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ZCAT18- I saw that you work in the admissions office and have seen successful applications... I was just wondering if you could look at my stats and tell me if I have even the slightest chance.. Because NU is my top choice college.

1. Violin Lessons for 13 years (9~12)- 10 hrs//50 weeks a year

2. Member of a praise band (9~12)- 4 hrs//54 weeks a year

3. Volunteer at local hospital (12)- 3 hrs//45 weeks a year ***I started going to orientation meetings since my junior year... so should I list this as a junior year activity also? Also, I'm not sure how many weeks a year I'll be actually volunteering- so I basically guessed 45 weeks... Is that OK?

4. Tutored English for 2nd and 3rd graders who had just moved to the United States from Chinese (9)- 2 hrs//36 weeks a year

5. Mentor for an elementary school kid appointed to me by the school (11, 12)- 1 hr//32 weeks a year

6. Soup Kitchen Volunteer, and helped coordinate the Soup Kitchen trips (9, 10)- 3 hrs//6 weeks a year

7. Helped coordinate a Youth Leadership Conference (12)- 3 hrs//5 weeks a year

8. Missionary trip for 7 days where we repaired homes (repainted, re-did roofs), and lead a Vacation Bible Study for neighborhood kids, I participated and helped plan for this several months in advance (9)- 1hr//5 weeks for planning, and slept at the actual missions site for one week

9. Leader/Counselor for a camp-like program offered in my neighborhood (11)- it was only for three days, but I slept at the camp and was a counselor to a group of kids

10. Concert Band, Symphonic Band, Wind Ensemble where I was 1st Trumpet for Concert and Symphonic Band, 2nd Trumpet in Wind Ensemble during Junior Year, and 1st Trumpet in Wind Ensemble during Senior Year (9~12)- 1 hr//36 weeks

11. National Honor Society Treasurer (12)- I'm not sure how many hours a week will be put into this.. I'm guessing not very many, considering it IS.. the National Honor Society.

12. Theater Business and Costumes Crew (10)- 3 hrs//12 weeks


My SAT scores
1st: 1190- 570V,620M
2nd: 1380- 630V,750M

ACT: 28
Broken down something like...
30Math
30Reading
28Writing
24Science

How do you figure out GPA's? Because I have semester grades- example: Instead of one final A or B in a Math class, I have two A's.. One for the conclusion of each semester.
But my rough estimate of what my GPA right now is something like
3.9something weighted
3.8 or 3.7something unweighted

I think I'll have semi-okay recommendations...
All of my teachers just know me as me, not someone that particularly stands out. So I'm going to give my recommendation to my Integrated 3 Math teacher, because I've gotten nearly all A+'s in all of his tests, etc. etc. ... And I'm getting a supplemental recommendation from my violin teacher, whom I know will write me a good one.

My classes have nearly all been Honors classes since freshman year, except for 9th grade English, 10th grade Biology, and I didn't take a science class in junior year. I've only had two AP classes, and will be taking only one AP class-AP Spanish- next year.

I just recently got my senior year schedule and am scheduled to take only one science class, which is neither honors or AP... Currently, I've taken two science classes, and only one have been honors and the other one was regular. I have an option of trying to add another science class for senior year, and it would be an AP class... Would that substantially help my admissions chances if I were to take another AP class? If I were to take it, I'd be taking two sciences senior year, and in the conclusion of senior year I'd have four science credits. The reason of my few AP classes is because I moved to a new school after freshman year and my math and spanish levels got messed up- my new school used a completely different system of putting kids in the math and spanish levels, as well as completely different textbooks. Should I note that on my application?

Thanks a lot!

By Licensedtokill (Licensedtokill) on Wednesday, August 18, 2004 - 11:32 pm: Edit

wow...Violin for 13 years and ten hours a week for 50 weeks a year - you must be REALLY good by now. And trumpet too...

By Stuckat410 (Stuckat410) on Thursday, August 19, 2004 - 09:14 am: Edit

^

anyone's opinions on whether or not i could get in???

