I just finished junior year in high school and:
I have 4.0 unweighted GPA and a 4.8 weighted GPA
I got a 31 on the ACT and a 1430 on the new SAT
I have been on sports teams for first 2 years and multiple different clubs for all 3 years
I don’t have that many service hours (probably 30-ish)
I’m mainly worried that my test scores are too low and that I don’t have anything that really stands out in my application like being in NHS, head of a club, or having a lot of service hours.
Please let me know what you think and be honest!
If you don’t raise that act score, you should apply somewhere else. Nothing really stands out with your application. There are just too many applicants with high stats at NU that your good stats look weak in comparison.
but wouldn’t early decision and a good essay really increase my chances?
^ It depends. For many schools, the higher apparent admission rate for ED is mainly due to legacy and self-selected strong applicants. For top schools with very high yield rate, there is little reason for them to admit lower quality students earlier. They just have more than enough strong candidates to choose from in the ED round anyway. Most important, are you sure NU is affordable to you?
Slim to none. Low standardized testing score and extremely lackluster extracurriculars.
Your GPA is stellar and will definitely play to your advantage. However, your test scores need improving. Northwestern has a very low acceptance rate, even for ED. I suggest you retake your ACT to get at least 34 or retake your SAT to get at least 1550 to really have a good chance. Furthermore, your ECs are very dismal for a Northwestern applicant. It is very concerning how you do not even have 50+ service hours when even an average student has about 100 upon graduating. Furthermore, your ECs look very drab and generic, and it does not appear that you hold a single leadership position in any of them. I would say as of now, your chances look very slim and I don’t think an outstanding essay will do enough to help your case.
Please chance me back here: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1995754-chance-me-low-gpa-rank-cornell-rice-wash-u-ucla-etc.html#latest