Chance me for Northwestern ED Weinberg A&S for Econ [NY resident, 3.65 GPA, 36 ACT, 1580 SAT]

Chance Me / Match Me
,
1

US Citizen
Full Pay
New York state (if thats relevant)
went to a tier below competitive school

My uw gpa is a 3.65
I had As and a few A-s freshman and junior yr, but during sophomore yr I had a bad dip. Context behind the dip: During the start of my sophomore year my grandpa had alzheimer’s disease and advanced dementia so my dad quit his job for a year and left to India to take care of him, and the medicine wasn’t cheap either. And it was just my mom working and I kinda had to take care of the family, and like my siblings etc and more responsibilities had to get a job at a nearby subway.

SAT: 1580 (800 Math and 780 eng)

Awards:
Accepted into YC AI Startup School (not a full batch) its a startup school consisting of 2 days in SF. Its pretty decently competitive to get picked they base it on ur tech profile and what you have done. So it ranges from highschool kids to like stanford kids and like some phds.

Placed top 1-2% of Bling Capital Fellowship

Math Honors Society

AP Scholar

ECs:

1: Built which isnt available since the product is down or the domain is, since I pivoted but um this tool lets designers have 1 shared context across all there workspaces. So its naturally connected to Slack, Airtable, basically a 1000 integrations of where u work, and with that shared context it natively designs for u and drew actual layers on Figma or Canvas before they launched something like this to thier users. My friend and I built a browser rendering pipeline to like convert JSX to figma layers. and this was viewed by a big start enthusiast on live with 216k followers and sent it to a tier 1 VC. This took me 3 months to build so like basically a huge chunk of my junior year and then I operated it for 3ish to 4 months and generated ~29k and was used by 1000 designers. And I pivoted

2: built well I paused rn but like its in pre beta where its a design canvas where as you design with ur hands real code is written for the interfaces u make. So this was a big broswer rendering pipeline we built for this. And we had 60 pre beta designers using it. Including a designer from wells fargo and other global companies. And applied to YC Spring batch 2026 and got rejected but placed top 10% of the 20,000 applicant pool that batch.

3: I fine tuned a Chinese SLM and scrapped and added my own model weights for predicting only low float stocks 24 hrs before, and fine tuned a main model with my own weights and algo. And also used commercial mini models to develop multiple other agents for this pipeline to predict stocks 24 hrs before any price action, and I documented or did calls on them with time dates on instagram and my socials during August 2025 (only month I actually tested after all the tweaks) and many portfolios including mine went up by 140+%. And then I also sold during this month for 25k (some discord group bought it). I could write a paper about it, but I am making a demo of the model running in a nice interface if AOs want to fact check or idk if I have to provide the actual stripe payments

4: Currently building an all in 1 UGC platform. And currently stealth sitting ~12kmrr, but will hit 30 by the time I apply. Currently working with DTC brands and mid sized startups that need to run UGC.

I want to ED1 to Northwestern do I have a shot or like pass through the initial screening or will gpa cook me?

2

I don’t think you will get into Northwestern but I will tell you this -

If you don’t apply, you have no shot of getting in.

So as long as you don’t plan to ED (or ED1 elsewhere) - and no one says you have to ED, then you can take your shot.

If NU is by far and away your #1, then go for it.

btw - we know little about you beyond a GPA and SAT - like what courses you’ve taken and more - but based on what you shared, I wouldn’t think you’d have a realistic chance.

That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try.

Good luck.

1 Like
3

How many non-A’s do you have on your transcript in core courses (Eng, science, math, soc studies, foreign lang?)

Is your counselor going to cover the soph year dip in their LoR?

Do you have a full list of schools including at least one highly likely for admission? Do you want recommendations for your list? If so, let us know what you prefer in a college, and why NU is appealing.

1 Like
4

hey I have 6 non As

My counselor was aware of this and writing about it in LoR.
I just wanted to know my chances for Northwestern since I am planning to ED1 there.

