<p>jcold - to be honest, I am very disappointed with regards to the student body at sporting events other than football…hockey sometimes draws but there are still a lot of open seats - hopefully this changes with the new arena…for basketball it is really pathetic to view the few numbers of students that attend the lesser quality teams…if it is televised, they will show up, if it isn’t then they won’t…the student section will be packed for probably about 3-4 games in the year…other than that it isn’t even 50% full…if you look at other programs, they fill up their gyms almost every night. Other sports are even worse. I was talking with someone who works with the Dartmouth Athletic Department when the men’s soccer team was playing Dartmouth in the NCAA First Round and she said that at Dartmouth they get more students out for a regular season game than ND had at an NCAA event and that there is always a good amount of students at most sporting events…and Dartmouth is a very strong academic school so you can’t say that ND students are too busy with school work (and Dartmouth is just as cold)…honestly, I haven’t been disappointed with ND in many things, but student sections at athletic events is poor (and even in football the students don’t seem to be acting together sometimes too…I wish someone in the university would look at this.</p>
<p>Hawk- I was wondering if you could comment on the dorm life at ND. We visited the campus and really thought everything there was just beautiful. However, we spoke to some girls and they told us that Caroll dorm was terrible because it was so far away and isolated. They stated that you never want to live there because no one party’s there due to the distance. In addition, they also mentioned that Zohm dorm had a reputation, all its own. I was disappointed to hear this since I have a son. I wouldn’t want him in a dorm that is isolated or that comes with a label. What is your prospective?</p>
<p>curiosity33 - I would say that the guy and girl relations is the same as anywhere else…Socialization does does even at a Catholic University - who knew! haha - parietals are at midnight on school nights and 2 am on the weekends…it is more of a privacy act than anything else - and these can be broken if done correctly - parties still occur and off-campus parties don’t have the limitations … plus there are 24 hour lounges in all the dorms too - so you can just move downstairs at 2 am on weekends and still socialize…it might be a little harder than other schools, but ND students are still very social…plus there is a place called reckers which is a 24 hour little restaurant where a lot of people will go…</p>
<p>GOIRISHBEATHURRICANES - there are a number of forms of work study that are available but the jobs won’t come searching for people…most will announce things, but not to an extreme extent. I work in the athletic department and there are about 55 workers just in my department…there are also people who work at the mail department, the dinning halls, the phone center, working at LaFortune, etc. However these sometimes fill up quickly, but are generally attainable if you know when to apply and are a little proactive…</p>
<p>Martyh - thanks for the point about the sophomore or older, I didn’t know that – sorry momdoc about not being able to mention that…it is a cool honor to have though so hopefully your son goes to ND and becomes one as a sophomore…</p>
<p>NewtoND: The student body is actually more like 2,000-2,500 students…the arena holds roughly 9,000 people and the student section is just one corner…and I don’t even think they have sold out the student tickets this season…</p>
<p>massgirl92 - From what I have heard (no stats) - casual sex does happen and happens less (and I don’t want to generalize and I don’t mean to offend anyone, but sometimes because of their various cultures, international students tend to have casual sex more)…in terms of partying, I would say that most students work from Sunday night until Thursday night…(except business majors - again don’t want to generalize, but I have seen them go out more on school days than any other major)…Friday and Saturday is mostly partying though, and ND students try to make up for it…it is a study hard, party hard mentality…</p>
<p>Finally, curiosity33 - I would say that ND is still a great place even if you are not a football fan – i think it would be interesting just to observe how crazy people get over a sport…however, if you go to ND you probably will learn a lot about football and maybe even become a fan yourself (just for ND football I mean)…I knew someone who liked the other kind of football, but now is a huge football fan, so conversions can happen! But yes, I know people who aren’t into football who still love ND and even buy football tickets just to watch the other students and to watch the marching band…</p>
<p>Ok well I don’t think I missed anyone’s questions, if I did just let me know…remember, I will try to answer as many questions as I possibly can…</p>
<p>Dungareedoll - Caroll and Zahm (like Alumni) are fraternities of their own…Caroll guys become very tight knit and they truly become a brotherhood…they host a Caroll Christmas which gets a lot of attention, but I mean it is probably an extra two or three minute walk in compared to a dorm like Duncan, so yes maybe parties won’t be hosted in Caroll, but the guys can definitely make the effort to head to parties (two or three minutes should be that big of a reason not to socialize) … plus it is nice on Saturday and Sunday when there haven’t been parties in a dorm because they are actually still rather clean…in terms of Zahm…people who live in Zahm love it and the other guys else kinds of jokingly dislikes them…but I don’t think this is the same with girls…Zahm usually is a little crazy - kind of like Alumni and now Keough to a certain extent - but they have their own traditions and are a little crazy…honestly though, the whole stigmas apply when a dorm is together…for instance, Alumni and Dillon are rivals (I am in Alumni fyi) and if I am in a big group of Alumni people we will ignore Dillon people or there might be a little jousting…but if I was in class with someone from Dillon, I would still talk to them and I would still be friends with Dillon residents, but in groups, the dorm “pride” takes over a bit and that is where you are getting the Zahm stigma (Alumni has a similar stigma)…but it isn’t like I would totally avoid someone from Zahm just because he is from Zahm…hope this helps…</p>
