Do I have a chance of admission at Northwestern?
November 32009
Northwestern is my absolute dream school, but I’ve recently started to second-guess my chances of admission. Most of this stress has come about as a result of what I see as a terrible ACT score (29). I’ve always been a poor test-taker, and I’m just hoping that a below-average (for NU, at least) performance on one standardized test doesn’t completely diminish any hopes of attending Northwestern. Here are my stats:
GPA (weighted): 4.09
ACT: 29
Class rank: 8 of 262
AP classes: I’ve taken 5 so far (I’m just finishing my junior year) and I’ll be taking 2-3 more during my senior year. I’ve taken national exams for all of these classes, with nearly all 4s and 5s (one 3 on AP Gov, which I took freshman year).
- General info: I’m a white female with no legacy at NU.
Extracurriculars:
- I’m a member of my city’s Youth Advisory Council, serving both on the Core board and one subcommittee. We plan events, help at community outings, and make decisions regarding youth programs within our city.
- Newspaper column: I’ve written a monthly pop culture column in my local newspaper for nearly 4 years.
- Dance: My city holds a large annual Dutch heritage festival, and I’ve performed as a traditional "Klompen" dancer for 3 years.
- Theatre: Soon-to-be 3 years of involvement in school theatre, in addition to lifelong participation in community theatre.
- People to People Student Ambassadors: I spent three weeks in Europe as a P2P Student Ambassador. In addition to touring Italy, France, and England, we also participated in a community service project and met with several public officials (including a member of Parliament).
- Music: I played cello in my school orchestra for 6 years (I was forced to drop the class this year as a result of scheduling conflicts)
- PALs: Peer Assistance and Listening — I was nominated for this program by peers and teachers. As a PAL, I serve as a peer counselor for fellow students and spend one hour a day working with younger students in a middle school classroom.
- Tutoring: I tutor 7th-graders for one hour a week after school.
- In 8th grade, I received a Best-in-State award at the National History Day competition in Washington, D.C. for my documentary on Dr. Jack Kevorkian and assisted suicide.
- I took two years of college-level writing in 7th and 8th grade through a local university.
- Also involved with: National Honor Society, SADD, Student Council, and Amnesty International.
I have visited Northwestern and hope to apply early decision. If admitted. I would like to seek a major in Radio, Film, and Television.
Do you think there is still a chance of admission, especially given my low ACT score? Thanks in advance– I’ve been freaking myself out about this, so I’d like a few outside (and perhaps more well-informed) opinions. 
Your ACT score is definitely low for Northwestern. The middle 50% scores 30-33. Most of the 25% of students who score below a 30 are athletes, legacies and under-represented minorities. While the rest of your resume is stacked, most other students applying there have impressive resumes as well. With that being said, however, applying Early Decision greatly boosts your chances with a much smaller pool of applicants and obviously shows great interest. Assuming you write excellent application essays, I would say your chances with ED right now stand at 30-40%, which is decent.
However, test score is something you can change fairly fast. I would suggest you study and retake the ACT and aim for a 32 or higher. Also I would recommend you take 3 SAT II subject tests and try to get 700+ with those. If you can do those, I would be very surprised if you did not get admitted (especially in Early Decision).
November 3rd, 2009 at 3:17 pm
Your ACT score is definitely low for Northwestern. The middle 50% scores 30-33. Most of the 25% of students who score below a 30 are athletes, legacies and under-represented minorities. While the rest of your resume is stacked, most other students applying there have impressive resumes as well. With that being said, however, applying Early Decision greatly boosts your chances with a much smaller pool of applicants and obviously shows great interest. Assuming you write excellent application essays, I would say your chances with ED right now stand at 30-40%, which is decent.
However, test score is something you can change fairly fast. I would suggest you study and retake the ACT and aim for a 32 or higher. Also I would recommend you take 3 SAT II subject tests and try to get 700+ with those. If you can do those, I would be very surprised if you did not get admitted (especially in Early Decision).
References :
Northwestern’13. Prospective Economics major