still a chance at Northwestern?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I was doing pretty well until Junior year well anyways ... </p>

<p>I come from a large public school in Chicagoland area.
Rank: School dosen't release; top 5%
Weighted: 4.49 ( will increase after junior finals)
Unweighted: 4.00 </p>

<p>9th------------------------1st sem---2nd sem
Intro to Business------------A-----------------
Computer Programming Acc-----------------A+
Fr English normal------------A-//-------- A- (I'm really bad at English)
Adv. Algebra HN------------ A-//--------A
Bio Acc---------------------A----------A
World History (required)------A+--------A</p>

<p>10th
Marketing--------------------A--------------
Entrepreneurship-------------------------A+
Chinese I---------------------A-----------A
Sophmore English normal-------A-//-------A-
Geometry HN------------------A+---------A+
Health ( required)-------------------------A+
Chem( acc)--------------------A------------A+
AP Human Geo-----------------A------------A+</p>

<p>11th
Chinese II (acc)----------------A-----------A or A- (taking finals next week)
AP Computer Science-----------A-------------A-
AP Physics B-------------------A-//-----------A
Precalc HN--------------------- A-//----------A or A- probably A
AP US History-------------------A---------------A
Junior English Acc----------------A-----------------A-
Drivers Ed(required)----------------------------------A+</p>

<p>Scheduled for 12th
AP Chemistry
AP Physics C
AP English Literature
AP Calc BC
AP Stats (?) might have to drop if schedule is too full, will probably self study
AP Macro
AP Gov
Chinese 3x/ AP if i study over summer </p>

<p>ACT: 35
English: 34
Math: 36
Reading: 34
Science: 36</p>

<p>SAT II:
Math II: 800
Chem: 770 ( havent taken AP Chem yet)
Physics: 790 </p>

<p>haven't taken SAT yet</p>

<p>APs:
Human Geo-5
Comp Sci- probably 5, small chance of 4
Physics- Most likely a 5, very small chance of 4
APUSH- Either a 5 or 4, half and half </p>

<p>EC's:
(fairly weak, I think)
FBLA<br>
-Sophmore yr: 3rd at regionals, 1st at state for business math. Just below 10th (probably 13- 14) at nationals so no award =(
- Junior yr: 2nd at regionals, 1st at state for business calculations. Going to nationals during Summer. Was on eboard (Director of Community Service)
- Ran for president but lost b/c other guy was more popular
Scholastic/ Quiz Bowl
-Participated 9-12
-Went to nationals and going to PACE soon.
Model UN
- Participated 9-11
-Went to Harvard MUN conference, quitting senior yr due to time commitments
NHS
-Participated 11th, got about 20 hours with events
Zetabites
-Technology based club that me and a few of my classmates founded. Held Director of Communication. Club being cut next year due to low interest in technology at school. </p>

<p>Volunteering
-125 hrs with hospital, going every week
-140 other hours with school organization, NHS, and local park district.
-With all my hrs, total probably around 300
Summer:
-Currently set to shadow a neurologist for a month
-Planning on getting a job afterwards ( now that I'll finally be 16 =) )
So, due to two unfortunate events, i lost both of my two e-board posistions. Although my class level intensity in much higher my senior year, will the lessening involvement in EC activities hurt my chances too much?</p>

<p>Recs:
1 good rec from teacher, another average rec, councilar rec will probably be good</p>

<p>Essays:
Mine won't be stellar but Ill work hard on them </p>

<p>I think thats it. Wow I feel like I haven't done anything.
Anyways, do I still have a chance at Northwestern? Otherwise, are there any other good schools that I should try?</p>

2

<p>Decent shot.</p>

3

<p>Thanks will being a 16 year old senior affect my chances in any way? I’ve missed out on a lot of things b/c of my age (internships/ jobs)</p>

4

<p>bump =) …</p>

5

<p>Bump…</p>

6

<p>As long as you show interest in them in your application, you’re in. You actually might want to aim a little higher (UChicago, Columbia, Penn, etc) and use Northwestern as a match/high match school.</p>

