My daughter is a senior civil engineering student at ND.
She only had 5 AP classes and average volunteer hours over 4 years of high school.
She did not have the most difficult high school schedule but did get a 34 on the ACT.
Was a captain for a sport but not recruited. Her interest and essays really help her get
accepted. Was differed REA, accepted during regular admissions. Between REA and regular admissions she kept in touch with her ND admissions advisor and her follow up letter of continued interest really allowed her to showcase her interest and ND fit. Looking back she really foreshadowed how she planned to use her ND education to better the world.
Hi @FarmerMom - Can I infer from your username that you are from a rural area? My daughter is applying REA, but because we live rurally, her opportunities for EC’s, awards, national programs, etc have been very limited. I see so many talented students with amazing accomplishments applying for ND. I am hoping a country girl has a chance.
A country girl certainly has a chance! I know how stressful these next few days can be. If she gets deferred don’t get discouraged. Enjoy the Christmas season and have your daughter follow up with her admission advisor at ND the first of the year. My daughters follow up email after she got deferred was what secured her spot. Let us know how she makes out.
Thank you so much! I definitely will!
Will someone feel out of place at Notre Dame if they are Non-Catholic and even not a Christian? I am an Asian living in Indiana, so the close proximity to an Indiana based University makes it tempting to apply to this University. At the same time I am worried that I will be very awkward there. Any insight is appreciated!
My daughter was accepted!!!
I was worried that all the time she spent helping on our family farm (instead of doing several traditional ECs or sports) might hurt her chances, but it worked out! Because of the farm, she really only had time to do one activity at school. She chose Theatre and was very committed. I am so thankful ND viewed her commitment to two major activities (farm and theatre) favorably. We are over the moon!
1 Like
Hi @Kalps1 - I am a parent, so I can only share what I have seen through my DS experience. He is a junior. We are not catholic. We are evangelical christian, so not the best lens for your specific information.
The value of the ND experience is the life long friendships you will make. In my mind, the center of that is the Hall. For my DS, it was also the Marching Band. Both communities welcome anyone. If you got into ND, you are part of the family. I get no sense of judgement from other students about other aspects of personality that make you who you are. I read earlier that ND wants to be a force for “Good in the world”. That has no overt religious overtone to it. Much of the Catholic/Christian world is called to help people. If along the way, you want to know more about Faith, there are many that can come along side you to help. That said, I have not seen any pressure from staff or other students to “conform” beyond the understanding that ND is unapologetically a Catholic School.
It is a great school that is also a great community to be a part of.
2 Likes
Thank You for your insight 
Hello! May I ask questions about housing assignments for freshmen? When is it possible to apply for housing? After putting down a deposit? or is it by lottery? And how random is the roommate assignment? Does ND have a matching process? Thanks in advance!
Not a current student, but housing at Notre Dame is completely random for your first year. There are separate men’s and women’s dorms, and you are assigned to one completely randomly, then you’re also randomly assigned a roommate. I believe the only exception is that you cannot be assigned a roommate who is from the same zipcode as you
1 Like
Agree with @Batbat - the process is totally random. My DS is a Junior. In my mind, one of the great aspects of the Notre Dame experience is Residence Hall life. Is it perfect? No. Your Hall will become your family and part of your identity. I am pretty sure my DS did not expect the experience to have the profound impact that it has.
So, the randomness is not a negative. Whatever Hall you (or your student) gets assigned to will work out.
1 Like
Hi! Any news on whether or not accepted students will be able to visit campus this spring? My son is so excited about Notre Dame, but has never stepped foot on campus. It is such a huge decision to make (especially since he would be turning down a few full ride offers) without actually having been there.
We have virtual visit fatigue… sooo done with those. The truth is, nothing can replace physically touring a campus. Most other schools are allowing general tours with precautions. Seems like a reasonable ask, especially for students that were admitted REA.
1 Like
We had the same question. DD is very interested but have not had any chances to visit the campus. I’m hoping with the rollout of vaccines, they may relaxed the rules a bit to at least allow unofficial visits.
1 Like
Thank you both for your answers. With the random process, will they at least have an input of preference for a double, triple, or quads?
As far as I know, no. A current student or parent should be able to correct me if I’m wrong, but for your freshman year your dorm, roommate, and room are all randomly selected from the available freshman rooms. After your first year you can choose your room (if it isn’t taken) in whatever dorm you have and get to choose your roommate as well.
That being said, I’m pretty sure essentially every dorm room is a double. 80% plus are doubles for sure.
Thanks! Watched some ND Residential Life YouTube videos, those quad rooms looked like a tight fit!
1 Like
My son was notified he is a merit scholar semi-finalist. Does this mean he will be accepted into Notre Dame?
I’m not going to lie - the rooms are tight. Some of the quads have a common area. Every Hall is different in terms of room size and layout. My DS is in Stanford Hall, they have singles up to a 6 man. Each Hall has room selection in the Spring. The “standard” room for the Hall will be the most likely for Freshman. For Stanford, that is a double. In the double, you can fit a fridge and a futon/sofa pretty easily when you loft the beds over the desk/closet.
1 Like
Sorry @ElPasoMom - NMSF or Finalist is no guarantee. Congrats to your DS. ND accepts (and rejects) a number of Finalists. They do not participate in the NMSC program, but their need-based aid is awesome. I will refer you to a couple of threads that you may have already found - search for National Merit Scholarship - there is a ton of info there including “what does this mean?” stuff. There are also several threads on schools that offer good aid for NMF. Feel free to message me. I have two NMF sons in school right now. I can share some of the process they went through.
Oops - misread - disregard my note to @ElPasoMom - I sent a message with info