5

My school doesn’t do DE classes, only APs and I took max rigor every year. On a normal scale my freshman yr uw was a 3.9, sophomore yr 3.2, and junior was 4.0. I have taken 8 APs without senior yr(with senior yr its 14 ap classes)
Is my profile pretty bad everywhere compared to a top applicant? like I know my gpa is, but my ECs are out of what most kids put down.

6

In the end, none of us are Northwestern adcoms. If I say you’ll get in, it doesn’t mean you will. If I say you won’t, it doesn’t mean you won’t.

I don’t think you’ll get in. ECs don’t make up for academics.

I still don’t know what courses you took. Just how many APs you’ll say you have and I don’t know the scores of those 8.

Have you taken 4 years of lab science, math to what level), foreign language, social studies and English ?

Again if you want to go there, apply ED or otherwise and you’ll find out.

If you like NU, you can bucket it with Syracuse Maxwell - a nice 1-2 punch of similar schools, outside the obvious (selectivity, etc)..

Good luck.

7

Take your shot! Otherwise you will always wonder “what if?” Glad the counselor will note family issues sophomore year.

As I tell everyone, be sure to craft an application list that includes reach, match, and safety schools that you would be excited to attend.

8

I can’t chance you because I can’t see your entire app nor where you stand relative to your classmates in GPA and rigor. ECs aren’t going to make up for grades. Even if your chances were equal to the overall admit rate, that would mean it’s most likely you won’t be accepted.

Regarding your ECs, make sure to make it crystal clear what you did. As you’ve written them, 1, 2, and 4 are confusing.

2 Likes
9

You should fill out the chance me template. And you can ask for other schools if interested or about other schools you plan to apply.

1 Like
10

OP, the way you wrote about your EC reminds me of one of my former students who has graduated from NU. He was dedicated to creating useful apps that could actually be put in use by real people he knew. His GPA was fine but there were definitely several Bs. He applied to NU by ED, got in, and had very productive years there. However, that was some years ago, 2021 I think. I would suggest that you find the current NU students from your area and make connections. After talking to them (about their goals, plans, stats, etc.) you’ll have a better idea of your chance.

11

Definitely maintain a 4.0 unweighted GPA senior year. What other colleges are you considering? What about entrepreneurship?

1 Like
12

Can you specify what subjects there were in, as others have asked? The counselor letter is great, NU and other colleges will notice the GPA dip. And you really need to tighten the ECs as they’re not too clear.

1 Like
13

I had non As in 2 STEM classes during sophomore yr which was AP Stats and Intro to Calc honors I ended with C+ on both. And then it was english 9&10 honors, AP World, and then some art class. This was all during 10 th grade. Every other yr I had As.
yeah I need to tighten my ECs these were just like rough explanations of it.

Chance me for Columbia ED plus others
14

You’ll have limited space so you’ll have to make sure you define them well.

Good luck - do the chance me, match me if you want info on other schools - but it does seem like a Babson or U Houston (strong entrepreneurial programs) fit you.

What is your goal with the econ degree if you have a goal?

Best of luck - but make sure you focus on the rest of the list. The easy decision is - apply ED to NU. You’ve already made that call and it’s great.

But because it’s not assured - and that’d be the case even with straight As, the most important school(s) on your list are the other - finding those back ups because it’s likely that you’ll need them - and that’s the same advice to anyone applying to a highly rejective school.

It sounds like you advanced your rigor (stats and calc) - and that could hurt you - but again, take your shot and this way you’ll know. And look at Syracuse Maxwell as a like backup (in my opinion) if you haven’t.

Best of luck.