7

<p>^Lol, No. Northwestern is just as competitive as those schools. Some Applicants get into those schools and rejected at northwestern and vice versa. Northwestern is not even close to a lock for the OP.</p>

8

<p>Based on the empirical evidence I’ve gathered from observing Northwestern admits from my Chicagoland school and other neighboring high schools, your chance at Northwestern is extremely high. As long as your essays aren’t half-assed, phuriku is right in saying that Northwestern is a high match (emphasis on high, cortana). You have a very good shot, so definitely focus on some higher schools that’ll still cater to your interests (seems to be business, no?) like Penn. Good luck!</p>

9

<p>I’m really surprised that GrammerNazi and phuriku would call Northwestern a match at any level for any applicant. I personally just went through the whole college application process myself this year, and now that I have I wouldn’t call any school with a sub-20% acceptance rate (15% overall for NU this year, ~13% for regular decision I think) a match for anyone. Perhaps a ‘lesser reach’ at best. </p>

<p>Honestly, I never expected to be shocked by the people I personally know ending up going to their safety schools, even people around or above the top 5%, with great test scores and ECs and awards and recommendations and essay writing skills. But I was. And I can tell you that some of them didn’t get into Northwestern. So you never know. </p>

<p>I’m not saying you won’t get in, I’m trying to point out that 85/100 people who apply are denied. However, 15/100 do get in. You could definitely be one of them, but please don’t count on it as a sure thing (for your own peace of mind).</p>

10

<p>Northwestern is NOT an “in” school or even a high match, particularly for the OP. Northwestern is approaching the level of competition and selectivity seen at the ivy league. It’s acceptance rate since 2010 has dropped from 28% to 14.9% this year. And you can bet it will be 11-10% next year, if not a little below 10%. And you two call Northwestern a high match- in school.</p>

11

<p>It’s worth noting that we’re not calling NU a “match school”, period. If you were to specifically observe the stats of individuals who get into NU, OP figuratively ticks all those boxes, which makes calling NU a high match for the OP a sane call. Just because acceptance rates have lowered as of recently doesn’t only mean it’s harder to get in compared to previous years. Along with that, it also means that there are a lot more mediocre applicants filling the applicant pool, thus bringing down the acceptance rate. Chris Watson, dean of admissions, has said himself that school has simply gotten a lot more popular over the years. OP, even with the lowered acceptance rate, has the stats to stay competitive next to the top tier NU applicants. Match and reach status depends on each applicant and their qualifications and OP definitely has the stats for high match status. High match doesn’t mean we’re calling it an “in school”, high match doesn’t mean it’s a “sure thing.” OP just simply has a much more solid chance compared to other applicants.</p>

12

<p>GrammerNazi, perhaps this is just a matter of semantics, but I don’t see how you can call a school a “high match” and say that you are not calling it a “‘match school’, period.” A high match is a match, just with an added degree of difficulty. </p>

<p>Regardless, my main issue is that you said the OP has an “extremely high” chance of getting in. That is simply not true. I remember reading a statement by A Yale representative that said if they took all the applications they had decided to admit, threw all of them out, and picked out new ‘yes’ applications from the same pool, they would have a class just as talented and qualified as the one before it. </p>

<p>Obviously you don’t consider Yale and Norhwestern to be peer schools, but the same sentiment applies. The fact that the acceptance rate has lowered so significantly DOES mean that anyone who applies has less of a chance to get in than they did before. How can you say that it doesn’t?</p>

13

<p>And for the record, the suggestion to aim higher is somewhat condescending. I know people who got into MIT, Princeton, Columbia, Brown, Dartmouth, UChicago, Duke, Cornell, Johns Hopkins, Carnegie Mellon, etc. (Though I imagine phuriku would not deign to put those last three on their level, considering his/her feelings on NU.) Frankly, knowing those people, I don’t think they would call NU a match for themselves, just slightly more feasible than other colleges by dint of NU’s somewhat higher acceptance rate. </p>

