please chance me!! desperate stressing northwestern hopeful

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hi!! If anyone is reading this, hopefully a current student at Northwestern or better yet Medill, maybe an alum or parent of a current student there, I would be extremely greatful.As a junior in high school, I am completely fretting about my chances of getting into NU Medill- my dream school since 8th grade. If someone could read this profile and tell me what my chances are/what I need to improve on to get in, I would really appreciate it.</p>

<p>courses: currently, I take</p>

<p>APUSH
AP Language and Composition
Honors Algebra II
Chemistry (most juniors at my school can't take chem until junior year if they are not strong in math)
Phys Ed/Health
Digital Design
Psychology 101
Honors Spanish 5</p>

<p>I took drama 1, journalism, public speaking, and a business/money course and all honors classes my freshman and sophomore years if that helps.</p>

<p>GPA: 96.0 weighted, I think 94 or 95 unweighted</p>

<p>Test Scores: Just took the SAT for the first time 2 weeks ago, hoping to get my scores back soon, but I usually score around a 2100. Hoping for the best :)</p>

<p>ECs: Writing Editor in Chief all three years of high school as well as Chief Copy Editor for my HS Yearbook, Current Editor in Chief of the Newspaper, Teens Against Cancer Club member/volunteer, Camp Sunshine (for disabled children and adults) summer counselor, Spanish National Honor Society, Book Club member for 2 years, 2 year varsity cheerleader and JV cheerleader as a freshman (freshmen aren't allowed to be on Varsity Cheer at my school for some reason), Varsity Swimteam freshman year but had to quit for cheerleading because they conflicted, published poetry writer/finalist in the Creative Communications Poetry Contest Winners Book, children events coordinator volunteer for my church, member of the chess club as of this year, Lead America Leadership Conference Alumni (received an award there for best publication), New York Film Academy Intern this past summer, Gettysburg Yearbook Experience Conference Alum/Representative for my school (received an award there for writing), and waiting to hear back on my acceptance into the National Honor Society and National English Society of my school (we apply for it as juniors in March) and I am going to run for President of the NEHS. I am also now currently interning for my town's historian on his thesis paper and research projects, and am going to apply to do an internship with my town news or 201 magazine this summer along with continuing my volunteer work at Camp Sunshine and my church. Oh I also worked as a nanny freshman year for 2 children, i babysit when my neighbors need it, and I worked as a cheerleading coach, unpaid, for 2 years for the junior cheerleading program in my town. I also contribute to my school's literary magazine every year, and I starred in a small indie film called "Chasing Shadows" my town shot to submit to film festivals the summer of my sophomore year for fun (I used to like acting, but writing is my main passion). Also traveled to Peru with my class last year for spring break, and am going to Costa Rica in June to serve a charity for 10 days in June.</p>

<p>This summer i got into a program at Boston University for Investigative Reporting, I am going to attend classes, dorm there, and work with a journalism professor on my craft and hopefully get the opportunity to publish my pieces in a local Boston Newspaper. I hope this works out! :)</p>

<p>My sister is currently a freshman at NU, but she is not studying journalism. I hope my deep interest in the school for years and my dedication to journalism shine through in my application, but I feel like my GPA, test scores, and classes I am currently enrolled in might be too beneath the admissions requirements (high 2100 on the sat, 98 gpa is required at least).</p>

<p>But I am applying ED to NU for sure, and hope I can somehow magically get in. It would be a DREAM. How can i get closer to reaching this goal?? ANY HELP is appreciated. :)
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<p>Bump</p>

3

<p>You’re almost certainly in. Take some harder courses, get GPA to 97 and SAT to 2200 and then apply to an Ivy too.</p>

4

<p>Wow! Your ECs are very impressive! I think you will have a really solid chance there if you increase your course rigor and test scores</p>

5

<p>Your SAT is a bit low for Northwestern. Also, you need to take at least 2 SAT2 tests. Try to bring up your SAT by around 150 and also score two subject tests near 800. The acceptance rate this year is 12.9%, so it is getting more and more competitive that is not far off from some Ivies.</p>

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<p>SAT scores don’t come out for three more days, so if the SAT gods are smiling down upon me, maybe I will reach the 2200 mark! I am taking 3 subjects this year in May, so hopefully i do well on them. Fingers crossed! It’s too late at this point to increase my course rigor for Junior Year unfortunately, but I am working very hard to get my GPA higher. However, I am taking all honors courses,2 Syracuse University Classes, and 3 APs next year (the maximum allowed at my school). If math and science obviously are not my strong points, do you think this damages my chances of admissions? </p>

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<p>The acceptance rate last year was 13.9%, which is decent. With your scores, I think you will likely get in. It depends on your major. If math and science are not your strong-points but you want a PhD specializing in algebraic topology, it’ll be tough. In commerce or the arts, it won’t matter a lot. </p>

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<p>@wannabefeynman if I am applying to the Medill School of Journalism to major in Journalism with my above resume, work experience with the Daily Northwestern (school newspaper for NU, this is recent :)) and have strong family ties to the school (my sisters a student and cheerleader for their big 10 teams, my grandpa taught there for a very short time) do you think it’s possible?? what can i do :)</p>

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<p>Is this what you are asking: “I’m applying to a predominantly medical-based school for a Journalism major, do you think it is possible?”
If so, of course it’s possible. I think you have a very good chance getting into the school, especially if math and science is not your main interest. Why not consider some other school which is more suited for journalism? </p>

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<p>@wannabefeynman What exactly do you mean “more suited for journalism?”</p>

<p>Medill has consistently been one of the top-ranked schools in Journalism
<a href=“http://www.tvweek.com/news/np%20Dec%202013%20LR%20Book.pdf”>http://www.tvweek.com/news/np%20Dec%202013%20LR%20Book.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>@hagzzz, that what I meant when I rephrased his question. You’ll see that I thought he meant medical. For some reason, I didn’t think of Medill. My apologies. :slight_smile: </p>

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<p>Yes, I meant Medill School of Journalism, because it has a reputation of excellency in the field and is consistently ranked in the top five. thank you both for the clarity!</p>