<p>I'm an international student from India, currently in 12th grade.
I have taken the science stream and my subjects are English, Physics, Chemistry, Maths and Informatics Practices (Java and MySQL).</p>
<p>I got a SAT score of 1970 (CR:660. Math:700. W:610) and I plan to take it one more time if necessary. </p>
<p>I have also been working for a youth newspaper called The Global Times for the past 5 years and have published a number of articles, poems and stories. </p>
<p>I have been in the Press for various Model United Nations Conferences and have also been Editor in Chief/ headed a couple. </p>
<p>I’ve also had the privilege of being a part of various debates, poetry writing and creative writing competitions and have won a large number of them. </p>
<p>And I guess this doesn’t matter but I’ve been playing the piano for 10 years and am also a vocal student. I’ve given over 50 concerts all over India (including at the President’s residence) and have also been a part of a musical.</p>
<p>I was a part of a week long cultural exchange program with a school in Copenhagen. </p>
<p>I’ll be willing to give any more details required.</p>
<p>Okay, firstly, we don’t have your GPA so how do you expect anyone to chance you?
Secondly, that SAT is too weak for Northwestern. You should try to raise it up to a 2150 or take the ACT and get a 32 (this is provided you have a GPA of about 3.8ish) </p>
<p>Next, for a school like Medill, interest is one of the biggest factors. If you are someone who even has a 4.0 and 2400, they look for your interest and passion for what you wanna pursue. Keep that in mind.</p>
<p>You need to get your SAT up to have a chance, particularly in the critical reading and writing sections. Applying ED would also help, so if Medill is really your first choice I would strongly research that option and Northwestern’s financial aid system.</p>
<p>Most schools will say they don’t have a preference for SAT or ACT. However, many students find that they are better suited to one test, often quite strongly, so I would advise you at least try one or two ACT practice tests and see if perhaps you like it better than the SAT.</p>
<p>Frankly, with your current stats you have very little chance for Northwestern. Even worse, Northwestern isn’t big on merit aid and as an international I suspect your chances for much need-based aid would be very slim, thus forcing your parents to take out major loans over there, since you couldn’t get loans here. But that is probably moot since you would have to get in first, and as I said that is highly unlikely.</p>
<p>I honestly don’t mean this to sound harsh, but I think unless you somehow got a much higher SAT (or a great ACT), you really have to start considering a number of other options. Here in the USA, the University of Missouri has an excellent reputation in journalism. One of the top 5 in our country, I would think. You would definitely have a chance there. Not sure about what kind of aid they can offer. You might want to check out their forum and their website and see if they have any information about aid for internationals.</p>
<p>@fallenchemist If I’m not mistaken, Northwestern doesn’t give any merit aid! <em>fans myself</em> This will make it a huge financial reach for the OP unless they are very wealthy</p>
<p>Northwestern has some relatively small academic merit scholarships, with most of them having restrictions (local residents, people whose kids work for certain companies) that the OP doesn’t meet. So for the most part they don’t have meaningful merit scholarships.</p>