really interested in NU! Can i get in? IL Resident!

Colleges and Universities A-Z Northwestern University
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<p>I am a junior - Asian American (great, I know!)</p>

<p>However, unlike most of my peers I am NOT by any means a "math/science" person, though I do love math, I love english/humanities wayyyy more!</p>

<p>Here's a break down of my stats as of right now:</p>

<p>Rank: top 2-3% out 550 people (estimated, could be a little higher) --> though i got a b in ap bio right now, which i am fretting about but hopefully it wont make TOO much of an impact? FYI - AP BIO, due to the teacher, is considered the hardest class at our school...not that NU would know that, but I felt i need to point that out to you lol.
GPA: 4.7 (out of 4 due to weighting)
Class load: hardest possible no doubt!
SAT: Eh. not so hot yet, barely making 2100 on practice exams. However, I have had much better luck with the ACTs - I am constantly scoring in mid 30's on that from practice exams. </p>

<p>ECs:
EIC of School Paper - first junior to become one in a looong time, i am absolutely certain that the newspaper advisor will write me a first class rec!</p>

<p>Write for other community papers as well, including our cultural one.</p>

<p>Countless essay competition awards; won 1st place in state for a newspaper article I wrote. That same article won 4th place nationally at another competiton (which i will not list here for security reasons as you can easily look me up) </p>

<p>Internship at congressman office summer before junior year </p>

<p>Teen Rep on local Youth Commisson - began this system of teen reps to help form better student-community alliances </p>

<p>With members of youth commission helped form young democracts society to promote Obama and help students who can't vote (like me) to still get involved in the poltical scene - created flyers, sent letters of concerns/request to the congressman about issues that bothered us, etc. etc. </p>

<p>Math Honor Society President</p>

<p>NAtional Honor Society</p>

<p>French Honor Society </p>

<p>DECA state winner</p>

<p>So what do you think? I am applicable at all? I've got time. What should I improve? How should I do it?</p>

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<p>"Countless essay competition awards..." ? "Countless"? And you are the Editor-in-Chief of your school newspaper! Try to delete the word "countless" from your vocabulary if you want to be taken seriously; it may be the most single misused word in the English language--next to "generally".
P.S. Northwestern University is a private school so Illinois residency is not a factor considered by the admissions committee.</p>

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<p>Coldwind,</p>

<p>lol. sorry and thanks for the memo. Clearly I have a lot to learn...I suppose that's why I am still a junior? </p>

<p>Anyone have some real advice? </p>

<p>Thanks again!</p>

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<p>I gave you "real advice". What you are seeking is opinions. Practice ACT/SAT scores are meaningless; what are your PSAT or other standardized test scores? Any AP or SAT II exam results?</p>

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<p>our school did not hand out PSAT results yet. However, I did take the PLAN test last year as a sophmore and recieved a 27-29 scale out of 32 (plan is out of 32..which is equal to 30-32 on the ACT according to the sheet). However, keep in mind that score was without ANY practice whatsoever. So i am pretty sure I can do better.</p>

<p>On the other hand, my first AP class was AP Euro (only one you can take as a soph.) and I recieved a score of 3. (not so great I am aware, but i've learned my lesson and am hoping to do better on my exams this year...) </p>

<p>Also, I did have a question regarding AP exams...how does NU evalute them? Do they look at it for admissions purposes or do they only look at it as a way to determine how many credits you can have?</p>

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<p>Also, cold wind, thanks very much for your "advice".</p>

<p>I really appreciate it, and no, there is no sarcasm in my statement :)</p>

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<p>AP exam results are used--to the best of my knowledge--only for placement & exemption purposes.
Your class rank is outstanding. Hard to assess your overall chances without more info.</p>

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<p>Thanks! Yeah, I realize it is early right now since I do not have any concrete test scores yet.... but do any of you have any ideas of what I can do to improve my chances? I heard NU has a great summer program, I think it is called NHSI or something that like that...it is for journalism, theater, and debate. I would go for the journalism one, but would that improve my chances of getting in at all?</p>

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<p>doing the cherubs program generally (haha sorry coldwind, it seemed to fit here) helps applicants, but whats a going to be a big factor is essays and your Why NU statement on your application next year (i think thats why cherubs do better, because they have more specific things to say on their why NU after experiencing the campus). Also, they like to see people who have an interest in NU- so get on their mailing list, if you can officially visit campus they keep record of that. E-mailing people never hurts either. I kept in contact with a few very nice alums who answered a ton of questions for me about applying and the department i wanted. Even if NU doesn't know about stuff like that, it will help you with the applying process just for personal knowledge</p>

<p>schoolwise, obviously keep your grades up and do the very best you can on tests, keep going with strong extracurriculers and do something awesome this summer :)</p>

<p>so these are all just my opinions of course, there isn't any "magic formula", but best of luck! i hope this helps</p>

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<p>Since NU is a private university, there is no separate (cheaper) tuition for Illinois residents. All admitted applicants pay the same tuition regardless of tuition. 25% of NU students come from Illinois (~50% Midwest generally) so you want to make your application stand out from the rest.</p>