By Zcat18 (Zcat18) on Friday, August 20, 2004 - 12:45 am: Edit

Well, you're definitely a borderline candidate with a solid chance ED, but a <50% RD chance. It all depends on how you craft your essays and package yourself as an applicant. You do have some minor leadership, but not enough to really turn heads. Your SAT scores are around the mean (ACT is a little low), but that's also obviously not enough to get you into any college.

I'm a little worried about the strength of your schedule, and I would definitely suggest having your counselor write a letter explaining the lack of AP courses. Unfortunately, if both of your respective schools offered a full slate of AP courses and you still did not take more than 2 or 3 of them, it may have a slight negative effect on your application, even if there were certain administrative reasons for it (that's just an unfortunate truth of the admission process at any college). Still, I think that a supportive letter from your counselor will go a long way toward helping you negate some of that harm.

You are a little short on ECs that make you stand out, as well. I'd assume that your main EC would be your violin, so I would suggest doing everything you can to really play that up. Be sure to mention (and even photocopy) any awards or commendations you may have received, and perhaps even consider sending in some sort of portfolio of your violin work (descriptions of your achievements, photographs of concerts, etc., etc.).

The main thing for you, I think, will be your essays (as I've said before, I believe that they are the most important criterion after grades). You have to write excellent essays in order to improve your chances. Don't be afraid to elicit the help of your English teachers and other people you trust when writing and editing. As I've said to others, the name of the game is making yourself stand out from the hundreds of other applicants with scores, grades, and ECs just like yours.

I honestly can't give an accurate percentage estimate of your chances, as I'm not part of the admission committee and, in the end, really don't know what they'll be looking for on a given day. I will say that you should apply ED to increase your chances if you know that NU is your first choice. RD is a bit more difficult, and though you are very well-qualified, I would not count on an acceptance letter in April if you apply RD (although your chances certainly aren't dismal, either). If you apply ED and follow the rough guidelines I and others have laid out, I think that you can give yourself a fighting chance of admission in December.

By Stuckat410 (Stuckat410) on Friday, August 20, 2004 - 10:17 am: Edit

Thanks for your input Zcat..

One further question though-

I have an option of changing a few things on my senior year schedule... If I drop Regular physics as well as two other electives (I'd have to drop three classes becasue that's how my schedule worked out... hard to explain) and put in an AP Bio class, which means I'd have a four AP's at the conclusion of sr. year, would that increase my chances at all?

thanks-

By Stuckat410 (Stuckat410) on Friday, August 20, 2004 - 01:46 pm: Edit

but in place of APBio, i'd be getting rid of two electives... and physics.... would electives be preferred over an AP Bio class? but the thing is, i'm confident i'll get about a b, not an a, in the class...

By Zcat18 (Zcat18) on Saturday, August 21, 2004 - 05:55 am: Edit

That's the age-old paradox, "Is an A in an honors class better than a B in an AP class?" Any college counselor or admission officer will tell you, "Get an A in an AP class." I don't know what the electives are that you'd be dropping, but I'd be willing to bet that any academic subject (physics, bio, etc.) is more important than any elective (shop, PE, legal studies, etc.). I got into NU RD with AP Bio and no physics, but I also had 7 APs and earned A's in most of them. The more AP classes you take, the better (as long as you know you can perform well in all of them), but if you have doubts about your ability to do well, then you should really think long and hard.

I hate to dump the ball back into your court, but the truth is that this is a decision that you have to make on your own. I don't know that either course of action will give you any more of an advantage, but as I've said before, I'm also not a member of the admission committee, and I have no idea exactly what makes them tick.

Good luck, and let me know if you have any other questions.

By Stuckat410 (Stuckat410) on Sunday, August 22, 2004 - 07:58 pm: Edit

ZCat- thanks a lot for your help-

I had one more question (sorry =))
I had read at the princeton review website...

Here's what they said-
Most take schoolwork very seriously. "One-third of the kids never leave their dorm rooms, one-third of the kids only leave their dorms to do extracurricular stuff like plays or journalism, and the last one-third are depressed because they wish they had gone to a state school with their friends where there's actually a party scene," writes one undergraduate.

