<p>I was wondering what my chances would be for NU Early Action to either the College of Health Studies in Pathways or the CAS as a Behavioral Neuroscience major.</p>
<p>GPA: 3.0 (will explain under) at competitive MA suburban high school
WGPA: 4.5
ACT: 27 (retaking October 28th, but apparently 26 is their accepted average?)
Class Rank: Top 30% (bleh)
Classes: All honors/AP’s every year
Recommendation: Excellent, one from my history teacher, other from AP Physics teacher, then a GC rec
AP’s: 4 total: AP Physics B, AP Chem, AP Calculus AB, AP Biology (my school offers 6)
Essay: Good, describes my individuality/love of Boston</p>
<p>Extracurricular:
-Boy Scouts of America - Life Scout
-Museum of Science Boston SciCORE summer Internships - Exhibit Hall Interpretation/Course Assistant Internship
-Museum of Science Volunteer Position (Discovery Center) (850 hrs)
-Mass General Hospital Radiation Oncology Volunteer (50 hrs)
-TJ Maxx Customer Service Coordinator (30 hrs/week)
-Boston Sports Club Programs Coordinator
-Junior Mentoring (help the freshmen get acquainted w/ the school, etc.)
-Peer Leadership
-National History Day Competitor (Regional Competition)</p>
<p>Boring, pointless EC’s:
-Math League
-Chess League
-Rotary Youth Leadership Awards</p>
<p>Here’s the thing…I screwed up my junior year (1 A, 3 B’s, 2 C’s). This was due to the fact that I was working 35 hrs/week to pay for car insurance/clothes, etc. and had a really bad case of major depression (which is better now). I also have had to take care of my mom and bring her to the hospital a lot too (she has Alzheimer’s). I have a 4.0 so far senior year and will have all A’s first quarter, and my guidance counselor has written a huge letter that she is sending to colleges describing my situation/extracurricular achievements.</p>
<p>Do you think I have a chance? I’m also going to have to pay for college by myself, do they offer decent financial aid?</p>
<p>I got in last year (the most selective year to date) with around a 3.0 gpa or so (it was like an 84.98 out of a possible 98) and a 29 act and 1270 sat. Not only that, I received a 9k a year merit scholarship. I had virtually no ec’s to speak of and applied to the college of engineering. Neu has become much more selective as more and more people apply there but if you can get your act to 29 or above like mine, you are in and will probably receive some merit aid (I think northeastern primarily uses the act/sat to decide upon scholarships).</p>
<p>edit: oh, I also took all honors/ap classes</p>
<p>nope89, are you female? that can make a difference for engineering…NEU had a 42% acceptance rate last year so I don’t think you can say for certainty anyone is in…I would explain your situation in your essay or have your GC explain in recommendation letter.</p>
<p>nope I’m a guy, and white also as I guess some sort of minoity status could also make a difference. While I do think he’ll get accepted, he is by no means a guarantee and should apply to other schools that are less selective. Early action is a good idea and naturally any circumstances that would contribute to an abnormal drop in gpa (like medically diagnosed depression) should be made aware. Just be sure, however, to show that it was an isolated incident and your current well-being is evident in your better gpa this year and higher sat/act score when you take it later this month. Do make sure and prepare for it and get a higher grade to increase your chance of acceptance and a scholarship, not fully preparing for the sat has been a regret of mine after learning that it could very well have increased my scholarship amount.</p>
<p>Good advice nope89…just curious about the gender thing because I had heard they were trying to get more women in engineering…no offense meant there. Definitely early action, definitely go campus visit, etc. to do the things that show interest…the other thing I forgot to mention is that sometimes geography can play a part…if you are from a part of the country they want to enroll…</p>
<p>Yeah, I’m from Bedford, MA, just about 30 mins north of Boston, and Caucasian, so I dont think that would apply to me haha. I’m probably gonna go visit this week during school, and I guess I should start preparing for the ACT again :-(. thanks for the advice :-)</p>
<p>Beginning about 5 years ago Northeastern developed a strategic plan to raise its rankings and place it in the top 100 schools according to USNews rankings. They accomplished that this year. Part of their plan was to average test scores of admitted students. They hoped to increase their average SAT to 1250 by 2008; it was around 1139 in 2001 and had risen to 1225 by 2005; the SAT average for Bouve Coll of Health Sciences was 1234 in 2005 and College of Eng was the highest at 1273. Averages this year are all slightly higher although I am not sure of the exact numbers. Another goal was to increase their geographic distribution - they are shooting for about a 26% acceptance rate for students from Mass. by 2008. Needless to say, they are on course for accomplishing their goals and are becoming more and more selective each year. I am not sure what the ACT equivalents are to the SATs but you will definitely want to increase your scores to increase your chances.</p>