Northwestern University Acceptance Rate

Everything you need to know about Northwestern University Admissions.

Get Into Northwestern University

Northwestern University currently ranks at #7 (tied with Duke, Johns Hopkins and UPenn) on the most recent U.S. News and World Report’s list of National Universities, and at #19 on its list of Best Value Schools. Founded in 1851, Northwestern currently enrolls 8,527 undergraduate students, most of whom study on its main campus in Evanston, IL. Northwestern also has campuses in nearby Chicago—located only twelve miles away from Evanston—and, as of 2008, in Doha, Qatar.

Students regularly commute between Evanston and Chicago, traveling either by public transit or on the free intercampus shuttle. In addition to classrooms and labs, Evanston offers beaches, coffee shops, scenic running trails, and a vibrant restaurant scene. In Chicago, students can find a more urban environment, as well as important cultural centers like the Museum of Contemporary Art and the John Hancock Center.

Nearly 70 percent of the undergraduate population at Northwestern lives on campus. These students have the option of living in traditional residence halls, in residential communities (which offer more student-driven programming and live-in faculty), or in one of eleven residential colleges. Residential colleges—which range in size from 40 to nearly 300 students—are generally themed around particular issues, including business, international studies, public affairs, and community engagement. All offer students a variety of academic and social programming, including the opportunity to dine with faculty members, attend regular outings and presentations (known as “firesides”), and, in some cases, take small seminars for credit.

Northwestern offers more than 500 extracurricular groups for students to join, with focuses ranging from community involvement to theatrical performance to political activism. The school also competes in NCAA Division I sports, and it is the only private university in the Big Ten conference. Academically, Northwestern works on a quarter system, which gives students the opportunity to take more classes than a traditional semester system; students typically take four classes each quarter.

TTA admissions success results - class of 2026

Top Tier’s students had GREAT results in both the early and regular rounds. Check out our successes!

Northwestern University is comprised of twelve different schools, including:

The first six of these are undergraduate schools, offering students bachelor’s degrees in a variety of different fields. Students can also earn undergraduate degrees—and study abroad for the fall semester—at Northwestern’s Qatar campus. In addition, the Kellogg School of Management offers undergraduate certifications in financial economics and managerial analytics. In total, Northwestern offers undergraduates more than 200 formal academic concentrations, as well as the opportunity to develop and complete their own programs of study.

Northwestern also offers a Dual Bachelor’s Degree Program, allowing students to earn degrees from two schools in five years. Interested students can earn combined degrees in liberal arts and engineering, liberal arts and music, communication and engineering, communication and music, education and music, engineering and music, or journalism and music. To be admitted to a Dual Bachelor’s Degree Program, students must apply to both schools. Since each application is considered separately, it is possible to be admitted to only one or both schools.

In addition, Northwestern offers several special admissions programs. Students interested in math and natural sciences can apply to the Weinberg College’s Integrated Science Program (ISP), which offers an intensive, accelerated curriculum and the opportunity to complete a bachelor’s degree in three years. High school seniors interested in medicine can also apply to the Honors Program in Medical Education (HPME), a non-binding, seven-year BA/MD program. This program allows students to earn a bachelor’s degree through an individualized course of study at the Weinberg College, McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, or School of Communication, and then—provided they maintain a minimum GPA—gives them the option to matriculate at the Feinberg School of Medicine. (The MCAT is not required for matriculation into Feinberg.)

Northwestern offers all students the opportunity to do research, study abroad, or pursue internships. In fact, almost 75% of Northwestern’s undergraduates engage in these opportunities. The school’s Office of Undergraduate Research makes it easy to participate in research by administering grant programs that award over one million dollars annually. The university’s Undergraduate Research Grant offers support for independent projects undertaken during the summer or the academic year, while the Undergraduate Research Assistance Program allows students to work as research assistants on faculty projects. Northwestern’s many interdisciplinary research centers also offer lots of resources for undergraduate research, including special programs, research grants, and funding for independent scholarly projects.

For graduate students, Northwestern offers ten graduate and professional programs, including those at the Kellogg School of Management, the School of Education and Social Policy, the School of Law, the Feinberg School of Medicine, the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. An accelerated JD program allows a select group of students to complete the JD in two calendar years, while the Pritzker School and the Kellogg School offer a joint degree program allowing students to earn both JD and MBA degrees in three years.

Applying to Northwestern University

Undergraduate applicants to Northwestern can apply Early Decision or Regular Decision. Early Decision applications, generally due November 1, are binding, meaning that any accepted students must attend Northwestern. Early Decision applicants are allowed to apply Early Action and Regular Decision to other schools, but they must withdraw these applications if they are accepted by Northwestern.

