The Super-Duper Final Chance Thread :D I promise!

deadmau5 · February 21, 2010, 7:27pm

Kay Guys. It’s getting down to the wire, I have about a month left, so I need a little smack in the face. Northwestern is my dream school. I dream about it. My essay gushed about it. My interview went terrifically and probably included more than one bad Wildcat joke on my part - my interviewer keeps contacting me though, so we’ll see. i wanted to include my sort of final updates, so I can get some piece of mind from the chancers and straight-talkers on this thread. you know who you are!

I’m applying to MEDILL! Woo!

GPA: 3.74 UW, 5.1 W
As of 2nd semester though, it is now a 3.76 UW.

Class Rank- 17/413 (Top 5 percent)
As of 2nd Semester, it is now top 4 percent, though I’m 18/413? um ok!

SAT I: 2130 Composite: 600 M, 730 CR, 800 W (may retake in Jan)
SAT II: 750 US History, 720 Lit, 730 World History
All APs through HS, 8 by Grad
5s on Comp, US History, World History

Awards:
Served as a Congressional Page in the United States House of Representatives my sophomore year
selected 4 times on the American of Newspaper Editors weekly “National Edition” - basically, it’s the best online high school journalism compiled on one site.
3 Awards from Maryland-District of Columbia Press Association Individual Writing and Editing Contest: 2nd Place and Honorable Mention in Review Writing, 3rd For Op/Ed
NHS, French Honor Society, etc
National Merit Commended
Speaker at my school’s GT Night
Ranked 4th in MD for Original Oratory (Speech)

ECS:
The Big One is that I’m the Student Representative on my local school board. I’m a voting member, so I have a say in things like budget, curriculum, all that. Working on a county-wide journalism initiative. As far as I know, relatively few SMOBS in the country have voting rights.
With that job also comes executive leadership positions on my County Student Council board and the State Student Council board.

I also have a job with the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy as one of 13 teens on their Youth Leadership Team - sort of a representative to all teens, if you will. I work on writing for the site, and will be at a panel on Capitol Hill this spring.

Newspaper (duh): Editor in chief 12, other editorial positions previous years
Started my School’s Online Paper- 10000 views in November FTW.
Speech and Debate
Theatre
Community Work: Big on this stuff. Done it for 4 years, I’ll have close to 350 hours between the Board and other stuff by the time I graduate.

As for coursework- I’ve taken AP World, APUSH, Ap Calc (1 semester- AB. did not take the test)

This year I’m taking
AP Enviro
Honors Anatomy + Physiology- my elective
AP Stats
AP English Lit
AP French
Journalism all year (Editor-in-chiefin)
AP Government

Mid-years showed straight As. first A in math. thank GOD.

Thanks to all, and please let me know if you have any questions. In regards to math questions, AP Stats is as high as my school goes, Bio would not allow me to take journalism, and Physics would have conflicted with Government and French, both of which are among my passions.

Go wildcats!! :D

SAY · February 21, 2010, 7:43pm

I’m sure you know that the writing SAT is not counted by NU. A math score of 600 with a combined of 1330 is below the average for accepted students. But as always no one can predict the admissions process. Getting your math above 650 would give you a much better chance.

A-Punk · February 22, 2010, 2:30am

Where have you heard that the SAT writing does not count for NU?! I have posted this question before, and no one answered. As far as I can tell, nowhere on the website does it say that NU only looks at SAT out of 1600 (usually schools that do say so explicitly). NU still continues to report all three sections. Where are you guys getting this information from?

AVHS_Dad · February 22, 2010, 3:00pm

I agree with A-Punk (sounds so strange to say that, no offense!). The school reports admission statistics including SAT1 writing and says if you take the ACT instead you have to take the writing portion of the ACT. I’m certainly no fan of the writing portion of the SAT1, but all indications are that they use it.
Did you retake the SAT1 in January as you said you might? The math portion is way below even the 25th percentile of NU admits.

deadmau5 · February 22, 2010, 3:26pm

no I didn’t; my teachers and guidance counselor indicated to me that if I was to be rejected, it would not be because of that. my achievements on the national level (page, etc) and my distinctions would help to balance that out, in addition to my clear indications that I am a journalism major and everything else is is strong support of that.

