Recent Northwestern graduate/incoming Columbia grad student taking questions

Applying to College
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I used to post in this forum ages ago with the username “zcat18.” It’s been awhile since I’ve ventured back, but I’d be happy to take your questions. I majored in Media & Politics (a sub-field of Communication) at Northwestern with a minor in Chinese Language and Culture. In addition, I worked in the Office of Undergraduate Admission in various capacities for the entirety of my tenure at NU.

I’ll be starting graduate school at Columbia in the fall, but in the meantime, I’d be happy to answer any questions you may have about the college admission process, the graduate school admission process, and perhaps most importantly, the college experience itself.

…so fire away!

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<p>what are you working on in grad school?</p>

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<p>What do you think about my chances at Northwestern?
(maybe HPME)</p>

<p>Asian american (Bangladeshi) Expected major is chemistry. I am currently a sophomore in high school. I go to a medium sized school in KS, not really competitive or anything. Our school offers only 5 AP classes, but I’m taking all of them at some point. I’ll list my stats below.</p>

<p>SAT: 2230, 730 critical reading, 730 math, 770 writing
ACT: 35 (32 E, 36M, 35 R, 35 S)
GPA: 4.0 UW, 4.385 W
Rank: 1/~200
EC’s: 100 hours at local Salvation Army, 2 summers volunteering at the hospital, Key Club, Math Club, Scholars’ Bowl (Captain and member of 2005 State Championship team), 4 year varsity tennis player, Philosophy Club, Co-founder of Historical Film Society, Member of library youth advisory committee, Spanish Club, National Honor Society (President)
Awards: 3rd in state Spanish I, 1st in state Spanish II, High scorer in Kansas on AMC 12, Member of 2005 State Scholars’ Bowl Champion team, Numerous 1st place finishes in local math competitions </p>

<p>Expecting good essay and excellent teacher reccommendations.
Please evaluate my chances and feel free to suggest any other college you think I should apply to.
Thanks!</p>

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<p>I’ll be doing an East Asia area studies (M.A.) program.</p>

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<p>HPME is one program that is very hard to predict. Each year, that program receives a few thousand applications, and of those, only about a hundred are offered interviews. In the end, NU admits somewhere around 75 students, expecting about 50 to enroll.</p>

<p>You have the numbers to be competitive, but beyond that, it will really come down to your research experience and the depth of your expressed commitment to medicine. Many successful HPME applicants have already either contributed (in a research assistant capacity, of course) to published research or have done significant independent research themselves.</p>

<p>*Edit: Are you looking at any other combined BA(S)/MD programs? They’re all madly competitive. Also look into the Integrated Science Program at NU (if NU interests you beyond HPME). The University of Rochester has a BA/MD program that, while very competitive, may be slightly less so than HPME and Brown’s PLME.</p>

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<p>What is the approximate acceptance rate for the HPME program? Also, what are my chances for regular acceptance into Northwestern?</p>

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<p>Well, as I said, we get about 5,000 HPME inquiries (each potential applicant must send an informational card with SATs, SAT IIs, GPA/class rank, etc. before they are given an HPME application), and in the end, about 70 are accepted. </p>

<p>Your chances for admission to NU (non-HPME) are very good–probably 60% or better, though you need to be sure you don’t come off as too “ordinary” outside the classroom There are a lot of people who are shoe-ins academically, but who shoot themselves in the foot by writing trite essays or not selling themselves through their writing/description of activities as well as they could or should.</p>

<p>Also, take a look at my previous post for a couple of suggestions of other programs.</p>

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<p>One more question…</p>

<p>I recently got a 35 on my ACT but did not take the writing test. If I test again with the writing test and say, get a 33, would Northwestern even glance at my 35 if I sent it as well?</p>

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<p>(reaching back into my bag of answers from my days as an admission counselor…)</p>

<p>If you’re applying this year, the policy is that you are required to take the new test with writing. If you did better on the multiple choice portion of the old test, however, Northwestern will only use that score and will review only the writing portion of the new test.</p>

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<p>I’m so relieved. Thank you so much!</p>

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<p>Good luck!</p>

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<p>also, does Northwestern give merit scholarships</p>

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<p>Nope, no merit scholarships–only need-based aid. NU does honor outside scholarships, such as National Merit, ROTC, and others.</p>

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<p>Not much happening at work, so I figure I’ll bump this up (gotta love lazy summer jobs).</p>

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<p>hi wildlion, I guess I have a few questions for my s, who’s going to be applying this fall. Does the cold really get people down in the winter? How’s the food? Do students venture into Evanston often to eat? Do most students live on campus all four years? Does the frat system dominate the social life of the university? Does Northwestern get many apps [relatively speaking] from southern states? Does Northwestern count AP scores in admissions? Would you say Northwestern has either grade deflation or inflation? How have your friends done on the job market after graduating from Northwestern? Do students generally support the football team? Is a 3.65 from a private school with high SATs in the ball park for admissions?</p>

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<p>Okay, what were your statistics? Do you feel that you were in the upper bunch at Northwestern, the middle, or that you barely got in?</p>

<p>I was just wondering from a realistic point of view because so many people here act like only Einstein can go to college.</p>

