<p>Applied ED to College of Arts and Sciences
Asian Male
GPA: ~3.9uw/4.7w (9 AP/Rest Honors)
Rank: Top 2% of class of ~800
SAT: 1990 (1310m/cr)
ACT: 30 (30E 35M 26R 28S)
SATII: 800 Math IIC, 730 Chemistry
(with sat II math: m/cr becomes 1410 but it doesn't work like that haha)
ECs:
3 Clubs - all 4 years - leadership in each - state/regional awards.
1 Club - 2 years
Piano 10 years.
~500 hours of Community Service (same place)
Awards:
State Competitions, AP scholar w/ Distinction, Service and School awards, etc.
Recs: Should be good, teachers know me well.
Essays: Solid. I like them, so do my friends. Very brief (~400? for commonapp and supplement) and well written.</p>
<p>Very hard to say – certainly everything other than the standardized tests look good. The scores you have are frankly marginal for NU.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, given your strengths I think it’s worthwhile for you to apply. You definitely won’t get in if you don’t apply.</p>
<p>A 30 is in the middle 50%. ACT scores aren’t representative of a student’s chances. By that logic, no one with a score under 30 would ever get accepted to a school.</p>
<p>It’s a holistic representation that considers a student in his or her entirety, not off of one test that varies from time to time.</p>
<p>Even though it says that the 25% ~ 75% is 30~33, those statistics are for accepted AND enrolled students. Realistically when the yield is below 40%, I feel that the better applicants with higher SAT/ACT scores choose better colleges and use Northwestern as a safety in a sense if HYPSM doesnt work out. So I do not believe that those statistics can be evaluated, and even then I am at the VERY low end for even getting an acceptance. I just pray that they see beyond my test scores and I have enough otherwise to join the rest of you in the fall :)</p>
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<p>You really don’t know much about NU and its sense of self and its student body if you think that everyone there was idolizing the Ivy League and saw NU as the consolation prize.</p>
<p>For the class of 2013 (the most recent class with info reflected in the Common Data Set), the 50% range for enrolled students is 31-33. The range for admitted students is likely similar, if not a little bit higher. </p>
<p><a href=“http://www.ugadm.northwestern.edu/commondata/2009-10/c.htm[/url]”>http://www.ugadm.northwestern.edu/commondata/2009-10/c.htm</a></p>
<p>In a sense, all schools below HYPSM are “back-up” schools but NU and its peers are still reach schools for the vast majority of applicants, including HYPSM applicants. Given the great subjectivity of admissions, just because one gets into HYPSM doesn’t mean they will automatically get into Northwestern, Brown, Dartmouth, Duke, etc as well. Cross-admission among these schools is far from guaranteed.</p>
<p>^ and this data set is from 2009-2010 so most likely the test scores are a bit higher now. I am always amazed by how many people think they “should” get into a school like NU because they fall within the given score range. I think people don’t realize that the range encompasses ALL TYPES of enrollees i.e. athletes, URM’s., legacies, “development” opportunities ( donors) etc. If you are a middle or upper middlle caucasian I believe that admissions would expect you to be at the top end of the range given all the opportunities you have had. Just my opinion, but I am sticking with it. I am singling out the mid. to up. mid caucasians because those are the people that I have noticed have this attitude (and I am one—but don’t have that attitude!).</p>
<p>thats why I feel I will get rejected because of my scores… im an asian male and im on the low side of the chart… well best to be realistic X.X</p>
<p>Wait… If you applied ED, that makes the yield argument pointless.</p>
<p>I was explaining that the posted 50% statistics might be skewed because there is a difference between accepted and actually enrolled students.</p>
<p>Sent from my SGH-T959V using CC App</p>
<p>The bottom line is that Northwestern is in fact a safety for people applying to ivies. So yes, the statistics are likely skewed, and it will take more to get in than you think.</p>
<p>Scores are a minuscule piece of the puzzle. Anyone telling you that you don’t have a shot based on a 30, which is still a damn good score, are pretentious idiots with confidence issues. </p>
<p>You have enough going for you academically and in terms of extra-curriculars and essays that have put you in position to be accepted. Whether that will happen is unclear, but you have a shot, and that’s all you can do for school like Northwestern.</p>
<p>Honestly, your odds of acceptance are low, but you are smart enough to know that before you posted. Obviously, nothing is impossible but it is very difficult for an unhooked applicant below the 50th percentile to be accepted. Based upon the classes accepted during the last two years, an ACT below 32 puts you at a disadvantage. At 30, someone in admissions will need to become your advocate based upon other factors in your application in order for you to be accepted. Good luck.</p>
<p>That isn’t how it works. Seriously, this isn’t that difficult. </p>
<p>The difference between a 30 and 32 composite is only a few questions. Is that the difference between an acceptance and denial? No. Not one bit. There are so many other factors.</p>
<p>Guys… If he applies ED, it doesn’t matter that it’s an Ivy safety. No one with an Ivy as a first choice will apply to NU ED.</p>
<p>I am confused by these posts^? Who is OP?</p>
<p>OP is original poster, in this case: me. I know its a tough call because of test scores, but I guess we will see in 24 more days… I want this really badly 
past few months have just been bad news.</p>
<p>Sent from my SGH-T959V using CC App</p>
<p>ACT is a small part. If you have a great GPA with class rigor, that says more than a five hour test on a Saturday morning.</p>
<p>KathyFox</p>
<p>Your points are well taken – and as I suggested earlier I think OP made the right decision in applying. There’s just too much about the admissions process that none of us know to tell someone like this not to.</p>
<p>Raichu – Good luck, we’re rooting for you!!!</p>