We are starting the research process for our soon to be 2nd grader. My husband comes from a long line of Notre Dame graduates and a devote catholic family. Our daughter is currently enrolled in a great public school system. Would moving to a Catholic School in middle school help her chances of getting into Notre Dame?
I realize there are a lot of factors between now and graduation…
I would ask this in the Parents forum… but too see what any College Values in admissions, look at their Common Data Set. If you look at ND’s: https://www3.nd.edu/~instres/CDS/2016-2017/CDS_2016-2017.pdf
then you will see that Rigor of HS courses is the “most important”, then GPA, SAT/ACT, ECs, but “Religious affiliation/commitment.” is only “Considered”.
So don’t choose a Catholic school because ND would like it, choose it because it offers a challenging curriculum (e.g., honors classes) or that you want your child to go to school in a Catholic environment.
Not sure how to advise, my daughter went to a good public HS (3.9 UW/ 4.5W / 32 ACT - great EC’s and was very involved with our parish and Life Teen / Catholic leadership) but did not get into ND last year. Notre Dame will be very focused on stats - test scores need to be at the very top % - 32 is a good score but not quite what she needed. It seems that having a parent that has graduated from Notre Dame might help a bit, but the stats still need to be WAY up there. ND does not have a lot of merit scholarships either so if you aren’t eligible for financial aid, you need to plan now for the $80K++/year that ND will most likely cost by the time your 2nd grade son gets there. Paying for Catholic school for all those years might reduce your ability to save for college. For us, paying $15K x 3 kids for Catholic schools, when we have good public schools in our area, was not worth reducing their college savings. I feel like our Catholic high schools do seem to send at least a few kids to ND each year (I only know of 1 from the public schools in our area) so maybe the applicants are helped a bit by knowing the rigor and reputation from those schools. If the admissions process is so difficult now, I can only imagine it being even harder in 10 years … I would do what is best for your family, not what you think will get your kids into ND. My daughter is very happy at her school (not a Catholic school - it’s Methodist) and extremely involved in the Catholic ministry there. It all works out 
Thank you for the responses. After reading the report Bopper I looked at our future public high schools class list. It offers more AP courses that the catholic school in our area. So if “rigor” is the most important factor it seems the public school is a step ahead.
AZMOM - I agree that doing what’s best for our daughter is more important that getting into ND. Plus she is only 6 now and who knows how hard she will want to work for perfect grades. But her going to a catholic prep school is a curious question my DH and I have discussed.
You are planning your daughter’s college plans at six? That’s a looonnnggg time. She won’t be in the application process for eleven to twelve years.
You would think!!! Was student teacher in what could best be described as college prep first grade in a public school.
Her legacy status should help as well as being Catholic. Going to a catholic school may help a little but I don’t know. Notre Dame is pretty selective so she still definitely would need to have a certain level of stats and ECs. Most important thing is to have your daughter work hard in school and do stuff she enjoys and is passionate about; then, I’m sure she can get in.
I know it sounds aggressive. I am asking more for middle school plans. If going to a Catholic school is important to getting into Notre Dame which it doesn’t seem to be. We would have to switch schools in the next four years. So that comes with budget planning and School searching. Thank you all for the feedback and who knows what the future holds. Perhaps just her having the dream of going to Notre Dame and following in daddy‘s footsteps will encourage her to work hard in school.
Choosing an elementary/middle/school school should be based on what your child needs at the time not on trying to gain any possible edge for admission to one super competitive college. It is impossible to predict if your D will be a viable candidate for ND or if she would even want to attend ND years from now (kids do change their minds). Here are a few random comments:
– If you are in a great public school system then consider if you want to spend money for a Catholic middle/high school unless you think the Catholic schools will give your D something she needs that she can’t get in the public school system (perhaps smaller classes, more nurturing environment or something along those lines).
– You don’t need to pick the HS that has the most APs. Applicants to top colleges are expected to take the most rigorous program available at their HS – they are not expected to take classes not offered at their HS.
–Here is ND’s official stance on your question from this website https://admissions.nd.edu/apply/faqs/
Am I at a disadvantage if I go to a public high school versus a Catholic high school?
When reading an application, we do not put any preference on the type of school a student attends. Rather, we look at the strength of the school. To get a feel for a school’s strength, we look at its graduation rates, the percentage of its graduates who go on to two-year and four-year colleges, the types of classes offered, and the average SAT and ACT scores of the graduating class, among other factors. For the class of 2020, 46 percent of students attended a public high school, 42 percent attended a Catholic high school, and 12 percent attended a private or chartered high school.
–ND certainly values its legacy applicants. However many many legacy applicants get turned down as well, including some very strong candidates. Here is a glimpse at how difficult it is to gain admittance (likely much more competitive than when your H attended) .https://admissions.nd.edu/apply/admission-statistics All you can do is to encourage your D to do her best – to learn, to be involved, to be a good and happy person. It sounds like you understand that.
I understand the lure of ND. My H attended and loved it. Even though neither kid applied there for undergrad but our S did end up at ND for his Masters degree. So you never know what will happen in the future.