<p>To hankswim09, Thanks for the info - if he gets in - i got the tuition and room/board but spending money might be tight.</p>
<p>Dungareedoll-I’m a freshman at Notre Dame who lives in Carroll, and I want to offer a bit of perspective on Carroll and housing in general. Your post kind of reminded me of my mom when she found out I was going to live in Carroll…worried I wouldn’t be able to socialize or meet anyone from the rest of campus because I lived “so far away”. To be honest, I was a bit worried too. However, upon showing up for orientation, I realized my fears were completely baseless. Living in Carroll is unique because I really am friends with every single person in the dorm (not an exaggeration, hawkswim speaks the truth when he says that Carroll is a tight-knit community). In terms of relations to the rest of campus, Carroll really has no effect other than a 2-3 minute walk. My best friend on campus lives in Fisher Hall (our rivals coincidentally), and I’ve made plenty of friends from all across campus. Partying is no issue either, as hawkswim mentioned, a short walk is no issue at all. Gender relations has not been an issue either (if you’re worried about the lack of local female dorms), plenty of people in Carroll have girlfriends, and the “distance” has had no effect on the relationship. In fact, living in Carroll has actually been sort of a conversation starter at points, because people always want to know what it’s like to live “all the way out there”. My friends in other dorms do not know most people in their dorm, or sometimes some people in their own section. Overall, Carroll is an extremely tight-knit community, and I can’t imagine living in any other dorm now. There are a ton of traditions (Carroll Christmas, banner, etc.) and the people are fantastic. I guess this speaks more to the fact that your son will be happy, regardless of which dorm he lives in, but I just wanted to quiet any fears about Carroll.</p>
<p>Before coming to Notre Dame, a lot of people are concerned about what dorm they will end up in; there are tons of stereotypes associated with the various dorms, quads, and so on…but after Frosh-O, it really doesn’t matter. Almost everyone learns to love their dorm; it’s really amazing how in spite of the random dorm assignments, you end up with such great culture and camaraderie in each hall.</p>
<p>That being said, it is possible to transfer dormitories if you really dislike where you are. Anecdotally, it seems that girls are more likely to transfer around than guys, and it doesn’t seem terribly common overall; but I don’t have any solid numbers on that.</p>
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<p>Yes and no. Almost everyone goes to the football games/tailgates, which as others have said are a phenomenal experience and definitely worth experiencing. (I’m a South Bend native, so I went to many football games before I became a student, but being in the student section is a completely different experience. Even if you’ve been to football games before and didn’t like them, the student section is absolutely worth experiencing.)</p>
<p>If you do decide it’s not “your thing,” people will probably be a little surprised, but I do have a few friends who rarely/never attend the games.</p>
<p>hawkswim- OK, I didn’t realize it was only around 2,000, but based on the size of the arena and how much the student section takes up, you’re right. And the student section may not be completely 100% sold out, but it’s pretty darn close. Like I mentioned, the Gonzaga game looked very filled, and was a great atmosphere. The bball team gets the support for big games. Yes, it may suck that they don’t for every game, but it’s hard for an ND student to go watch an 8:30 Tuesday night game against Indiana State when there’s a big test the next day. </p>
<p>There’s no school in the country that has a great student section for both basketball and football. Duke and Kansas are renowned for their student bball support and couldn’t care less about football. Schools like Penn State and LSU have elite student sections for football and terrible ones for basketball. And those schools (besides Duke) have huge enrollments, unlike ND. Then there are schools like Miami (OH) and Boston College who have great support for hockey but terrible support for football and bball, or smaller schools in Cali that have great baseball support, but none for football and basketball. Each school has their own niche. I think it’s impressive that ND has a top 5 football student section in the country, while still having a very good bball student section (for big games), especially with less than 10,000 undergrads. You see that hardly anywhere else. And I agree the (relatively, I still don’t think it’s that bad, but that may just be me) lack of support for other, smaller sports is a little disappointing, but while Dartmouth may have great soccer support, how are they at supporting football, compared to ND? Believe me, I’d love for ND to have great support for all the sports, but it’s just hard to ask a small in number student body with a lot on the plate academically to give great support to every sport (and I will also add the location of the athletic facilities aren’t the best for getting the highest number of students possible to go, FWIW).</p>
<p>dungareedoll- You shouldn’t be afraid for your son to get Zahm. In fact, you should be afraid he WON’T be in Zahm, since it’s by far the best dorm on campus.</p>
<p>From what I’ve heard (both on here and from ND alumni), dorm life is a huge part of the Notre Dame experience, so I was wondering if any of you know anything about the girls’ dorms?</p>
<p>Thank you! I found an awesome video from the link you sent me on the Music Department! <a href=“http://video.nd.edu/swf/embed.swf?pubcode=298[/url]”>http://video.nd.edu/swf/embed.swf?pubcode=298</a></p>
<p>SuperTrooper: What do you want to know in particular? Girls’ dorms are much like men’s dorms, although girls’ rectresses generally have a reputation for being more strict than guys’ dorms (hence the guys host most of the big parties on campus).</p>
<p>Mostly just what the dorms are like. Like, are there the same kind of rivalries or anything? And do the girls’ dorms host any events/have traditions as well?</p>