Northwestern readily admits that Early Decision applicants have an advantage over students in the regular round. In the school’s own words, “Applicants who choose Early Decision send a strong positive message to Northwestern. Given early applicants’ high level of interest and the high concentration of academic and personal strengths represented across the early applicant pool, our Early Decision acceptance rate is typically higher than that of Regular Decision.” In fact, Northwestern usually fills up one half of the entering class during the early round.

Students can apply using either the Common Application or the Coalition Application. For the Class of 2029 scores from either the SAT or ACT are optional. Applicants to the ISP and HPME programs have more precise requirements. Based on our experience working with students at Top Tier, however, we know that “recommended” tests are often actually required for admission. Northwestern also offers applicants the opportunity to take part in an alumni interview.

Northwestern University Admissions Wrap Up

Class of 2029
Northwestern received over 53,000 applications to the Class of 2029. The accepted 3,710 for a rate of 7 percent. In the early round they accepted 20 percent of the over 6,000 applications.

Top Tier Admissions Can Help You Get Into Northwestern University

I wanted to share with you the great news that I was accepted to Tulane ED yesterday! Thank you both so much for your advice and help along the way. I can’t imagine how hard it would have been without it. I am so excited and looking forward to the fall. Thank you!!

E.R.

Application Boot Camp® student

I’m already envious of the red carpet you are rolling out for ABC; these kiddos are so fortunate to be in such caring and attentive hands! T is very excited for Bootcamp and that is a gift in and of itself. A million thank yous for creating an application experience that generates more enthusiasm than panic.

E.A.

Application Boot Camp® parent

You have been an invaluable resource and support system for me throughout this entire process. I really can’t thank you enough.

B.L.

Application Boot Camp® student

I have been accepted early into Dartmouth! I would like to thank you so much for your help with all of the essays and overall guidance! It really helped very much and I owe much of my admission to you. I am so excited to attend Dartmouth – it still feels so surreal to be part of their class of ‘28! I would love to keep in touch with you throughout my college journey. Thank you once again for everything!

C.B.

Application Boot Camp® and Essay Guidance student

I’m not in complete TTA withdrawal after ABC, thanks to you continuing to keep us on track! My heartfelt gratitude for all you have done for the K family. Your care and calm have meant the world to us. So much appreciation for being our rock and guiding light!

P.L.

Application Boot Camp® parent

I wanted to share the good news that J was accepted to Duke early admission. Thank you for your support!

S.D.

Application Boot Camp® student

I just wanted to let you guys know I’ve officially been admitted to Williams. I am SO excited and so grateful for all of your help along the way. Thank you so much. Woohoo!

E.A.

Application Boot Camp® student

I just wanted to let y’all know that I have been accepted into Barnard and I am so excited and so grateful to TTA for all of your guidance!! Thank you so much!

P.W.

Application Boot Camp® student

I hope you are enjoying some extremely well-deserved R&R after the intensity of Bootcamp! We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for offering R and I your warmth, encouragement, expertise, and seasoned insight. R was so very lucky to have the chance to work with you. We now count you as part of our beloved extended family! ABC was certainly rigorous but it was wonderful to see R’s pride and relief when she came home on Friday.

C.W.

Application Boot Camp® parent

While H awaits his early round decisions, I wanted to give you an update on R. He just finished his first semester at Occidental and he has been crushing it. He loves the school and he is motivated, curious and working so hard. It has been an ideal place for him.

We cannot thank you enough for all of your help and truly wonderful advice. We are so grateful!

T.C.

Application Boot Camp® parents

You’ve gained a best friend for life! I knew how amazing and helpful TTA was for these poor stressed out teens navigating the college process but you (and your team) are literally like medicine for the crazy parents of these poor stressed out teens! You are like human valium! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

D.T.

Application Boot Camp® parent

Thank you so much for thinking of me! I am fully committed to Rollins and I am so excited! None of this would’ve been possible without you and your awesome team! Thank you so much for everything!!

B.C.

Application Boot Camp® student

Trust The Process. Those words are etched in my brain forever. We were so happy and excited to watch our daughter find out she had been accepted early into Notre Dame last night.
I felt like a millstone that had been hanging around my neck was taken off immediately.
Thank you for your patience and for your expertise in guiding our daughter. Her friends from ND are coming home this weekend and she is so happy and proud to be able to wear a ND sweatshirt she had been keeping in her closet since she picked it up at ND last June.
The Boot Camp was really awesome in teaching her how to write essays for the supplemental questions. I would say it also boosted her confidence, knowing that experts such as yourselves taught her the pearls of wisdom in writing college applications.
From South Dakota to South Bend… it was a journey uphill but our daughter is finally home… Thank you!

O.P.

Application Boot Camp® parents

R.S.

Application Boot Camp® parent

She’s IN at Stanford! Thank you for all your support and hard work, and to the others at TTA who worked over her application. You are very much appreciated. K is a great kid and I trust her to do good in the world.

