<p>I’m planning on retaking both, but do these make me already at least slightly competitive? Also, which is considered better out of the two (the ACT or SAT score)? Thanks!</p>
<p>Unless you’re a URM, these scores are not competitive and give you a low chance of admission.</p>
<p>I don’t quite agree with mildcat…
In itself, a 31 ACT does not give you a low chance of admission. If you have a solid application (good EC’s, well-written essays, high GPA, the works), you are still competitive. If, however, your ACT score is the best aspect of your application, you likely do not have a good shot of being admitted. Looking at the RD results, it’s obvious how holistic of an approach NU has towards admissions. Strong students will not be hurt too much by a lower than average ACT score; poor applicants will not be given much preference simply because of a high ACT score.</p>
<p>(And please don’t misconstrue this to mean that you have a low ACT score… you most certainly don’t. NU simply has a very high average ACT score… in the 99th percentile, I believe.)</p>
<p>I’m aiming for at least a 34 come June. And is it different if you don’t apply RD?</p>
<p>ED has a higher acceptance rate (but some also speculate that the students that apply ED have stronger applications). A page or two back, you should be able to find an ED thread with tons of results you can reference.</p>
<p>I don’t quite agree. I think ED is easier and even asked if it was in which I got a lot of the same replies [it is easier]. If you look at the ED and RD thread the ED has a lot of acceptances with lower stats. </p>
<p>Also, I think a 31 is pretty strong. My friend got in with a 27. But of course, that’s not the only thing that determines acceptance.</p>
<p>A score of 31 by itself is not determinative of a decision but it does give you lower chances than somebody with a 33 or above and a similar profile. That said, there are probably several acceptances in the 26-30 range (maybe even lower if you’re a URM) every year.</p>
<p>I understand that, and I’m just asking about whether or not the score alone is within the range of commonly-admitted applicants. It’s not as if this is the only “decent” part of my application whatsoever.</p>
<p>I would say there are likely many current NU students who have test scores similar to these, though it is probably more common to have slightly better ones.</p>
<p>
If you went through all the posts on the 2015 ED and RD thread you can get an idea of what scores the accepted, waitlisted and rejected applicants had.;)</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/northwestern-university/1109499-nortwestern-rd-results-class-2015-a.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/northwestern-university/1109499-nortwestern-rd-results-class-2015-a.html</a></p>
<p>i actually got in with a 31 act, so i think you should be fine as long as your grades are strong, you have a good number of extracurriculars, well written essays, etc.</p>
<p>Ohh thanks for your input! What was your GPA?</p>
<p>Hey, I got in with a 2050 SAT as an international applying for aid and that says something. It’s not all about the score, I think your ACT is an average or slightly below average score for an NU student.</p>
<p>So do you go there?!?</p>
<p>^ From the username, ‘rdgonzalez’ might be a URM. URM’s can surely get into NU with an ACT score of 31 or even lower. If you are not a urm, legacy, or an athlete to be recruited, however, your current scores are just not competitive. There are many who got rejected with scores 32-34. Worse yet, for ORM’s, a 31 in ACT simply cannot pull it. Do refer to admission result stats. </p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Yes, but (s)he was an int’l applicant applying for aid. And karolina, above, does not sound like a URM, and she got in. I’m not saying these scores can’t and won’t be improved (first try for both of them) - but I don’t know about them “simply not pulling it,” especially with all other components of my application taken into account.</p>
<p>Never meant to discourage u. What I said was “if you are an ORM”, a 31 is very low. Anyhow, you are a junior, and these scores of yours are impressive. </p>
<p>Still, the competition is craaaazy, especially if you are not particularly hooked. FYI, there are many special circumstances that ad-coms give extra points to, such as girls wanting engineering or someone living in the middle of nowhere… We just never know.</p>
<p>Since you have enuf time to prep, try to get at least 33-34. I had gotten a 34 and got in. (ORM, btw) But I did not even submit that score cause I screwed up my essay. Instead, I submitted my sat which was 2310. Next year will be as bad, if not worse.</p>
<p>I’m a girl applying to McCormick…mini-hook there?</p>
<p>A decent hook, I’ll say. Still, I would try to raise act or sat a bit, if I were u.</p>
<p>I will do that. I’m aiming for a 34+ by the time of applying</p>