Official Regular Decision For Northwestern University Class of 2016

weepulraider252 · March 25, 2012, 10:22am

I still haven’t gotten my decision letter yet! Should I be worried? I looked at my friends letter, and it said that all the application decisions were available, but I haven’t gotten mine…

crisps16 · March 25, 2012, 10:29am

@weepulraider252 Check your spam/junk emails & call the Admin Office first thing Mon morning. Good luck.

asloves · March 25, 2012, 11:39am

Decision: Accepted to School of Communication

Objective:[ul]
[] SAT I (breakdown): 2270 (770/780/720)
[] ACT: 35
[] SAT II (if submitted): 730 Math I 710 Literature
[] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.9
[] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 30/477
[] AP (place score in parenthesis): Physics B (4) English Comp (5) APUSH (3)
[] Senior Year Course Load: AP Calc BC, AP Latin, AP Psych, AP Euro, AP Art Hist, AP Lit, Honors Gov/Econ
[] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit Finalist, publication on national magazine, some statewide film awards
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Historian of 3 clubs, soccer for 10 years, Hebrew Class for 14 years, filmmaking and photography competitions, Latin and Mu Alpha Theta state competitions, etc
[] Job/Work Experience: Camp Counselor, SAT/ACT tutor, pre-cal tutor
[] Volunteer/Community service: 200+ hours at various things since I was 10
[] Essays: Extended food metaphor about my culture (Asian and Jewish)
[] Teacher Recommendation: AP English, probably good
[] Counselor Rec: Good I think
[] Additional Rec: President of UT Martin and nationally known rabbi
[] Interview: Amazing. He loved me, called me a standout applicant
[/ul]Other[ul]
[] Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
[] Intended Major: Radio/TV/Film
[] State (if domestic applicant): TN
[] School Type: Large public
[] Ethnicity: Dutch-Indonesian
[] Gender: F
[] Income Bracket: Around $100k
[] Hooks (URM, first generation college, research, etc.): URM I guess?
[/ul]Reflection[ul]
[] Strengths: ACT, many awards, interview, essays, recs
[] Weaknesses: Rank, GPA, SAT IIs
[li] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I did everything I could to show that NU was my top choice and made my Why Northwestern essay show that[/li][/ul]General Comments: Also accepted to Tulane, Syracuse-Newhouse, BU, UNC Chapel Hill, waiting on USC and Columbia

LINYMOM · March 25, 2012, 11:56am

From an NU Grad (Speech - now Communications - Class of 1984):

Congratulations to all of you who have been accepted!

I am so excited for you! I’ve visited a lot of colleges with my DD and DS over the last several years and would go to Northwestern again IN A MINUTE.

Good luck as you make your final decision; you know what I would advise.

GO CATS!

ILoveHippos · March 25, 2012, 2:08pm

**Decision: Rejected **

Objective:[ul]
[]SAT I (breakdown): 2020 Total - 630R/740M/650W
[]ACT: N/A
[]SAT II: 680 Biology M, 720 Math 2, 700 Math 1
[]Unweighted GPA (out of 5.0): 4,8ish
[]Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 4-5/64
[]AP (place score in parenthesis):
[]IB (place score in parenthesis): 35 Predicted
[]Senior Year Course Load: IB Full Diploma
[]Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): None
[/ul]
Subjective:[ul]
[]Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Lots of leadership (started a campaign in school, member of honor’s council etc.)
[]Job/Work Experience: Lots of Tutoring, Internships
[]Volunteer/Community service: Tutoring, lots of community service.
[]Summer Activities: Internships, Ivy Summer Programs
[]Essays: Pretty good
[]Teacher Recommendation: Pretty awesome
[]Counselor Rec: Good I guess
[]Additional Rec: Yes
[]Interview: N/A

[/ul]Other[ul]
[]Applied for Fin Aid?: No
[]State (if domestic applicant):
[]Country (if international applicant): I’m international
[]School Type: Private
[]Ethnicity: White
[]Gender:
[]Income Bracket: Upper middle
[]Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None