E.W.

Application Boot Camp® parent

I got into Brown University! I’m so excited to attend!! Thank you for all your guidance and support during the whole process. I couldn’t have asked for a better outcome, and Top Tier was critical in this result.

M.R.

Application Boot Camp student

We hope you had a great weekend and that you were able to rest and recharge after an intense and very successful ABC! R and I are simply amazed by how much you were able to help J accomplish in 1 week. The depth, nuance and quality of all of the essays and core application elements are outstanding. We are so grateful for all you’ve done for J (and of course T!) and now J is even more motivated to improve on her SATs. She told us that she doesn’t want to let you, Mimi, and Michelle down!

B.A.

Application Boot Camp® parent

We are enormously grateful for your nurturing presence in our lives and we can’t thank you enough for the gift of your extraordinary experience and expert advice during this nerve-racking process. I still can’t get over the collective brain power in the “room” at ABC.

You might be surprised at what I heard H say yesterday but it’s such a tribute to how hard he worked, how much support he received, and the connections he made. After his 3-hour nap on Friday, a celebratory dinner, and a great night’s, he got up on Saturday and said, “Mom, I want to go back to Bootcamp!” True story. I’m not sure how you do it with the pace and intensity of ABC but T felt truly seen, deeply respected, pushed in the best way possible, and overjoyed about the results. We appreciate your help more than words can express.

H.B.

Application Boot Camp® parent

I wanted to share that M GOT INTO PRINCETON! We are so happy for her. She worked super hard. She couldn’t have done the application questions and created a niche without all of your support. Thank you so much for everything. We will forever be in gratitude.

D.J.

Application Boot Camp® parent

I just wanted to reach out and thank you for all of your help wrapping up regular decision applications and with the Dartmouth LOCI. You have been an invaluable resource and support system for me throughout this entire process. I really can’t thank you enough.

B.M.

Application Boot Camp® and Essay Guidance student

I committed to Columbia University yesterday morning, with the intention to major in Electrical Engineering! I am beyond excited and happy to start my journey there and I can’t wait to see where it’ll take me. I am very grateful for all the help you and the TTA team have given me, from Boot Camp to making final touches in December and later deferral notes. I sincerely appreciate all the time and effort you put into helping me hone my application and where it’s gotten me so far. Thank you!

J.L.

Application Boot Camp® student

I KNOW that YOU were beyond instrumental in this process and I wanted to say THANK YOU SO MUCH for your efforts from August in Boston onward. You were always available and such a massive help for K with her supplements.

H.T.

Application Boot Camp and Essay Guidance parent

We wanted to let you know that L was accepted at Tufts – his first choice and ED app! Thanks again for all of your help!

G.Y.

Application Boot Camp parent

I wanted to inform you that I just got accepted to Yale University REA. I am very thankful to Application Boot Camp® for helping me so much; it made the application process so much easier. Thank you for everything!!

T.O.

Application Boot Camp® student

I know everyone must say “we couldn’t have done it without you” but that sentiment is true beyond words. You have given her a gift that will keep giving for the rest of her life and you have changed us for good AND for the better.

R.S.

Application Boot Camp® parent

I just wanted to share with you the very exciting news that I was accepted into the University of Miami!!! Thank you so much for all your help and support during this process. All the team from Top Tier really made a difference and were extremely supportive.

L.W.

Application Boot Camp® student

We were recently at Brown’s Admitted Students Day and P had such an amazing time! He truly felt that this was absolutely the right place for him to be for the next four years. As he was walking around campus, a lady named J came up to him. She said she was an admissions officer.
J asked if he was P and she must have recognized him from his video submission. She then went on to say that his application was amazing and she said she remembered it! P was so shocked since it was so unexpected, and he didn’t quite know what to say besides, ‘Thank you!’. To leave such a mark on an admissions officer who sees countless applications is truly remarkable! Credit goes to Top Tier’s Bootcamp for being able to give that attention to detail, and knowing how to absolutely button down the application such that it makes for a unique submission and ensures a lasting impression! Thank you again for your experience, expertise and excellence!

S.S.

Application Boot Camp® parent

I wanted to share the good news that I was accepted to Wharton ED last night!! Thanks again to you and ABC for all the support.

W.P.

Application Boot Camp® student

We are so incredibly grateful to the whole team at Top Tier. It has been a really positive experience and we so appreciate all of your expertise.

C.K.

Application Boot Camp® parent

I can’t thank you enough for all your guidance and encouragement during ABC! I’m still exhausted but also really happy about my essays. It’s a huge relief to have my common app in such good shape. I’ll never forget how much you and the rest of the amazing TTA team helped me.

K.R.

Application Boot Camp® student

My family and I are still jumping up and down from the news. I will never forget Boot Camp’s perspective, which made me stand out!

