of about 2,000. So that puts the bottom 25% at 500 students. Now a football team has 83 (I think) athletes, and while usually not all of them are on scholarship let’s say 80 are to keep the numbers easy. That means on average 20 freshmen are. Basketball is much less, so maybe at a school like NU that doesn’t have one-and-dones say 4 a year. Those 24 takes care of the two revenue sports, and other sports like baseball, volleyball, golf, etc. usually have a mix of full and partial scholarships. So let’s be generous and say that there are 100 slots per year that go to athletes. Now it would be both unkind and incorrect to assume that all those athletes fall into the bottom 25% of academic stats, but even if they did that leaves 400 slots. I have a very hard time believing that there are that many that go to major donors and/or any of the other categories mentioned. Not to mention that most of the super talented kids in the arts that I know that might be attractive to a school are also great students.
I think the rational conclusion, unless I have missed something, is that most of those students are just regular people that are just at the lower end of NU’s statistical curve. Which, I would be remiss to not point out, still puts those students near the very top nationally. I mean let’s not act like the bottom 25% at NU are the dregs of society. I know no one said that, but I think when the tone gets the way it did, it is easy to forget that a person with those stats is still an outstanding student with tons of potential.
I’ll leave this thread open for a few more days to give everyone a chance to get their last words in, but then I will close it since Cali has arrived at the end of her “adventure”. Best of luck from me as well, Cali.
I am happy that this studnt was admitted to several schools that met her needs and that she and her family could A) afford, and B) get in to.
Your numbers are a little short for the athletes. A D-1 football team can have 85 players on scholarship, 105 total (30 non-scholarship), and 25 can be freshmen. Yes, about 4 freshmen men basketball players, but don’t forget there are women too, for basketball, tennis, and volleyball (NW doesn’t have gymnastics) for the full scholarships. There are lots and lots of athletes on partial scholarships (all the other sports), many recruited, many with grades and scores able to get in without an athletic help from the coaches.
There are also people who scored lower in one of the categories, which is reflected in the averages but doesn’t mean the student was in the lower 25% in all categories. Someone might have a 800 on the math portion of SAT but only a 600 on the CR. That person might also have a gpa of 4.0 so the admissions committee thought he was a good candidate. Not the same as if a candidate had a 600/600/3.2.
Well, one thing this thread clearly demonstrates is that some animals are more equal than others.
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Well, let’s do the math. NU has an entering class of about 2,000. So that puts the bottom 25% at 500 students. Now a football team has 83 (I think) athletes, and while usually not all of them are on scholarship let’s say 80 are to keep the numbers easy. That means on average 20 freshmen are. Basketball is much less, so maybe at a school like NU that doesn’t have one-and-dones say 4 a year. Those 24 takes care of the two revenue sports, and other sports like baseball, volleyball, golf, etc. usually have a mix of full and partial scholarships. So let’s be generous and say that there are 100 slots per year that go to athletes. Now it would be both unkind and incorrect to assume that all those athletes fall into the bottom 25% of academic stats, but even if they did that leaves 400 slots. I have a very hard time believing that there are that many that go to major donors and/or any of the other categories mentioned. Not to mention that most of the super talented kids in the arts that I know that might be attractive to a school are also great students.
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What difference does it make if an athlete is on full or partial scholarship? Who cares which belong to revenue sports.
As for the lower quartile…
I don’t know how many athletes (male and female) NU has. (doesn’t matter what level of scholarship they have) There are 19 teams
I don’t know how many theater (audition) and fine arts (portfolio) folks they have. These people may be “great students” (strong GPAs), but many don’t necessarily have test scores that will be in the above the lower quartile at a top/elite school.
I also don’t know how many are hooked by being children/grands of super-donors. Some may be the children/grands of endowed chair profs, dept heads, deans, head coaches, or provosts.
I don’t know how many were admitted because they add regional or ethnic diversity.
I don’t know how many were admitted because they have a special story to tell…very low income, homeless for awhile, etc, etc.
I don’t know how many were int’ls who have super math SATs, but their CRs are more modest.
There are also other talents/aspects that can nudge an otherwise “lowish stats” applicant into the accepted pile.
These are all special circumstances that an unhooked person lacks.
I don’t know how many the above represents, but I think they could fill up or nearly fill up the lower quartile.
Any hubbub here isn’t about niceness. Parts of the picture leave questions (to phrase it as mildly as I can.) I think some would have liked a straight scoop, especially a couple of posters here who know very well how FA works, at a broad swath of colleges. This level of FA is well out of the usual range, for the income stated. Maybe the issue is that the income is actually nowhere near what was said.
Northwestern says, at Family Income of 150k+, the “Average NU Scholarship” is $18,950. OP tells us she got 21k, bumped up to 30k, for an income of well over 200k. The only thing that makes sense, with the info we got, is that some are left scratching their heads.
Sometimes, our understanding can’t be any better than the quality of the input. You see it all the time on FA threads, the push to get some clarity.
When we usually hear of some sort of Hail Mary save, it’s just not at 200k+, two kids, one with low costs, etc, etc. So yes, enquiring minds would have liked to know something more that makes this make sense.
I know two students from upper middle-class families who received higher scholarships than “average” for their musical talents–one for voice, one for an instrument, at NU. Why not for writing?
Cali–as I’ve followed your adventure, I’ve found you to be diplomatic, handle yourself well with adults, and a very good writer. I’m sure that you will do well moving forward.
Yes, Cali will flourish at NU and NU is lucky to have her. She’s shown great maturity and her writing talent will serve her well in NU’s school of journalism. 
I hope we hear back from her as she starts her new life