[/ul]Reflection

[ul]Strengths: Scores, grades, EC’s etc.
[]Weaknesses: No major awards
[]Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Because of the essays and my EC’s
[]Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
Accepted: University of Virginia, Boston University, University of British Columbia
Waitlisted: Washu
Rejected: Northwestern, UCLA
[]General Comments: [/ul]

rekkav · March 25, 2012, 2:25pm

Draco & Cahs- our d declined as well with comparable admission stats…we knew NU was a reach and like you were bombarded with mktg material & visited. My gripe after visiting NU is we left feeling while it was still a reach it was not as big of reach as we thought and financially we fit one of the profiles highlighted in 1 of NU financial aid brochures so we concluded schools like NU profile were affordable for a middle class family like us…we proceeded to apply to similar profile schools and d was accepted to BC but no financial aid. She didn’t apply ED NU because of interest in BC…kind of confusing sorting thru this (we’re rookies) but like your kids we still have very good affordable options but a little more knowledge could’ve increased odds for scholarships at schools where she was in the 95-99 percentile of applicants and that’s my advice to 2017 parents. Apply to at most 2 reach schools both early and then 1/2 dz other schools where you’re in the 95-99 percentile of applicants and at least 2 of those 6 state schools where if you get accepted ED or EA and don’t get the financial aid you anticipated then you’ll end up with 2 really affordable and good schools and then 3-4 other schools that will offer full or 50% merit ships.

modest423 · March 25, 2012, 4:57pm

Decision: Accepted (HPME)

Objective:[ul]
[] SAT I (breakdown): 2350 (800 CR, 760 M, 790 W)
[] ACT: 36 (36 E, 36 M, 36 R, 36 S)
[] SAT II: 800 Math II, 800 Math I, 800 Chemistry, 800 Biology E, 770 US History, 770 Literature, 750 French, 740 Latin
[] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
[] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/360
[] AP (place score in parenthesis): Calculus BC (5), Latin (5), Physics B (5), Chemistry (5), US History (5), English Lang (5), Biology (5), French (5), Environmental Science (5), Human Geography (5), Macroeconomics (5), US Gov (5), Psychology (5)
[] Senior Year Course Load: Post-AP French Literature, AP Comp Gov, Linear Algebra, AP English Literature, AP Physics C, AP European History, AP Art History, Post-AP Latin
[] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Various Olympiad/AMC/AIME awards, National Merit Finalist, National AP Scholar, various scholarships, leadership awards, volunteer awards, etc.

[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Varsity Tennis (1st Singles 4 years, team captain 3 years), Varsity Boys Lacrosse (4 years, captain 2 years), Varsity Boys Soccer (4 years, co-captain 2 years), US Senate Page Program, Varsity Debate (4 years, qualified to Tournament of Champions twice, NFL Nationals three times, CFL Nationals 4 times), Mock Trial captain, Literary Magazine contributor and assistant editor, Violinist (local youth orchestra)
[] Job/Work Experience: Interned at state governor’s office for 2 summers, Interned at an attorney’s office, Worked at local ice cream store for four years
[] Volunteer/Community service: Volunteered at local nursing home since I was 9, reading to them, bringing my pet dog, taking care of them, playing music for them, talking to them, etc.
[] Summer Activities: Debate camp, volunteering, interning, reading, working, etc.
[] Essays: Excellent
[] Teacher Recommendation: Best in career.
[] Counselor Rec: Best in career.
[] Additional Rec: From state governor, wonderful comments.
[li] Interview: Good[/li][/ul]

Other[ul]
[] State (if domestic applicant): NY
[] School Type: Public
[] Ethnicity: White
[] Gender: Male
[]Income Bracket: 75,000-100,000
[] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): First generation
[/ul]Reflection[ul]
[] Strengths: Grades, awards, testing, rank, extracurriculars, essays.
[] Weaknesses: Essays were a bit specific so they could have been a hit or miss.
[li] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I’m surprised and so happy.[/ul][/li]
Accepted to[ul]
[] MIT
[] Northwestern HPME
[] UChicago
[] WashU
[] Rice
[] Yale (likely) [/ul]

twinkle220 · March 25, 2012, 5:48pm

My best friend and I were both accepted to SoC theatre! Can’t wait to see everyone at Wildcat Days Congrats to all, and I’m sure everyone will find their place somewhere!

