Life before The Arch: Admissions findings for freshmen and transfers

By Diya Raj and Grace Wu

With each new academic year comes new students — and new admissions statistics. Here’s what freshmen and transfer students say about their journey to Northwestern.

How students got in

Almost half of freshmen respondents were accepted during the Early Decision round at around 48.0%, while 46.4% of students were admitted in the Regular Decision round.

The percentage of Early Decision students decreased by nearly 4 points from the Fall 2024 Poll, which saw 51.9% ED acceptances and 43.5% RD acceptances.

The proportion of QuestBridge students decreased from 4.5% to just 2.2% this year.

ED students remain less likely to receive financial aid

Of the students who applied Early Decision, around 71.5% report not being on financial aid, while only 27.9% report receiving financial aid.

Regular Decision applicants are more likely to receive aid — 51.1% report receiving financial aid, compared to 47.6% who do not.

RD students are also more likely to say the cost of attending college was a “significant” or “somewhat” concern.

Performing and visual arts majors report the highest cost concerns

Between areas of study, there are gaps in cost concerns. 56.8% of students majoring in a social sciences field report that cost was “not a concern,” compared to 39.5% of engineering students.

Students studying performing and visual arts are the most likely to say the cost of attending NU was a “significant concern.”

Private school students less concerned about cost

Students who attended private high schools also differ in cost concern from those who attended public schools.

Around 53.1% of students from private high schools report that cost was “not a concern,” while only 37.3% of public high school students say the same.

62.7% of public high school respondents say cost was “significant” or “somewhat” of a concern.