Northwestern ED Applicant

[mike_jones]

<p>I applied to Northwestern Early Decision. I want to know how hard I should be working on my back up apps over the Thanksgiving holiday.</p>

<p>Rank: 13/692
GPA: W - 4.518
U - 3.701
SAT: 1440 (760 M/680 V)
SAT2: N/A
PSAT: horrible.</p>

<p>Clubs:
Red Cross Club - President; Founder
Speech & Debate - Varsity Debate Captain
FBLA - VP
Literature Honor Society - VP
Key Club - VP
Science/Math Club - Secretary
Science National Honor Society - Member
NHS - Member
Student Council - Member</p>

<p>Honors:
-National Forensic League Quadruble Ruby Speaker (highest distinction)
-State semifinalist in Foreign Extemporaneous speaking (tied for 8th in TX) 03
-State quarterfinalist in Foreign Extemporaneous speaking (tied for 32nd in TX) 02
-Harvard Tournament of Champions Octofinalist in extemporaneous speaking
-Gold Presidential Pin Award Recipient for community service
-Texas Association of Hospital Auxiliaries Outstanding Volunteer
-Scholastic Gold Key Award Winner & Published Short Story
-Shotokan (martial arts) Brown Belt
....</p>

<p>My essay is...okay. I think my short answers are kind of clever. My counselor rec is above average. My teacher rec is a bit trite.</p>

<p>Community:
I have approx 700 hrs via the Red Cross, YMCA, my temple, and a few special interest groups. As for my musical instrument, I play a form of Indian drums. I've been an accompaniast in a few performances.</p>

<p>Don't tell me what I want to hear!!!!!! Tell me what you really think!!! Thanks. There are a lot of smart people on this board and I value all of your opinions.</p>

[tiger60067]

<p>I believe you have a pretty good chance. Your scores and rankings are almost identical to mine(my ranking is 13/~700!), and I'm also doing ED to NU. However, you have much stronger extracurriculars in terms of numbers, commitment, and honors than me. All those executive positions in the clubs will look very good.</p>

[mike_jones]

<p>haha that's ironic. do you live in texas? i bet your APs are a lot better than mine. they're so bad that they werent worthy of posting.</p>

[tiger60067]

<p>No, actually I live in Illinois. :) My father attended Northwestern for graduate school and got a PhD, and I lived on campus in graduate housing when he was going there, so I think I have that going for me. I do think you are far more talented than me, since you have the martial arts and speaking/speech ability. Northwestern really likes talented people. I just realized that your GPA is very similar to mine as well! Haha, mine's about 4.5-4.6 on a scale of 5 weighted too.
My APs aren't too bad, a few 4s and one 5 on AP Physics. I doubt that goes into their admission decision though.</p>

[mike_jones]

<p>with your rank and your father as an alumni, im sure youll be at nu in the fall</p>

[Tenacious_J]

<p>Very Solid Chance.</p>

[tiger60067]

<p>Let's hope we both get in with no problem. Be sure to post in the NU board here if you get accepted. I'll do the same if I get in. It'll be cool if the ED acceptances can all talk and get to know each other a bit before school in fall.</p>

[mike_jones]

<p>how important is the interview in the Northwestern admissions process? i dont think my interview went very well. i didnt say anything stupid, but i could tell that the interviewer wasnt "impressed" with me. how much will my bad interview hurt my chances?</p>

[tiger60067]

<p>I think that a bad interview does not hurt your chances. It is not a very important deciding factor, but if you really impress them, it will help you. I didn't go for an interview since I didnt't think I would be good at answering the kind of questions they ask on the spot. What kind of questions did they ask anyways?</p>

[mike_jones]

<p>a few questions i got were:
who influenced you most during your high school career?
which teacher influenced you most in high school?
whats your most admirable quality as a student?
what are your hobbies?
etc...
i thought i answered them well, but i didnt like the "vibe" i got from the interviewer. he didnt seem impressed with me.</p>

[mike_jones]

<p>does anyone else have any idea at my chances? i looked up on some northwestern ED numbers -- 46% of ED applicants are accepted, but someone told me that "those numbers lie sometimes." does anyone know why/how? if so, what are my chances?</p>

[mike_jones]

<p>hmmm does anyone know about these ED numbers?</p>

[skyhigh5]

<p>Well, Northwestern is D1 for sports. So when they recruit, I assume they tell students beforehand of an accetance, and then they tell them to apply ED. So all athletic recruits are in the ED pool. Although, Northwestern is a big school, and how many kids play varsity sports? It probably doesn't make that big of a difference now that I think about it. And this whole recruiting thing is the same with other schools too. So I don't even know why I just wasted your time reading this. Haha, sorry.</p>

<p>I guess the 46 percent just means they love ED applicants. Applying ED clearly helps the applicant.</p>

[crypticism]

<p>How did you schedule an interview?</p>

[mike_jones]

<p>call the undergraduate admission office</p>

[crypticism]

<p>Thanks, I'll try that. I emailed them and they didn't reply.</p>

[crypticism]

<p>They said that all interviews had to be completed by Nov. 1st. I'm a little annoyed because I knew that, which is why I emailed them in October. It is, however, only my fist semi-bad experience with NU's UG admin office, and they're very busy, so it's forgiveable. Thank goodness interviews are not too important at Northwestern!</p>