paigek7 · March 25, 2012, 6:18pm

Decision: Accepted

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown): N/A
ACT: 33
SAT II (if submitted): 800 Math 2, 720 US History, 700 Spanish
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): around a 3.9 i think? Weighted out of 4 it was a 4.78
AP (place score in parenthesis): US History (5) English Language (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: AP Chem, AP Calculus BC, AP English Lit & Comp, AP Spanish Language, AP Psychology, art elective
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): NHS, ISAC Illinois State Scholar, National Spanish Exam “Notable” recognition

Subjective:

Extracurriculars: (place leadership in parenthesis): Math team, Trivia team, Relay for life (Captain), Ambassadors, Jazz Ensemble

Job/Work Experience:

Volunteer/Community service: Tutoring, Relay for Life

Essays: My main essay was about how 30 Rock & Tina Fey have affected me, my why NU essay covered like everything but in the end was quite sentimental

Teacher Recommendation: One kick-ass letter of rec, one generic but fairly positive
Counselor Rec: Not sure, guessing generic & positive as well
Additional Rec: N/A
Interview: Went fairly well. only lasted 20 minutes but i asked questions and showed my interest in the school.

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: yes.
Intended Major: MMSS
State (if domestic applicant): Illinois
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Upper middle class public
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: Prefer not to say
Hooks (URM, first generation college, research, etc.): Double legacy

Reflection

Strengths: ACT scores, SATII scores, AP Scores, Grades, Essays, Double Legacy
Weaknesses: Leadership/extra curriculars were not outstanding, no work experience, i don’t do anything with my summers
Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: I was qualified, my essays were strong, and my parents having gone there
Other schools to which you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected:
Accepted: University of Illinois, University of Wisconsin-Madison, University of Iowa, Northwestern
Haven’t heard from Vanderbilt (I’m guessing i’ll be accepted), Duke (rejected probs), Pomona (rejected possibly), and University of Michigan (probably accepted, not sure though).

General Comments: Unless the finances don’t work out, I will be attending NU this fall!

blondebamf · March 25, 2012, 8:36pm

Decision: Rejected

Objective:[ul]
[] SAT I (breakdown): 2190 (690 CR, 760 M, 740 W)
[] ACT: N/A
[] SAT II: 770 US History, 720 Math 2, 610 Lit (Not reported)
[] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.9
[] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): My school doesn’t rank, but probably top 10 percent
[] AP (place score in parenthesis): US History (5)
[] IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
[] Senior Year Course Load: AP Economics (Macro and Micro), AP Art History, AP Statistics, English 12 Honors, Film and American Culture, International and Creative Foods, Gym/Health
[] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): No major Awards
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): School District Steering Committee (Student Representative, one of four students in entire high school, 11-12); Teen intern at Radical Parenting (parenting blog from teenage perspective, 10-12); Principal’s Advisory Council (Student Representative, 11-12); REBEL (Reaching Everyone By Exposing Lies, anti-smoking advocacy group, 9); Gesher LeKesher (Jewish Peer Leaders Group, 12); PawPrint (school newspaper, 10-11)
[] Job/Work Experience: None (Unless Radical Parenting internship counts as work experience)
[] Volunteer/Community service: NHS (11-12), Interact Club (10-12); Jewish Community Youth Foundation (Jewish philanthropy organization for teens, 8-12; Youth Advisory Board member 10-12)
[] Summer Activities: Summer college programs at UMass Amherst (2009, not for credit), Michigan (2010, not for credit), and Cornell (2011, for credit)
[] Essays: Wrote about Principal’s Advisory Council for short essay. Long essay was about negative experience at a sleep away camp and how the summer programs I attended enabled me to shed away negative attributes; Why NU essay was well-written, but maybe generic (other concerns listed under “Why you were rejected”)
[] Teacher Recommendation: 11th grade English Honors teacher, and Calculus teacher (11th grade); Both were probably positive and well written, yet my English Honors teacher writes numerous recommendations
[] Counselor Rec: My guidance counselor and I are very close, so it was likely an exuberant letter
[] Additional Rec: Vice Principal of my school (he enabled me to get involved in many of my ECs), as well as the head of the charity that runs Jewish Community Youth Foundation; Both of them amazing, sentimental, and pretty well-written
[] Interview: None
[/ul]