I understand the strong emphasis on testing scores - because it is a large part of the process - but if you look at the rest of the scores and the things I’ve done, is it really so indicative of failure? Someone once told me admissions was like a decathalon or some other athletic event - it’s more the summation of a lot of aspects than one specific thing. I am definitely not trying to be cocky, because I know that nothing is given with that 600, but I’m a bit confused.

SAY · February 22, 2010, 3:58pm

You have been receiving incorrect advice. At all top schools(1-20ish) a 600 is well below the standard unless you have a hook(URM,sports recruit etc.) As for the other posters you need to get better information. Almost all the top schools only use the math and verbal total(1600) for admissions even though the full scores are reported. So a applicant with a 2100-m 650 verbal 650 wr 800 is much differerent than a m 750 v 750 wr 600. But of course most students score relatively equally rather than this example. It’s not hard to find out this information.

deadmau5 · February 22, 2010, 4:19pm

but see, SAY, you speak of SATs as if the admissions committee puts all the emphasis on it - that everything else, no matter how great, is unimportant if one part of one standardized test is below normal. I was deferred from UNC out of state with these scores - and they’re MORE selective than Northwestern for out-of-state students, and they do a very similar thing concerning what is counted and what is not. I must ask you where you yourself are justifying your authority, not only towards me, but to the rest of the board as a whole. If you are a guidance counselor or an adcom, I apologize.

I would also like to apologize to anyone reading this board that may be slightly off-put by my response here. I know that a 600 is not great, but I went into this process expecting that the entire picture as a whole would matter more than one little part of it. I understand now that this may not be the case, but my irritation has less to do with individual posters and more with the emphasis in testing in evaluating my candidacy, notwithstanding everything else.

cclolzftw · February 22, 2010, 9:36pm

DEADMAU5

You’re in. I’m in. Let’s all get into Northwestern.

Seriously, though, Northwestern peers into the holistic abyss far beyond the sandy crevices of academics. You should not be worried about the 600 ruining your chances, but don’t take that as any type of clearance. The fact is that it’s very low for NU. But you’re applying to Medill, not the Northwestern School of SAT Mathematics.

Like your counselor said, if you don’t get in, it won’t because of that SAT section.

Drought · February 23, 2010, 7:41pm

My school’s naviance says NU places a large emphasis on high test scores. Even if they do consider the writing score, it’s probably weighted less than the math and critical reading sections, simply because math and critical reading test skills that are more integral to a student’s academic success. In my opinion, your chances are small. But what the hell do I know. Good luck to you.

kyw123 · February 23, 2010, 9:07pm

I just got in via ED last Dec, so I can’t say much about my future peers in NU. However, I can’t believe that NU will turn away such qualified applicant in favor some ‘OK’ students with just good test score.

I have much higher test scores and reasonable ECs, but I will still pick you over me if I am in charge of admission.

WCASParent · February 23, 2010, 10:53pm

I believe SAY is correct - while the NU site may report median SAT Writing scores, they are of little or no consequence. It is the M and CR that count, and those are the scores that NU reports to a variety of publications. (For one example, see [Northwestern</a> University Information, Introduction, Academics, Admissions, Financial Aid, Students, Athletics, Local Community, Alumni, Faculty, Alumni, History, Campus, Students, Faculty, Address, and Tuition](<a href=“USA University College Directory - U.S. University Directory - State Universities and College Rankings”>Northwestern University (NU) Introduction and Academics - Evanston, IL)).
I think the OP is a strong candidate. The ECs are great. The GPA is solid; not overwhelming for NU, but quite strong. The same for the Subject Test scores. But that 1330/1600 is unimpressive and the 600 M is poor for NU. Will the fact that it’s an app for Medill erase that concern? It might have if the CR score was closer to the 800 W, but like the Subject Test scores, the CR is solid, but not overwhelming. So I think we’ve got a very solid applicant here, with a very good chance of admission, but to me that means about a 50% shot. (Without the great ECs, it would be significantly lower.)