<p>I’ve been in school with them for years. They take the same classes and receive the same grades as the students who get into NU. As far as getting onto the “HYPSM”/sub-10% acceptance rate scale, the only difference I suppose is their ECs, essays, and some level of luck/compatibility with whoever is reading their application. </p>

<p>I mean no offense to pkmontag, who I honestly believe has a fair chance of getting into NU, but I’m not seeing what you’re seeing in her post that makes you think she has such a very high chance compared to the other people who will apply to NU.</p>

14

<p>Honestly, I really need to get off CC and finish my last high school homework assignment ever, but I just want to add one more thing. </p>

<p>The reason I feel that the lowered acceptance rate will necessarily lead to people having a harder time getting in is because NU’s yield has been steadily increasing over the past few years. This year it was at a record high, which is why they took virtually no one off the waitlist this year. If this pattern continues, NU has no choice but to accept an ever smaller number of qualified applicants each year, and I see no indication to believe that this pattern will not continue. If you do, please show me and I will concede the point. (And I do honestly mean that, I’m not saying that in a rhetorical manner.)</p>

15

<p>Thanks guys but how much of a difference will it make if I apply early? Also, would being an Indian male basically screw my chances?</p>

16

<p>Glad I randomly decided to check this just now. Applying early will boost your chances of acceptance, I’m pretty sure, judging purely by the fact that there is a higher acceptance rate for early decision, but I’ll admit that I’m not an expert or even all that well-informed on this. </p>

<p>And no, being an Indian male does not necessarily ruin your chances. It may not be a factor that will help you, but I think it’s worth noting that all but one of the people I mentioned knowing in my earlier post are white/Asian/non-URMs.</p>

<p>Edit: I have no idea why I assumed you were female earlier. Sorry about that.</p>

17

<p>its ok. its probably my overuse of emoticons. Thank you so much! Do you any other schools that are high matches/ reasonable reaches for me? My school is really competitive so that kind of scares me. Class of 2012 size approximately 900.</p>

18

<p>You were doing well “until Junior year?” It seems like you’re still doing great.</p>

<p>Anyway, I would think carefully before applying anywhere under Early Decision. Unless Northwestern is your #1 dream school, try applying to some schools that offer Early Action instead, so you have more options, since ED binds you to Northwestern. Your stats are quite high and you definitely have a chance at some of the more selective schools.</p>

19

<p>pkmontag, what are you looking to major in? What size school do you want? I consider Northwestern to be medium-large, for example (of course, most of the other schools I applied to were liberal arts colleges or universities with less than 5000 students, so other people might classify it differently). What part of the country do you want to be in (if you care)? I can give you better recommendations if I know these things. </p>

<p>As Fickle pointed out, be sure that Northwestern is your absolute first choice if you’re considering applying early decision. It’s a perfectly worthy first choice, but I do think that you have a shot at any college you want to go to.</p>

<p>However, Fickle, while I agree that he shouldn’t apply to Northwestern early decision just because he thinks he has a good chance of getting in that way, I’m not sure I agree with the sentiment behind your post. Perhaps I’m reading too much into things, but you seem to be trying to make sure that he doesn’t ‘settle’ for NU. You seem to assume that he must want to get into somewhere “more selective.”</p>

<p>Why? For bragging rights? Because you didn’t even reference the quality of the institutions, simply their acceptance rates. Northwestern is a top school by any standard. Take a look at this list, for example:</p>

<p><a href=“Education - Image - NYTimes.com”>Education - Image - NYTimes.com;

<p>Northwestern is hardly a bad or even mediocre place to be. I don’t believe anyone should apply to any college on the basis of selectivity. It just doesn’t make sense for anyone to go out of his/her way just so he/she can justify feeling like part of an elite/elitist club.</p>

20

<p>Ennuidom, you’re taking this way too seriously. We’re not trying to demean NU in anyway. These are just harmless suggestions, and if you’re going to get butthurt over them, I’d recommend that you get off CC.</p>