<p>Hey,</p>
<p>I’m a Sophomore at UW-Madison, and I’m looking to transfer to Northwestern for Winter Quarter 2009. My stats are pretty good–3.875 Frosh GPA, 34 ACT, ect. Anyway, my best composite ACT score (34) is accompanied by a fairly dismal writing score (8). I remember having a very difficult time concentrating and that the essay was very short. I also feel as if I wrote some bizzare things after I got discouraged. I’m not TOO insecure about the score itself (one of my recs testifies to my writing), but I was wondering whether the admissions staff will look up my essay or not. It’s probably not a dealbreaker (it WAS two years ago…), but I instead could send my test without writing that I received a 33 on (though only a 30 on reading…). Any suggestions?</p>
<p>Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>Given that you would be applying for junior transfer, your standardized test scores would be subordinate to your GPA/transcript, recommendations, and essays; and thus, relatively unimportant (unless they truly send up a red flag, which yours do not). I would not worry so much about your writing score and suggest sending the 34.</p>
<p>A couple more questions that I would be really grateful for some help with:</p>
<p>1) I’m running a bit late on my application. The deadline is November 1st, but since Northwestern has rolling admissions, I was hoping to get it in before the end of September. Will I be at a serious disadvantage if I wait until October?</p>
<p>2) I never got to know any of my TA’s very well, and the classes at UW-Madison tend to be very large. I have a rec. from an AP English teacher that knows my work extremely well (will write a GREAT rec), and plan on having a counselor testify to my courseload, ect. Will not having a recommendation from a college professor/TA be an issue? Northwestern doesn’t require them, but I was thinking it could be one of those implicit things.</p>