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<p>My stats coming out of high school weren’t enirely impressive, Godfather (1340 [740 v], 740/730/690 SAT IIs, ranked 26/~400), but I firmly believe that it was my essays and extracurricular involvement that afforded me the choices I eventually had. Based on my high school numbers alone, I probably fell somewhere around the 40th percentile of NU enrollees, but at the risk of tooting my horn, I had ECs that made me competitive for admission to schools that my stats alone would not. </p>

<p>When all was said and done, I was an above average (though not stellar) student at NU, but I’m attending one of my top-choice graduate programs, and I am convinced that Northwestern really played an important role in that result. I had easy access to excellent research and work opportunities, without which I likely would not have been offered the opportunities for graduate study that I now have. </p>

<p>Don’t let anybody scare you into thinking that one must be superhuman to secure a spot at a top school. I firmly believe that it takes heart, creativity, and the ability to think clearly “outside the box,” but I do not believe that schools are necessarily looking only for students who will re-invent the Internet and do it as an undergraduate. As I’ve said before, there are thousands of applications that roll in every year from monotone students with top scores and flawless high school records, but nothing else to distinguish themselves from the 16,000 other applicants just like them. Selective schools such as NU and others are far more inclined to admit a student who is a bit “rough around the edges,” but who appears to the adcom as a splash of color in a largely grey applicant pool.</p>

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<p>Heidi: I’ll take your questions one-by-one.</p>

<p>While every individual deals with the cold differently, I found that it wasn’t nearly as serious an issue as people made it out to be (I think people like to complain, but in the end the complaints are unwarranted). I came to NU from Florida, and the biggest adjustment was simply remembering to put on my big winter coat everytime I went outside! Otherwise, it’s not much more difficult to get around and live comfortably in the winter than it is during the spring or summer. Some people, however, might disagree with my casual dismissal of our cold winters.</p>

<p>The food is fine–probably B+ for cafeteria food, if I were to rate it. The biggest complaint is that it gets a bit repetitive, but I didn’t mind it, and every dining hall usually has something different, so you can always vary where and what you eat.</p>

<p>People do go into Evanston often to eat. This is usually reserved for weekends (Thurs. night included), but very few people eat every meal of the week in a dining hall. I usually ate dinner out on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights, though there were exceptions to that rule.</p>

<p>I’d say most students life in off-campus housing their junior and senior years, though, if I were to guess, around 30-40% of upperclassmen still live in dorms. Personally, I lived off campus my junior year and then came back to the dorm for my senior year.</p>

<p>The frat system is definitely highly visible, but I wouldn’t say it dominates the social scene. I rushed and pledged a fraternity as a freshman, but I only remained a member for about a year before quitting. Rush (which doesn’t occur until the winter) is a great way to meet students from all different dorms and majors. Sorority rush is far more formal than fraternity rush, however, and many girls figure out early in the game that the Greek scene isn’t for them. I ended up becoming very involved with student government, which took the place of the fraternity in terms of time commitment. My best friends were truly an eclectic mix–some in Greek houses, some not, all from different majors and backgrounds. About 35% of NU students go Greek, but there’s certainly no disadvantage to students who choose not to rush and/or pledge. I found that I had more fun once I quit the frat than I had when I was a member. </p>

<p>Northwestern is relatively popular among southern states, with Florida and Texas both ranking in the top 10 state from which the school draws. </p>

<p>AP scores are not taken into consideration in admissions, and I wouldn’t recommend sending them until after you are admitted.</p>

<p>On the whole, I think students generally earn the grades they deserve at NU. I’ve heard very few complaints of grade deflation, though there are rare times when a professor in a large introductory class might grade on a curve. Conversely, there are some majors where it’s comparatively easier to do well, but I never really saw the kind of wholesale grade inflation and deflation that is rumored to occur at some colleges. You generally get out of college what you put into it, and grades are not an exception to this rule. </p>

<p>NU tends to do very well in the job market, especially in the financial sector. The top consulting and banking firms all recruit heavily on campus, as do top companies all from all across the industrial world. Of my friends who didn’t go straight to graduate school, some companies that come to mind for which they’ll be working are Morgan Stanley, Boeing, Bain, Boston Consulting, Deloitte, Goldman-Sachs, Rhino Records, 20th Century Fox, and others. </p>

<p>Having access to Big Ten football is one of the best parts of being a Northwestern student, and if you end up attending, I definitely encourage you to go to every game! Our team may not be a perennial winner, but students always pack the student section and even travel to away games. Going to football games on Saturdays is one of my very favorite memories of NU (especially this past season when we beat Ohio State for the first time in 27 years!). </p>

<p>It’s hard for me to assess your chances for admission based only on your GPA. Read my above response to Godfather for some words of wisdom on the application process. Will high SATs and a 3.6 (which sounds a bit low, but I don’t know your school, so it really means nothing) get you into NU? No. But your GPA will not necessarily keep you out either. As I said, read my response to the poster above, as it might have some insight that may be useful to you.</p>

<p>Best of luck!</p>

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<p>Oh, one more thing, Heidi:</p>

<p>Adcoms aren’t necessarily looking for the students with the highest stats, but instead for those whom they see making the biggest impact both in college and beyond. This means that they really look for leadership and initiative–starting clubs or organizations, rising to positions of prominence within their chosen activities, etc. </p>

<p>The activities list, along with the GPA/class rank and essays, is one of the most important parts of the application, so the worst thing your son can do is to sell himself short. This is one endeavor in which it actually pays to toot your own horn!</p>

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<p>…hope everybody had a fun Saturday night!</p>