Do you think that's true? I don't know, I'm having second thoughts of applying ED, but I know I won't get in RD... When I visited, I really liked it- the environment... the location... But I knew nothing about the actual life there, besides what the guided tour student told me, but I don't know if I can take his word for it since he IS trying to get us to go to NU...

Do you think it's a very.. "study study" environment?

By Zcat18 (Zcat18) on Monday, August 23, 2004 - 12:49 am: Edit

Princeton Review's college descriptions are about as reliable as their "rankings"--meaning they're complete and utter B.S. First of all, those quotes have been the same for literally years (at least since I began my college search 5 years ago, and probably longer). Second, as hard as Princeton Review tries to get a feel for the lifestyle each college offers, it is impossible, in the end, to gauge the true experience simply by interviewing a few students.

My experience has not been that everybody stays in and studies all the time and has no social life, etc., etc. Do people study more at NU than they would at the average state school? Of course they do--that is one of the reasons we come here. Do people hole themselves up in a 9'x12' room for 4 years and hunt/gather the bugs from the walls for sustenance? No way.

I had a bit of trouble adjusting, socially, the first year and a half, or so (and be prepared--most people have that issue). After that, however, I found my niche socially, academically, and from an extracurricular standpoint, and I honestly couldn't be happier with my experience. If you want parties, they are here. You may have to work a bit to find them at first, but once you fall in with a social group, you will inherit their social patterns and will have plenty to do. If you don't like partying, there are literally hundreds of student-run plays and production every year, and they run every weekend. Most of them are extremely good, with the odd artistic flop now and then. There are also always speakers and presentations. Since I've been here, we've had Margaret Thatcher, Ben Stein, Bill Bradley, Al Franken, Robert Novack, Dr. Ruth, and tons of other notables come speak on campus. Tickets are usually free or cost no more than $5.

As far as extracurriculars, the sky's really the limit. There are something like 280 student groups on campus, and you can be a part of as many or as few as you want. They are easy to find (they all set up booths and recruit new members at the beginning of each school year), and you can be as active or as passive as you want with your membership.

I was the only person from my class to go to NU, and I started college knowing nobody. Since then,I've made the best friends I'll ever have, I've been a writer for our daily newspaper (The Daily Northwestern), a member of the club ski team, an event organizer for Hillel, and am currently on the Executive Board of our student government.

So, the moral of this story is that you can't listen to the pundits and the rankings and the hearsay. The experience is what you make of it, but I think that NU gives its students every opportunity to have an extremely fufilling, satisfying 4 years.

By Miluo (Miluo) on Monday, August 23, 2004 - 05:27 am: Edit

anoncollegestudent?

By Stuckat410 (Stuckat410) on Monday, August 23, 2004 - 04:05 pm: Edit

^?

any other opinions on my chances?

By Zcat18 (Zcat18) on Tuesday, August 24, 2004 - 04:48 am: Edit

Miluo, what was your name on PR? I haven't been there in 4 or 5 months, and I just started coming back here out of boredom (I'm working in China for the summer, but I have relatively few work hours and this city is a little short on excitement). Congrats on your transfer acceptance!

By Miluo (Miluo) on Tuesday, August 24, 2004 - 07:52 am: Edit

I didn't post much back on PR, mostly lurked. Since they moved to ecks oh ecks oh ayche tee ayche (I hope you know what that means, the filter blocks it out if I spell it) I've started posting a lot. I go by Peaty.Meanis on there.

By Zcat18 (Zcat18) on Tuesday, August 24, 2004 - 08:53 am: Edit

Yeah, I know that site, but I never go there. I always found PR posters to be a little too belligerant (sp?). The people here seem more interested in gaining information and finding facts and less into all of the personal attacks and other B.S. that happens on PR.

By the way, what school are you transferring from?

By Miluo (Miluo) on Tuesday, August 24, 2004 - 09:48 am: Edit

I'm transferring from Indiana University.

The NU bashing has stopped for the most part and WUSTL and Penn have been the targets of choice. I come here if I want specific information since there aren't really any NU students on PR. The admins here are control freaks though and I'd probably get banned pretty soon if I posted outside the NU board.