Chance my daughter-Econ/International Business Major Northwestern ED (HS senior, PA)

Chance Me / Match Me
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Demographics

  • US Domestic
  • State/Location of residency: Pennsylvania
  • Type of high school (or current college for transfers): Public Suburban
  • Other special factors: double legacy at Northwestern Univ./Sibling at Vanderbilt

Cost Constraints / Budget
Will not need to apply for financial aid

Intended Major(s): Economics/International Business/Global Studies

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • Unweighted HS GPA: 4.1 UW
  • Weighted HS GPA: HS does not weight grades
  • Class Rank: HS does not rank
  • ACT/SAT Scores: Superscore 750 M, 750 V

List your HS coursework

(Indicate advanced level, such as AP, IB, AICE, A-level, or college, courses as well as specifics in each subject)

  • English: Honors 9, 10. AP Seminar 11, AP Lang/Composition 12
  • Math: Geometry Honors 9, Adv Algebra 2/Trig Honors 10, AP PreCalc 10, AP Calc AB/BC 11, AP Stats 12, College Linear Algebra H
  • Science: Environmental Science H 9, Biology H 10, Chemistry H 10, AP Physics Mechanics C-11, AP Environmental Science 12
  • History and social studies: US History H -9, World History I H-10, Modern World History II Honors-11; Advance Social Science Seminar H-12, AP Macroeconomics 12
  • Language other than English: Honors French 9,10,11 AP French 12
  • Other academic courses: Public Speaking 12

Awards: National Honor Society (11, 12), AP Scholar with Honors (12), Bronze Award National French Exam (9), National Merit Commended (11) College Board School Recognition Award (11)

Extracurriculars
High School Varsity Athlete (Soccer, Basketball and Track). Captain Basketball team 11, 12

Cancer Awareness Club (Secretary 10, VP 11, Co-President 12). Helped to raise over $1000 for national chapter;

Competitive Club Soccer- 9-12. Train and play 9 months a year

Inclusive Soccer Clinic (Co-Leader) 10-12 6 week clinics for elementary aged kids of all levels

Library Volunteer (9-12)90+volunteer hours

Global Affairs organization volunteer (11-12)

Summer job (2025, 2026) Server, busser at local country club

Essays/LORs/Other
Expect Strong essays and LOR (From AP Seminar teacher, AP Calculus teacher)

Double legacy at Northwestern/Sibling at Vanderbilt

Schools

  • Brown-RD
  • Clemson-EA Honors College
  • Duke- RD
  • Elon-EA Honors College
  • Northwestern- ED
  • Tufts -RD
  • Univ of Delaware-EA Honors college
  • Univ of Maryland-EA
  • Univ of Michigan-EA
  • Univ of South Carolina-EA -honors college
  • Univ of Virginia-EA
  • Vanderbilt-ED2? RD
  • William and Mary RD
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FYI, the State of Illinois banned legacy admissions, effective September 1, 2025. Signed into law by Governor J.B. Pritzker, SB0061 prohibits any private institution in Illinois from providing a legacy or donor preference. Previously, legacy students made up roughly 10% of Northwestern’s undergraduate population.

You should still apply to Northwestern ED if this is your first choice.

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Thanks for that info. Live in PA so was not aware of that law. I do wonder how it is enforced.

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Neither was I. I would think that Northwestern no longer poses the question in the application or interview. The 2024-2025 Common Data Set reflects that Alumni/ae relation is still Considered, but the 2025-2026 Common Data Set is not currently posted. I would expect the Not Considered box to be ticked, in accordance with state law.

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This is the first cycle that legacy and donors can’t be considered.

ED though is the ultimate in demonstrated interest and there is still quite a bump for that. I would also expect that as a double legacy, your child will be able to write a great “why Northwestern” essay!

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This has not been signed into law, it is just a pending bill. It has not passed the Illinois House, Senate, or been signed by Gov Pritzker.
https://www.ilga.gov/Legislation/BillStatus

ETA: A law banning the use of legacy and alumni status in admissions is on the books for Illinois public universities, as of 2024.

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I’m pretty sure there were questions about family members attending NU in her application.

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I am trying to find an official statement about legacy admissions on the NU website. Even if the bill is still in limbo, as Mwfan1921 pointed out, they still could have made the change in the last or next admissions cycle. But, if Northwestern is still asking about family members, then I would assume they have not yet discontinued the practice.

As an example, California passed a similar law but Stanford University secured a waiver to bypass the ban, and as a consequence, withdrew from the Cal Grant Program.

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Correct. This year’s app asks a question if any relatives are currently attending NU or any have attended in the past.