A-Punk · February 23, 2010, 11:49pm

I am still not completely convinced. I am not disputing that the M and CR are more meaningful; we can agree that writing ability is not determined in a 20 minute essay. Still, schools that disregard the Writing section explicitly say so. UChicago, for example, does not use the Writing section in the SAT and indicates this on the website.

Can anyone give official evidence that NU does not consider the Writing section of the SAT?

prayto · February 25, 2010, 3:17am

I haven’t read all posts above, so please excuse me if I repeat something.

Anyway, what I wanted to say is that universities don’t actually ignore the Writing section. Even if some mention that they disregard it in the application process, this probably holds only for international students or in general for people with a low-ish score and the announcement serves just a soothing purpose. A solid result is never totally ignored.

SAY · February 25, 2010, 9:25am

No one is trying to be unpleasant or claim SAT scores are everything but the poster has answered her own question. You were deferred from UNC which is not more selective than NU even out of state. Please show us what the OOS numbers are for UNC. At any rate getting deferred from a state school shows where you stand despite the the fact that admissions is a crapshot and anything is possible.

stockmom123 · February 25, 2010, 9:51am

^ According to the Princeton Review, by state policy 82% must come from in state, leaving only 18% OOS, so UNC isn’t a typical state school as far as OOS admission chances go.

SAY · February 25, 2010, 5:07pm

Yes it is harder to be admitted as an OOS but the typical student at UNC, UVA, U of Mich would not be admitted to schools like NU. They are good schools and a very good value but the student body isn’t remotely as selective since many of the state’s top students go elsewhere. This might be true for Berkeley or UCLA but UNC isn’t quite the same for various reasons.

sirsteveh · February 25, 2010, 6:47pm

From Northwestern Magazine (for alumni), Spring 2010, in an editor’s note about SAT score stats:

“Like most of its peer institutions, Northwestern University does not formally factor the SAT writing subscores into the application review process or into its reporting. The average SAT quoted in the story is a combination of the SAT critical reading and mathematics subscores, so the highest total possible is 1600.”

SAY · February 25, 2010, 8:23pm

This really is common knowledge for almost all selective schools in the top 15-20. Another common misconception is that the SAT really isn’t that important which is only true if the appplicant has a hook or very compelling EC’s or life experience. For the “typical” overachieving student with 4.4 grades and very good but normal EC’s the SAT is critically important up to a minimum level of at least 2100 and probably closer to 2250 at the very top schools. Once you reach that score then other issues decide admission rather exact SAT scores. If you doubt this then somehow explain why almost all of the unhooked(75 percentile) have nearly perfect SAT’s at HYPS(and slightly lower at other top schools). Very high SAT’s alone won’t assure admission but almost all students offered admission come from this small group of students with very high scores.

olleger · February 25, 2010, 9:31pm

To go to these schools, everyone has high grades. Thats a given. It’s what you do to couple those grades that really makes you unique.

deadmau5 · February 25, 2010, 9:42pm

just to let everyone know, I’ve decided to abandon this thread as well as this site. No animosity intended but I have other priorities right now and I’m going to just have faith in the admissions process and let the chips fall where they may. People can have their opinions on my chances of admission, I don’t mind. None of us are adcoms - that’s just a matter of fact - so I’m just going to live my life, do the things that matter, and see where things end up. :)

Feel free to keep posting, but please be aware that I won’t really be checking at all. So those of you that are arguing with me- you’ve got nobody to argue with.

Thanks to all for their constructive criticism. Best regards to all, and best of luck <3 NU is a great school and just having the opportunity to apply was terrific.

The Super-Duper Final Chance Thread :D I promise!

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