United States · Evanston, Illinois
Northwestern University
A lakeside research university near Chicago, known for journalism, economics and an interdisciplinary quarter-system curriculum
Photo: Rdsmith4 · CC BY-SA 2.5
- QS World Ranking 2027
- #45
- Founded
- 1851
- Students
- 23,000
- Bachelor's degree
- 4 years
- Acceptance rate
- 7.5% overall (3,933 admitted of 52,676 applicants, Fall 2025 entry, CDS 2025-26); no international figure published
- How admission works
- SAT/ACT optional. English proficiency (TOEFL iBT, IELTS or Duolingo) is required if your first language or school language is not English; there is no minimum score, only 'high range on all sections' for competitive applicants.
- Language of instruction
- English
The university publishes no A-level requirement and no IB points threshold. IB higher-level results are used for credit after admission, not as an entry bar.
Worth knowing
Early Decision is how much of the class gets filled: 1,212 of the 3,933 students admitted for Fall 2025 came through the binding round, which admitted about 20% of its 5,939 applicants. Everyone else faced roughly 5.8% (our calculation from the same CDS figures).
How hard is it to get in, and why
The Common Data Set for Fall 2025 reports 52,676 first-year applicants and 3,933 admitted (7.5%), the same range as Penn or Columbia. International applicants are not broken out. Applicants who ask for financial aid are reviewed need-aware, which makes the pool tighter. Testing is optional (48% of the enrolled class sent an SAT, middle 50% 1520-1560), and the file is the Common App, a Northwestern supplement, a counsellor recommendation, a teacher recommendation and optional interview.
What it costs
Tuition
$72k per year
2026-27 full-time tuition is $71,802, the same for every undergraduate (2027 entry rates are not yet published). The living figure is Northwestern's own budget for an on-campus student: fees $1,260, housing and meals $22,941, books $1,239 and personal expenses $2,079. It leaves out travel (listed as 'varies') and the student health plan (premium estimate $5,996).
Living costs
$28k per year
Scholarships and financial aid
Admission is need-aware for international students: asking for aid, and how much, may affect the decision. Admitted students who qualify receive aid that meets 100% of demonstrated need as grants and scholarships only, with no loans or work requirement, and only first-year applicants can apply for it.
How to apply
Apply through the Common App or Coalition with Scoir, with the Northwestern supplement. For the 2027 entry cycle, Early Decision (binding) closed on 1 November 2026 and Regular Decision closes on 4 January 2027; financial aid materials are due 1 December and 1 February respectively. Required: school report and transcript, a counsellor recommendation, at least one teacher recommendation and a $75 fee (waivers available). SAT/ACT are optional.
Official websiteWhat makes it special
- Everyone applies for the fall (September) quarter; there is no other start term.
- Separate program applications exist for the Bienen School of Music, the Integrated Science Program (ISP) and Mathematical Methods in the Social Sciences (MMSS).
- Interviews are optional and held online through InitialView; the university says skipping one is no disadvantage.
- Undergraduate enrolment is 9,039 in Evanston, with 23,312 students in total including graduate programmes.
About studying in United States
Four-year degrees and holistic admissions: universities read essays, recommendations and a record of what you have built or led, not only grades. Applications go through the Common App by early November (early rounds) or early January; most top universities have brought back SAT or ACT scores. Sticker prices are the highest in the world, but Harvard, MIT, Yale, Princeton and a few others admit international students without looking at family income and then cover the full demonstrated need.
Teaching staff
The dossier on teaching staff for this university is still being written.
The campus in photographs
Photographs come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences; the author and licence are shown on each image.
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