Is an ED wasted at Northwestern with this profile?
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Anonymous
What is up with the PP insisting on "passion" in the applications process? That's just absurd. First, don't fall into the trap of letting a kid fixate on a 'dream school' - most kids can and will be happy and successful at a range of different schools, and many 'dream schools' just lead to disappointment either in the admissions process or if they actually attend. Second, ED won't help your kid get into a school where their stats are a little low. Maybe it worked that way once upon a time, but nowadays all competitive schools have more than enough applicants whose stats meet or exceed the bar set by previous classes. ED is a valuable way to give your kid a leg up in the admissions process at many schools. It's absolutely worth doing if you are not shopping for merit aid. But use it wisely. |
Anonymous
That stat is not exactly right, for two reasons: First, it’s percentage of students attending, not applying or admitted. This is true for all test score data in CDS—it refers only to the pool of students who accepted their admission offer. Second, CDS reports numbers of students submitting each test—ACT and SAT. There’s going to be some overlap in those students, so the percentage will be lower. |
Anonymous
| Listen to your college counselor. They see the stats that you, as a parent, do not. The SAT score is going to be too low (even though it is a solid one). |
Anonymous
Not really. Sure, it signals to the school "top choice" - but when you factor in the athletes and the priority kids that the schools want, there really isn't a bump for the unhooked applicants. |
Anonymous
Ironically, DS got into Northwestern but did not get into Michigan, so yeah, don't assume. |
Anonymous
You don't just "take some classes at Northwestern". As PP mentioned, you can create something similar at any school---program is just a combination of Econ, math and some social sciences. He could even take most of those courses if he got into NU and not the MMSS program. However NU is extremely challenging to get into |
Anonymous
Schools don’t share data about who is accepted during what round, so it’s really hard to know how real the ED advantage is. That said, I do wonder if the biggest advantage for a student who might be on the bubble in terms of stats but has great recommendations/essays/ECs is simply being in a smaller pool of applicants. I assume AOs are able to spend a little more time on each applicant in ED, and I would think the applicants are slightly less likely to run together. So a kid with a great story might stand out more and get a closer look in ED than they would in RD. |
Anonymous
Vanderbilt is as hard if not harder admit. |
Anonymous
| Confused by what the question here is? Are you saying he's too good for Northwestern (which many would argue, no one is), or that Northwestern is too good for him? |
Anonymous
| Not worth it. Not worth the time applying. Only folks we know who got in were URM. |
Anonymous
Same here. I know about 12 Northwestern admits from DC privates and 11 are URM. |
Anonymous
+1 and I am sure they worked hard - very hard - but so did my kid..hmmmmmm....... |
Anonymous
This is weird because the only two Northwestern kids I know were white UMC kids, one from southern California and the other from NYC. |
Anonymous
| IMO having observed the last few admissions cycles, without a hook it’s a waste. And wasting ED when you are an unhooked kid who sees themselves at a top 20 college is disastrous... your kid could be entirely shut out of the top 50 in RD. I would aim a notch lower - like a tufts, wake forest, BU, etc. try to find a similar program at a school in the 20-30-40 ranking. |
Anonymous
At the DC privates and even Jackson Reed (DCPS) they are all URM. Pretty much like 15 out of 15 kids. I would never apply to Northwestern from a DC school in 2023 if I was white or Asian. It's a waste of an application. |