Chance me: It's rough I know

n3rdyy
Sun, 13 Oct 2019 09:02:28 +0000

I’d like to preface this by saying I know that my chances are slimmer than slim. I have pretty much already written off NU as even a possibility, but I still wanted to shoot my shot and apply ED. So please be as blunt as humanly possible.

Stats/Grades:
Desired major- Secondary Education (possible minor in History)
ACT- 30
GPA W- 3.85
AP Classes- US History, Euro History, Lang, Lit, Calculus AB (didn’t submit any scores and don’t plan to because they would just hurt my app)
Other: Spanish all 4 years, Journalism last 3
Awards: All 4 years honor roll, 2 state journalism awards
School: Small private all-male Catholic boarding high school, winner of 2019 Blue Ribbon, rated #1 in the state for high schools
Gender: Male
Ethnicity: White

ECs:
Varsity Soccer player 4 years, 2 varsity letters
Varsity Swimmer 2 years, 1 varsity letter
Newspaper and yearbook 3 years

Essays:
My Common App essay was the challenge/setback one and it was about parent’s divorce and how I was diagnosed with clinical depression due to the stress and parental role I had to take on due to my father’s alcoholism and bipolar depression. I said I learned to deal with the hand you are dealt with and that everyone needs to have support in their life/know when to ask for help.
My Why NU statement was a comparison between the small and rigorous high school I went to and how NU will continue that rigor. Also, the comparison between NU’s rich tradition and my high school’s emphasis on community. Talked about how NU’s School of Education and Social Policy would allow me to fulfill my dream of being a teacher to have a lifelong positive effect on students.
Note: My AP Lit teacher who reviewed both my essays said she is normally hard on college essays but had very few fixes to make and enjoyed reading both of them.

Recs:
AP US and AP Euro teacher whose class I was able to participate in a lot due to a personal enjoyment of history said he finally got someone easy to write a rec for.
AP Lit and Sophomore English teacher whose class I have participated in more than anyone else said she would have no problem writing an excellent recommendation.
Admissions Counselor who is more than aware of my situation and cried when I told her my story.

If you made it this far thank you for at least reading this I know it was a lot. I would genuinely appreciate some feedback/support/criticism/comparisons. Thanks!

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