Northwestern University
Northwestern publishes 7.7% (Fall 2024 entering class). Early Decision applicants got in at 23%; everyone else at 5.9%.
Acceptance rate
What Northwestern's 7.7% is made of
The published rate averages groups with very different odds. These are the splits Northwestern reports itself.
By application round
Fall 2024 entering class (CDS 2024-2025, Section C1)
Read the full decomposition →Early Decision advantage
23% of 5,154 ED applicants were admitted (1,186), against 5.9% for everyone else.
Fall 2024 entering class (CDS 2024-2025, Section C21) · as of August 2026
See where Northwestern ranks →Part of Real Acceptance Rates, our series decomposing published rates from each school's own Common Data Set.
Testing
Test-Optional for 2026-27
- Policy
Northwestern's official FAQ states it 'is test-optional and does not require ACT or SAT scores from first-year or transfer candidates' — confirmed current for the 2026-27 cycle. No future required-testing change found.
- SAT middle 50%
- 1510–1570sum of section 25th–75th percentiles
- ACT middle 50%
- 33–35
- Average HS GPA
- Not published by the school
Applying
Deadlines, essays and AI policy
- Early deadlines
- Nov 1, 2026 (ED)
- Regular decision
- Jan 4, 2027Source
- Supplemental essays
- 1 required
Northwestern's official FAQ confirms one required short-answer writing supplement for 2026-27 plus some optional short answers, but the fetched page did not display the exact prompt text/word count — verify wording directly before publishing. Northwestern uses a single Early Decision round (no ED2/EA).
- AI use in essays
Limited Use Allowed — applies to Personal statement and supplemental essays
“Just as you wouldn't ask another person to write your essays for you, we expect you won't ask AI to do that work on your behalf. [...] Using generative AI to write your personal statement or supplemental essays by inputting prompts and submitting the output [is discouraged, along with] translating an essay written in another language [and] providing generative AI with an essay outline and submitting AI's completed piece of writing.”
Full cycle calendar: Application Deadlines.
At a glance
Size and cost
- Undergraduate enrollment
- 9,201
- Tuition (out-of-state)
- $68,322
- Category
- Elite Private
- Admissions site
- www.northwestern.edu
Dewey Smart
Dewey students who got into Northwestern
What should this school mean for your list?
A published rate is one input. Working out what it means alongside the rest of your list is the part that actually changes an application. Free 25-minute call, no commitment.
Sources
- Northwestern test policy (2026-27)
- Northwestern deadlines
- Northwestern AI-use policy
- Northwestern admissions pages
- Northwestern admissions pages
- Acceptance rate, test-score percentiles, enrollment and tuition: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard, pulled 2026-08-19.
Test policy and deadlines last verified 2026-08-17.
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