December 15, 2023
Dear Colleagues,We’ve finalized our Early Decision selection process and notified applicants of their decisions. We hope thefollowing pool-wide context will support your work with students and families as you debrief early outcomes andhelp students finalize Regular Decision applications.
This fall, we received 5,200 Early Decision applications, up 14% since fall 2020. As in recent years, weadmitted about half our incoming class early, with a goal of 2,100 students in the Class of 2028.
We also reviewed nearly 1,700 candidates through QuestBridge’s National Match program for high-achieving,
low-income students and will enroll a record 93 QuestBridge Match Scholars in our first-year class. As
Northwestern allows QuestBridge finalists who are not matched anywhere to convert their application status to
Early Decision, our Class of 2028 thus far includes nearly 140 Quest Scholars, up 34% since fall 2020.
(We are proud to have one of the largest Quest Scholars Networks on our campus—well over 400 in any given
year.) Additionally, over 16% of our early admits are first-gen college students, compared to 14% 3 years ago.
Across our Early Decision and QuestBridge pools, we received applications from nearly 3,000 secondary
schools around the world and saw continued growth in Early Decision applications from U.S. public schools.
While we are encouraged by the diversity this represents, this growth also means we can’t possibly admit every
school’s top candidates. Please know we aim to provide early applicants with a final decision whenever possible
and admitted or denied far more students than we deferred.
Once students view their decision letters, high school counselors can see school-specific results on Slate.org.
If students have questions about next steps, here is some guidance you may pass along:
Admitted students should withdraw all applications submitted to other institutions, as indicated in the Early
Decision agreement you both signed. Other steps toward enrolling in the Class of 2028 will be snail-mailed withan admit packet and are also outlined online at admit.northwestern.edu.
Applicants who were denied admission through Early Decision may not reapply in the same year. Alldecisions are final, and we do not have an appeals process. While we encourage students to invest fully in theirremaining applications and embrace the terrific college choices that are sure to come this year, you may sharethat our transfer class has recently grown to 225+ students, and we welcome students to reapply via that process.
Early Decision candidates whose applications were deferred for further consideration should ensure we
receive a midyear transcript as soon as it is available, and no later than mid-February. You may upload thosethrough the Common Application or Coalition with Scoir platforms or send directly to ugadmission@northwestern.edu. We anticipate admitting a small number of deferred candidates through ourRegular Decision round. While we neither require nor expect deferred candidates to submit additional
information or letters of support, students who wish to send updates may submit those via their applicant portal.
Finally, our Regular Decision deadline is January 3rd. Students should ensure their portion of theapplication is submitted online by 11:59 p.m. local time on the 3rd. Please note, we can accept supporting
materials from high schools after that deadline if need be. If you have students with higher financial need, they
can learn about our application fee waivers here.
We’re thrilled to welcome our newest Wildcats and thank you for sending them our way! We also recognize amajority of our decisions cause great disappointment in this early round, and we’re ever appreciative for thework you do to champion, advise, and support students throughout this process.
Have a relaxing and joyful holiday season,Liz Kinsley, PhD
Associate Dean & Director, Undergraduate Admission