Complete non-target -- possible to pull through?

Hey there. How are you guys doing?

I have a little bit of a concern. I didn't take my high school too seriously and I ended up with a 3.4 GPA. (Applying again after a gap year due to personal issues) So, now I'm sure my chances at Northwestern or UChicago are blown to pieces even with an ACT of 31. How big of a reach do you guys think it is to get into Northwestern?

Now, my more realistic choices include: UIC (University of Illinois at Chicago), Loyola - Chicago, and DePaul. How hard would it be to break in from those three, especially UIC and Loyola?

Do any of you know if there's a considerable alumni base at UIC or Loyola?

Thank you.

Sincerely,
Steven

 
Best Response

Northwestern has a very friendly transfer policy and decent recruiting. Chicago is slightly less transfer friendly, but has better recruiting. Cornell is very transfer friendly and has good recruiting (maybe somewhere between NU and UofC, maybe on par with UofC?), though you seem to be set on Chicagoland. If you're smart enough to get a 31, you're (probably) smart enough to do well enough at one of those schools to get out after freshman/sophomore year. That said, as someone who transferred, its kind of a pain in the ass. I don't know anything about any of those other schools.

 

Thank you for the replies.

Yeah, it seems that transferring is my best bet, so I'll just do well and transfer to one of those.

Also, I like the looks of Cornell. I never really took the time to check it out until now. It's in New York, but it's Ivy and seems really nice. Although, I really do have my sights set on Chicago for banking and then maybe exiting into PE at Madison Dearborn Partners or the like.

So, like you said, it is a pain in the ass but it's worth it and it's the best option.

Thanks again.

 

Also look at Georgetown, especially if you end up at a school on the quarter system. Georgetown converts quarter classes into semester classes and gives you a ton of credits.

 

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