Other[ul]
[]Applied for Financial Aid?: No
[]Intended Major: Economics or Psychology
[] State (if domestic applicant):NJ
[] Country (if international applicant):
[] School Type: Public, very competitive
[] Ethnicity:White (Jewish)
[] Gender: Female
[]Income Bracket: $250K+
[li] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None, unless being from NJ is an anomaly[/li][/ul]

Reflection[ul]
[] Strengths: ECs, Quantitative stats were in range
[] Weaknesses: Essays, overall profile, and possibly the other schools I applied to
[] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: In my essay, I mentioned how much I loved small classes, and used the summer program at Cornell as an example. Problem is, I actually used the name “Cornell.” Even in a neutral manner, this may have hindered me exponentially
[] Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected: Accepted: Pittsburgh, Minnesota (Twin-Cities), UMass Amherst (all honors, $40K from Pitt and UMass, $37K from Minnesota); Deferred (and still waiting): Cornell (ED), Michigan; Also waiting on: Columbia, UPenn, Stanford, NYU
[/ul]

General Comments: This was my first rejection and it was quite sobering after my three acceptances. However, because NU did not correspond with me incessantly, I took the rejection much lighter than I was anticipating (out of sight, out of mind, perhaps?). Congrats to all who were accepted and best of luck in your future endeavors! =)

hdb123 · March 25, 2012, 8:53pm

My D was wait-listed. That hurts! She had 35 ACT, 2340 SAT, 5’s on about 11 AP test and one 4, awards every year at Model UN/Youth Leg, should have had excellent recs. Accepted at Wash U (no money though), Rhodes, UNC, Wililam and Mary and waitlisted at GW (also painful). Waiting on some others and telling ourselves it’s pretty much a lottery of super-qualified students. There’s a lot of randomness. It is not a judgement on your ability or worth as a person! It’s hard to remember that, but it’s true! As I said elsewhere, I interview for Princeton so I have seen how many wonderful applicants are rejected every year: almost all of them simply because there are so few slots available.

Sam_Lee · March 25, 2012, 10:42pm

GW? Did she apply to the international affair school? Otherwise, it’s quite a big gap between GW and NU/WashU.

pacerbaseball · March 25, 2012, 11:46pm

Decision: Accepted

** Objective: **[ul]
[] SAT I (breakdown):
[] ACT:33
[] SAT II:740 720 720
[] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.86
[] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 5/270
[] AP (place score in parenthesis): Spanish (4) Chem (4) English Lang (5) Calc AB (5)
[] IB (place score in parenthesis):
[] Senior Year Course Load:APUS, AP Calc BC, AP Eng Lit, AP Euro, Independent Study Spanish
[] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): (MUN) (ASB) Baseball Football Spanish Club NHS
[] Job/Work Experience: Tutor, Referee, Social Media Manager
[] Volunteer/Community service: Mission Trips, Serving the Homeless, Walk for Water
[] Summer Activities: Baseball, baseball, baseball
[] Essays: good
[] Teacher Recommendation:2x good, calc teach/euro teach
[] Counselor Rec: good
[] Additional Rec:
[] Interview: n/a

