Northwestern ED vs RD

Colleges & Universities Northwestern University
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<p>Hi Everyone! I’m an Asian Indian from small town 99% Caucasian Maine, and I was hoping you guys could help me out with a couple things.
I know I have a horrid GPA and SATs, but I was wondering if I had a shot at Northwestern ED or RD, and which one would be more beneficial for my admission.
Stats:
GPA: 90.3/100 unweighted, 98/100 weighted. 75-85 = C, 85-93 = B, 93-100 = A
SAT’s: 1910 overall, will retake in October.
SAT II’s: Taking in November.
ACT’s: Waiting on results.
Class Rank: top 23%
AP’s (by the end of senior year): AB Calculus and English Literature as a Junior, Spanish Literature, English Language, Biology, and Statistics as a Senior. One of three juniors to be the first to take AB Calculus. I’ve taken all but two of my schools offered APs (and of course, other language APs.)</p>

<p>Extra Curriculars:
Yearbook Editor: Junior and Senior Year
Swimmer: Sophomore, Junior, Senior Year
Interact Club: First member as a Sophomore, ran it as a Junior and Senior
Speech and Debate: Only girl Student Congress debater, Member since Sophomore year, CoCaptain Junior and Senior Year, National Qualifier Junior and Senior Year
Took two classes at UC Berkeley (freshman + sophomore level) and passed both summer of Junior Year</p>

<p>High School Awards and Honors
RYLA, one of ten kids selected to go on full scholarship
Outstanding Spanish Freshman Year
Outstanding Scarborough Terrace Volunteer Sophomore Year
Speech and Debate Regional 1st-6th Place Awards, National Qualifier
Honor Roll
Royal Conservatory of Music Grade 5 Graduate</p>

<p>Volunteering
Maine Medical Center: Sophomore, Junior, Senior Year (150+)
Scarborough Terrace: Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, Senior Year (100+)
India Association of Maine (Volunteer Hindi Teacher, Youth Coordinator): Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, Senior Year (20+)
Interact Club: Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, Senior Year (10+)</p>

<p>Recommendations
Cognitive Science UC Berkeley Professor or Head of Math Department at University of Southern Maine
Speech and Debate Coach</p>

<p>Other
Wrote a Cognitive Science Graduate Level Proposed Study at UC Berkeley
Fluent in Hindi and Punjabi, taught it to kids
Year younger (I skipped kindergarden and will be graduating HS at age 16)
Hopefully will be starting the first volunteer tutoring program for kids in my community this year
Played Piano for eight years</p>

<p>Overall, I think I had a really adventurous high school transcript as most kids at my school don’t take that many APs (I’m one the only kids to take this many APs), and I contribute to diversity as I’m from Maine (and Indian). I’m writing my college essays on moving and how it affected me, and teaching Hindi to kids. Also, my dad was in the hospital and had medical problems most of my Sophomore and beginning of my Junior year and I’m going to note that on my application, because thats why my grades suffered those years. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.</p>

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<p>Northwestern will be a reach, but applying ED will give you a slight advantage.</p>

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<p>Anything is possible, but I think the odds are strongly against you, either ED or RD</p>

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<p>If I were you (im indian too though haha), I would apply RD. Early desicion is very competitive and even though the acceptance rate is higher, the applicant pool has very high stats compared to the regular pool, so there isn’t much advantage for you.</p>

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<p>x, is there any place that reports the stats of the ED pool that you could send me? How do you know the stats are different at ED time vs RD?</p>

<p>I wondered if my s/ apply ED at NU.</p>

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<p>I’m not sure that this is true for ED, at least to the extent that it tends to be true for EA. With ED, there are more kids who are look for a boost in their admissions chances by showing that the school is their number 1 choice, so more people do reaches for their ED; whereas, if a student has very strong stats and a good chance of being accepted early or regular, they would just apply regular so they aren’t bound to any one school</p>

7

<p>This has been discussed on many, many threads. Applying ED to Northwestern DOES offer a real statistical advantage. Agree this is not universally the case among colleges. Adcoms from NU will tell you that ED, with the commitment made by students interested in the school as their #1 choice, leads to an admissions boost. Other colleges, e.g. Stanford and Brown, will alternatively make it clear there is no advantage. </p>

<p>Kids with credentials at either extreme end of the spectrum - i.e. significantly below or above NU median grades and standardized test scores - will probably see similar outcomes ED or RD. It’s those with credentials near the middle of the NU admit pack that will clearly see the biggest boost from ED.</p>

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<p>here is a little info on the order of importance of admission factors.</p>

<p>[College</a> Search - Northwestern University - NU - Admission](<a href=“College Search - BigFuture | College Board”>College Search - BigFuture | College Board)</p>

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<p>Yeah I agree with Bala on this ED vs. RD controversy, I was thinking ED Wharton when writing this post, I think for schools that aren’t considered “safeties” for HYSPM, ED gives some statistical advantage, but what that number should be, it is definitely scewed by the percentages (I think NU is like 40% accept ED and 20% RD which probably really means only a 7~10% boost in realistic terms.)</p>

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<p>32 on my ACT composites.
Does that help my chances at all?</p>

11

<p>At least it now gives you a fighting chance:</p>

<p>Don’t submit the SAT scores</p>

<p>Work hard to put together a compelling application - give them a reason to forgive that GPA/class rank</p>

12

<p>Agreed, you’ve got a fighting chance. I think the interesting part about your application is growing up Indian in Maine and your advanced research (coupled with the professor rec that speaks to your advanced abilities-- that’s really good). Your leadership positions are also strong–highlight leadership skills, teamwork, initiative, innovation/originality (the goal is to come across as a brilliant student with strong interpersonal skills and awesome ideas). In your Why NU essay, give specific reasons of how you will contribute to campus, so research campus groups, research opportunities, The Daily, professors you want to take classes with, etc.</p>