1 Like
15

To be blunt, it’s likely that your gpa will cook you. But you love Northwestern, so why not identify what it is about Northwestern that made you fall in love with it in the first place. There are a lot of universities with great liberal arts schools and a lot of great small liberal arts colleges which would love to have. Love them back. A hidden gem where your gpa would not be a deal breaker is University of Rochester. In many ways, it’s comparable to Northwestern. Same world class faculty. Same superb resources. Also in a city. Tulane is another comparable school where you’d stand a good shot and New Orleans is a great city to spend 4 years. However, Tulane heavily favors applicants who apply ED. A third school which is worth a look is Washington University St Louis., another excellent private research university in a city. One thing in your favor here is that they put more emphasis on SAT scores than a lot of other admissions offices do. High test scores will boost your application here. Rather than getting your heart set on Northwestern only to have it broken, these are the kinds of schools I’d be looking at.

3 Likes
16

Schools with sub 20% admit rates like WashU and Tulane would also be a high reach for OP with 2 C’s and 4 B’s (assuming that’s the breakdown.)

Regardless, I would encourage OP to apply to a few reaches, but also make sure they take time to identify and research a handful of target colleges, as well as at least one school that’s highly likely for admission.

17

I agree given his high SAT score. But he will also need to apply to some moderately and less selective schools. I typically recommend a student apply to 8-12 schools but in the case of s10342 or any other applicant with a non-4.0 GPA, especially below 3.8 GPA, with high ACT/SAT scores with extenuating circumstances, I would apply to at least 20, a mix of reach, moderately selective, & a few safeties. Keep in mind, there are other applicants with extenuating circumstances with similar stats also applying. And economics is one of the most popular majors at many colleges & universities. In fact, at Weinberg, it is the most popular. This is just no way of knowing which school will admit or waitlist the exceptional case. Would it be Northwestern, would it be Wash. U., perhaps Harvard? Private schools can admit just about anybody without any interference.

18

I agree that Tulane and Wash U’s low acceptance rates make them a reach not just for the OP but for almost anyone. But for the benefit of the OP, I’d like to explain why I suggested them as alternatives where he might apply and his gpa “would not be a deal breaker.”

With regard to Tulane, first is that the OP’s 3.65 gpa is within the middle 50% range of last year’s freshman class. (The average gpa of last year’s freshman class was 3.70) Second is Tulane tells us that unlike many colleges today, SAT scores are an important factor in their admissions decisions. The OP’s SAT scores would be among the highest in last year’s freshman class. Third is that Tulane makes such heavy use of ED and EA that it changes the dynamics of their admissions process. They accepted almost 60% (59.4) of last year’s ED applicants. So, if the OP fell in love with Tulane and decided to apply ED - or even EA - chances of acceptance would increase substantially over their overall acceptance rate.

With reheard to Wash U, they tell us that SAT scores are a very important factor in admissions decisions, even more important than they are for Tulane. They are considered just as important as gpa and class rank. The OP’s SAT scores would have been among the highest in last year’s freshman class, so they could potentially balance out the gpa. In contrast, Northwestern does not consider test scores as an important admissions factor at all. They rely heavily on gpa and class rank, which are not strong points for this applicant - at least for schools at this level of competitiveness. Wash U does not give us the gpa distribution among their recent applicants, so we don’t really know how this application would stack up in that regard.

My advice to this applicant is to look for schools where the strengths in their application are a better match for the school than they are at Northwestern. I used Rochester, Tulane, and Wash U just as examples of schools similar to Northwestern in many ways but where their application would receive a more favorable review than it would at Northwestern - even though all should be considered reaches, as you quite accurately have stated, except for Rochester.

3 Likes
19

I think your likely outcome in ED is to get deferred, which would actually be a good sign. They will need to see your first semester senior grades to see how you’re doing. Typically for safeties, it would be your in-state public colleges, in this case SUNY- Albany or Stony Brook, and then maybe some other publics like Rutgers as targets. As others have mentioned, some LACs have good Econ programs and would be easier to get into than Northwestern. It would be good to know more about your geography preferences, outside of obviously Illinois!

1 Like
20

Be aware that calculus and statistics will be important in the study of economics in college. They are also typically required for business majors.

4 Likes