<p>I just returned from a visit at Northwestern and decided that it will be my top choice next fall; however, my GPA is sub par (highly competitive school does not weight or rank( and my ACT score is average by Northwestern standards. They repeatedly emphasized writing strong essays that show you have a passion for your area of interest and the school in general. In other words, they hinted that they want your NU application to be specialized to that school specifically and not just another alteration of the material you have sent to a dozen other schools. Does anyone have any experience with the situation I am currently in?</p>
<p>I visited Northwestern last spring and fell in love with the campus. By the time it came to apply I had plenty of things to say about my visit that were sincere and specific to Northwestern. This was for the supplement that NU requires. For the Common App application I used the same essay I wrote for all the other schools, but it was a general, non-school specific topic. I don’t know how much of an impact my essays made though because my GPA is high. </p>
<p>Basically, if you love the school, it’ll come across in your essay. And it’s always worth a shot.</p>
<p>Without my essays, I’d probably be considered a pretty borderline applicant. However, I believe that my common app essay plus my personalized “Why Northwestern” essay were probably what got me in. If you really show a passion for the school in your essays, I’d say you’re giving yourself a pretty good edge over the other borderline people. I’d say that’s more than enough of a chance to at least try and see what happens. Good luck!</p>
<p>^i agree with both posts</p>
<p>my scores were below avg and my GPA wasn’t too special either, but i did express a unique interest in SoC (school of comm) that I think got me accepted. good luck, indeed.</p>
<p>I actually think my essays were pretty average & cliche, but I still got in.
I’m not really a standout applicant in terms of GPA/SAT scores, either.
So really… you never know.</p>
<p>However, I played up my interests in art a LOT, so there is definitely some truth in showing your passion for a specific area. I think that’s what helped me get in.
Also, not that you need to decide NOW but if there is a specific major that interests you (for me it was the adjunct major in animate arts), definitely talk about that. Basically just don’t sound like you really know nothing about the school or the programs.</p>
<p>hmm i have a felling NW might not care too much about essays. Quite honestly, my essay for Chicago was some of my best writing, meanwhile my essay for NW was an altered version of my (already fairly terrible) cornell and penn essays. I didn’t get into penn or cornell, but NW took me. Thus I have a feeling that essays might not weight too much into it. Quite honestly, even after being accepted to NW i still don’t know that much about it (aside from certain classes/ academic programs that I find nice). So I’m personally having a difficult time truly deciding about NW because i feel like i don’t know enough about it to love it or hate it.</p>
<p>For very strong applicants, a bland/average essay could mean the difference between a waitlist and an acceptance.</p>
<p>I am pretty sure essay is what got me in. I had a good GPA too but many MANY people have fantastic GPAs you know. I thought my essay was unique.</p>
<p>It almost seems like both the essays and test scores outweigh the GPA. When I visited, the admissions officer explained to me that GPA is getting harder to judge because of all of the ways schools calculate the number nowadays.</p>
<p>I agree with the previous posters. We have detailed stats for my DS schools and his GPA would give him about a 50/50 chance. His essay demonstrated a strong interest in the school. He visited and knew what he wanted to say from that visit. He probably had good recommendations too, which helped them get a picture of who he is. There is a range of standardized scores, so I wouldn’t sweat that too much. But you would still need to show you challenged yourself and did pretty well in school. Senior year - take challenging courses. And its not too late to take the ACT or SAT again in the early fall.</p>
<p>Would a recommendation from the superintendent impact my chances anymore than usual? Or do a lot of applicants nab rec’s from the superintendent?</p>
<p>I think essays are used as the final test of applicant’s standing. So essays essentially make or break applications in a notable number of cases. If this advice doesn’t help then go to college board and visit a school’s profile and see how much they weigh essays.</p>