[/ul]
Other
[] State (if domestic applicant): OR
[] Country (if international applicant):
[] School Type: Public
[] Ethnicity: White
[] Gender: Male
[]Income Bracket:
[] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Legacy
Reflection
[li] Strengths: Solid extracurriculars[/li][] Weaknesses: Essays
[] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected: General well rounded app and a legacy
[] Where else were you accepted/waitlisted/rejected:Villanova Honors, Michigan Honors, Santa Clara, Oregon, UCLA accepted so far, waiting on Gtown/Duke
General Comments: Happy with how it went

idrice · March 26, 2012, 3:42am

Decision: Waitlisted

Objective:[ul]
[] SAT I (breakdown):2260 (750 CR, 760 M, 750 WR)
[] ACT: 34
[] SAT II:770 Lit, 710 Physics
[] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0):3.92
[] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): DNR
[] Senior Year Course Load:IB HL Math/Cryptography, IB HL English, IB HL Drama, IB SL World Religions, IB SL Spanish, IB SL Physics
[li] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):National Merit Finalist[/ul][/li]
Subjective:[ul]
[] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):One Stone Inc. a student lead non-profit [project team leader], Idaho Shakespeare Festival Apprenticeship [an audition based apprenticeship with a regional theater company], Journalism (Co-editor-in-chief), Film Club (co-founder), Soccer (Vice Captain), Quizbowl (1st at state smalls schools), guitar and I play in a band/write songs.
[] Job/Work Experience:Idaho Shakespeare Festival Box Office
[] Volunteer/Community service:One Stone Inc.
[] Summer Activities:ISF Apprenticeship (2 summers)
[] Essays:
[] Teacher Recommendation:Probably good I go to an extremely small school. I haven’t seen it though.
[] Counselor Rec:Same as above.
[] Additional Rec:None
[li] Interview:None [/ul][/li]
Other[ul]
[] State (if domestic applicant):Idaho
[] Country (if international applicant:
[] School Type:Private
[] Ethnicity:White
[] Gender:Male
[] Income Bracket:
[li] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):none [/ul][/li]
Reflection[ul]
[] Strengths:GPA, EC’s, Test scores
[] Weaknesses:Northwestern Essay, No major awards besides NM.
[] Why you think you were accepted/waitlisted/rejected:I think it was because my Why Northwestern essay was really generic and I didn’t spend very much time on it. I’m really not sure otherwise. It was my first non-acceptance so far so it has me slightly worried for the rest. I’m actually curious to see why others think I was waitlisted.
[]Other schools you’ve been accepted/waitlisted/rejected:Colorado College, Whitman, and Wesleyan University so far.
Waiting on Stanford, Brown, Middlebury, Williams, and Amherst.
[/ul]

wizkhalifa1 · March 26, 2012, 11:20am

For anybody else who hasn’t heard, I just called the admissions office and asked about decision emails (much to their chagrin), and they told me they’ll all have been sent out by the end of the day.

carbon · March 26, 2012, 12:35pm

What was this year’s acceptance rate?

AJB1993 · March 26, 2012, 5:13pm

@carbon
probably around 15%

wilbursgirl · March 26, 2012, 7:06pm

Idrice: Hmm. I was accepted to NU but waitlisted to Wesleyan, so the only thing I can think to tell you is if your Why NU essay didn’t seem very wholehearted they might have zeroed in on that. I have friends with unbelievable scores who didn’t get into NU because they feel like their essays/interviews weren’t fantastic, so if it may have appeared you weren’t totally invested in the school, that’s the only reason I can think of for your not being accepted.

oneswifm2 · March 26, 2012, 8:37pm

@SamLee

I was also waitlisted at GW and did apply to school of international affairs. Yet I got into Northwestern, U Chicago, and Pomona. I don’t know how to explain that.

carbon · March 26, 2012, 10:23pm

@AJB, thanks but I was wondering if anyone could reasonably estimate what the acceptance rate would be for just Regular Decision applicants?

I heard that schools make Early rounds easier, and therefore the regular acceptance % would be lower.

I’m partly asking because I’d like to know how difficult it is to get into Northwestern regular vis-a-vis Yale or Stanford regular.

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Official Regular Decision For Northwestern University Class of 2016