My D was fortunate enough to be accepted into all four colleges that she applied to during EA. However, only the Notre Dame admissions department sent her a hand written Christmas card referencing her essays. It was a very appreciated personal touch. That would take a lot of time for all 1,400 EA admits. Did all of the EA admits receive a hand written and personalized Christmas card? If so, that says a lot about Notre Dame!
I believe all of the admitted students got a card 
it was very much appreciated, although I read somewhere that Notre Dame uses personal touches such as these as a way to increase their enrollment of exceptional students, especially kids who are choosing between Notre Dame and another fantastic school (which is probably almost every applicant!)
irishdance24, thanks for the response. I was thinking that the admissions officers probably did this for all of the recent admitted students, but was hoping that my D was part of a special group that they were targeting.
My D also received a card but I didn’t see it so I don’t know if it referenced her essays. It’s a very nice touch though!
tz2s6v, every student admitted to ND is part of a special group, and your daughter is part of that group.
I graduated from ND in 1987. Aside from asking my wife to marry me, deciding on ND was the best decision I ever made. (in fact it might have been THE best, because I met her there.)
The university treats all of its admitted students very well. They want them to go there.
Your daughter is not making a 4 year decision when attending Notre Dame, she is making a lifetime decision.
Only a very small number of people get the opportunity to do that.
Steve087, you are right that all who are accepted into Notre Dame are part of a special group. My daughter is very happy to be part of that group. She is hoping for enough financial aid to allow her to attend.
The handwritten note just solidified everything I believe ND to be. I so hope we can find a way for our daughter to attend. We are facing an uphill climb with two starting college next year and the chances of any financial aid are slim. Has anyone ever had success getting any merit money from ND? Even a little bit helps… Every other college has offered scholarships from a few thousand at state schools to $32,000/yr. from a well regarded private university. We want her at Notre Dame, but it’s hard to walk away from that kind of scholarship. Hard decisions ahead!!
Wanted to piggy back on the comments of @tz2s6v . My son was accepted EA and has already received a phone call from an ND alumnus in our town and invited to a lunch along with other students that were accepted EA.
(This may not happen everywhere as we live in the Chicago area so the ND alumni groups are huge here.) However it was great that he was invited to lunch via a phone call and not just by a postcard in the mail. DS could not make the lunch, but the alumnus then followed up and let him know that he would be happy to meet him or talk to him anytime about ND.
ND is one of the schools that people always mention the strength of the alumni network as a perk. I think that this early “reaching out and connecting” indicates that this is a case where the hype is probably true!
I got so much love from ND. Two Christmas cards, one from the regional counselor with a personal note. I also got a poster, and last night got a call from a current student, who congratulated me and offered to answer any questions I have. I already feel a part of the ND family, and I don’t think any other university replicates this kind of communication.
@TheStudent7591 I got a call from a ND current student too! Yeah that was so nice, we talked for like 20 minutes 
@TheStudent7591 My D also received a call from a student last night. They did not talk long, but it brought a smile to her face.
Not sure if genuine, or concerned with matriculation numbers. They definitely did not do any of this two years ago when my sister was accepted.
Notre Dame has a very strong yield rate.
They do, but a lot of the students who are accepted early are strong contenders for Ivy league schools and other elite colleges. Notre Dame’s matriculation may be high but they’d like to make REA matriculation even higher
@IliketoFence Funny that you say that because I thought I had no shot at an Ivy, or another great college like Georgetown, Northwestern, UChicago, etc. I only had an SAT in the low 1400s haha.
eh, once you get to the 1400+ range, a higher SAT doesn’t make a huge change to your application. On some tests, getting one problem wrong can drop you up to 40 points. Especially if you have a good GPA, strong extracurriculars, and showed passion through your essays and recs, you’ll do fine. Also, you may just be the sort of student that would fit in better at a school like ND than an academic peer like Northwestern or Georgetown.