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Does the student want to study Econ or international business - which isn’t offered by many schools and I don’t see at NU. If I wanted business, I wouldn’t apply to NU although you can do the Road to Biz program,

Math may be a weak spot - the SAT but I’d say it’s possible but I’d lean against with an SAT below the 25th percentile. She has great rigor. Certainly worth a try though - the NU ED.

The rest -

Clemson yes but sometimes you can’t tie an Honors admission to an admission. Mine got into U of SC and UGA - top 2 but not into Pitt (WL, withdraw) and FSU. But yes Clemson the university.

Duke no - and if business an interest, why apply ?

Elon - yes

Tufts - another no business. Full pay so likely.

UD - yes

UMD - yes

Michigan - what major. Maybe LSA. Lean against Ross

U of SC yes the school. Honors is reasonable.

UVA - toss up like Michigan LSA

Vandy - lean yes but a higher test would help.

W&M yes

I think - look at Honors Colleges. All are different in what they give. Some, like my son, applied to some but not others so see what they entail - from living to required courses and more. Some are heavily humanities based. So it’s not like it should be the school is lesser but Honors can improve it.

The student, in my opinion, should chase a major over school. If you want IB, both USCs are strong - yes and the one out west. All three DC schools too and yes, College of Charleston very strong in the area - and like mine, your student might qualify for the Charleston Fellows and Intl Scholars which comes with a ton of enrichment and influential contacts.

Econ isn’t business and they have 4 years and a future life so why not study what they want. You have a lot of schools listed and I’d adjust accordingly if there’s a primary interest.

Good luck.

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Thanks. She is taking college level linear algebra and AP stats. Only math at her hs that she isn’t taking is multi variable calculus.

She’s honestly not sure what she wants to study. The MMSS program at NU is very appealing to her but she knows that is super selective

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That is a great program. I would encourage her to apply, NU reports the first year acceptance rate is 66% (I think that may be the direct admit rate after initial NU acceptance, but I’m not sure…probably worth an ask to her AO). Did your D hear a different acceptance rate from a reputable source (an AO, or prof)?

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Yah I corrected the math as you typed - I noticed after.

Wondering if she should look at a data science program - with a social science minor or major or look at Emory, even ahead of Vandy for its QSS major - and they do have a B school too. And I’d still look at Charleston because of the Fellows and Intl Scholars. Data Science is strong and with Fellows you need a 2nd major.

Purdue could work - they have Quantitative methods in the b school. And UMN has a Quant emphasis on various social sciences - Econ, Soc, and more. It might fit better than Michigan.

I think she can find other programs as subs and I would think maybe business isn’t her thing.

If she was applying to a U of SC only for the one major, etc - I think you might alter your list to find schools with the academics she wants.

Just a thought but I don’t think NU is alone in the field.

Good luck.

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Your best strategy here seems to apply ED to Northwestern and ED2 Vandy, while keeping all EA choices of course.

Given the advanced math courses your DD has taken, AOs might wonder why she did not score higher on her SAT math section. A 1500 is below the 25th percentile for NU these days, therefore I would strongly encourage her to give it another try, or take the somewhat risky route of not submitting (I believe NU is still test optional this year).

NU has an outstanding Econ program, while many students also pursue the Kellogg undergrad certificates (think of it as a minor which requires 4-6 courses). For MMSS, I believe they accept something like 40 kids as freshmen, and perhaps 20 spots as sophomores. Applications are extremely selective for both years, and only students with near-perfect GPAs and advanced work in stats/calculus are accepted. I was told (by a recent MMSS grad) that only 1/3 of first-year entrants end up graduating with this degree, while the other 2/3 decided to “go back” to mainstream majors. The student also said that you can survive MMSS, chances are you will have multiple job offers lined up by springtime of your senior year.

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Not a waiver – the law specifically applies to a private school “that receives, or benefits from, state-funded student financial assistance or that enrolls students who receive state-funded student financial assistance.” I.e. only private schools that accept state aid (including student aid like Cal Grants) are affected by this law. So a private school that wants to continue using legacy would forego any state aid including Cal Grants.

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From my experience, Northwestern ED goes well for strong applicants like you and even better for strong applicants who are legacies. I like your chances ED. No stand-out extra would be my greatest concern, but I still think it works out.

I am less optimistic about Brown, Duke, and Vandy (unless ED2) if you get there.

You should be ok at Clemson, Elon, UD, UMD, USC, and W&M..

Tufts, U-M, UVA are very tough calls. 1/3 if I am forced to make a prediction.

Good luck.

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I have a Clemson honors graduate and UDel honors graduate, both felt very positive about the programs. Both received merit, both took all of their AP credits, my UD student graduated in 3 years, my CU student graduated with over 140 credits in 4 years, she refused to graduate in 3, she loved it too much. They needed merit to attend, and were very happy with their experience and career outcomes (finance/health science).

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