J.T.

Application Boot Camp® student

We are thrilled to inform you that H has been accepted to Duke University and will be joining his brother K there this fall. We were admittedly a little nervous when Application Boot Camp (understandably) went virtual, but we should not have worried as H came away super-prepared for application season. We really appreciate all of the frank advice and counsel we have received from everyone at Top Tier over the last few years as our sons have journeyed through this process.

W.R.

Application Boot Camp® parent

I am on my knees with gratitude. G did not video her acceptance because she was guarding her hope but I can tell you the waves of “I got in!”, “I got a special accelerated research offer!”, “I got into the honors program!”, and then…”I got a full ride!!!!!!!” had us all in tears. My husband is not an emotional guy but, as you can imagine, the full scholarship for 4 years brought him to his feet.

R.K.

Application Boot Camp® parent

I saw her grow right before my eyes during Bootcamp (which was phenomenally well run, due to your effort and skill). I still marvel at how much she accomplished in such a condensed period of time but I am most grateful for how you nurtured her spirit and confidence. Empowering her in that way has made all the difference this year.

R.S.

Application Boot Camp® parent

We want to share the good news that P was admitted ED to Williams yesterday! Thank you!

W.B.

Application Boot Camp® parents

Without ABC I would have had a strictly mediocre application.

R.V.

Application Boot Camp® student

How many times have you heard, “We could not have done it without you?” Well, I will echo that sentiment and add my deeply felt gratitude to your mountainous pile of extremely well warranted appreciation. I have to say, as elated as we have been to relay this news to friends and relatives, it feels most meaningful – and really absolutely divine – to share it with our TTA family. A million thank yous do not begin to cover our gratitude for your presence in our lives.

R.K.

Application Boot Camp® parent

Michele, I know E has already written you but I wanted to reach out and say thank you to you and R as well as the rest of the Top Tier Team. E is over the moon and being able to enjoy the rest of the year without the stress of college decisions is priceless. We all appreciate what you and your team were able to do to help guide the process as well as make the essay writing much smoother that it would have been otherwise.

C.B.

Application Boot Camp® parent

N called me from school to thank me for getting you guys as advisors!!!! This is why you have the reputation you do!!! There is no cutting corners and it is black and white and that summary lit a fire under N (which is why I wish I had you since 9th grade)!!! He is very very excited by all the ideas mentioned. You guys are phenomenal and I can’t even explain how just his admissions report put things in a different perspective. Thank you!

E.R.

Application Boot Camp® parent

MASSIVE thanks to you for all you did to shepherd us through this nerve-racking process! You are the rock, the hub, and the heart of TTA. H is so extraordinarily fortunate to have had you supporting, guiding, and believing in her.
I saw her grow right before my eyes during Bootcamp (which was phenomenally well run, due to your effort and skill). I still marvel at how much she accomplished in such a condensed period of time but I am most grateful for how you nurtured her spirit and confidence. Empowering her in that way has made all the difference this year.
I know everyone must say “we couldn’t have done it without you” but that sentiment is true beyond words. You have given her a gift that will keep giving for the rest of her life and you have changed us for good AND for the better.

R.C.

Application Boot Camp® parent

Thank you so much, Mimi! I’m very, very excited about my acceptance and I can’t wait to be there! Thank you, and all the other Top Tier counselors, for the continued support and help!

P.R.

Application Boot Camp® student

You told the students, and us, to “trust the process” and you delivered beyond our wildest imagination. Oh, how I wanted to get in the game with the creation and editing of those Bootcamp essays but, I trusted and resisted the urge to meddle (G would not have had it any other way), and you gave G the benefit of the entire TTA brain trust, along with an immeasurable – but truly extraordinary – sense of confidence, accomplishment, and empowerment. Yours is a gift that will keep giving for the rest of G’s existence.

R.K.

Application Boot Camp® parent

We have some exciting news! H found out yesterday he’s been accepted to Boston College early decision! As you can imagine, he is beyond excited. Thank you for all of your help. Application Bootcamp® really helped him hone in on his niche and create compelling essays that made him stand out as an applicant.

G.B.

Application Boot Camp® parent

This was amazing! Thank you so much for your help!! I had an amazing experience with Boot Camp; it was an absolute pleasure to work with you and Top Tier!

P.A.

Application Boot Camp® student

I just wanted to let you all know that I was accepted into Northwestern! Thanks for all your help!

R.G.

Application Boot Camp® student

I just got my Brown Early Decision back and I wanted to let you all know that I got in!!!! Thank you, guys, so much for all the help with my application and my essays. I couldn’t have done it without your help! I am so happy that I got into my first-choice school!!! Once again, I can’t thank you all enough for all the help and guidance

C.A.

Application Boot Camp® student