HI,
WONDERING IF YOU COULD CHANCE MY D22:
catholic HS
4 year varsity cross country/all conference/2 year MVP/2 year captain
Student leadership conference (nominated by school)
300 plus community service hours
NHS committee chair
student ambassador
National Merit (should be commended for sure, maybe semi)
34 ACT (35M/35E/34R/30S)
AP WORLD 5
AP US HISTORY 3
AP STATS 5
AP ENG LANG 5
taking this year:
AP BC CALC
AP BIO
AP CHEM
AP PSYCH
gpa 4.3/4.0
She should be competitive for all of the listed schools. Northwestern & Chicago like ED applicants.
What does your daughter plan to study ?
Thanks. She is looking at biochemistry.
thoughts on notre dame early action?
My best guess is that she is a very strong candidate for admission based on her background.
It would be interesting to know the percentage of each entering class at Notre Dame who come from Catholic high schools.
Similar list and stats to one of my children, a bit lower than my kid’s were. My kid got into BC Honors Program via EA, was WL at Vandy Regular Admission and rejected from Rice regular decision. I think ED will help this student a lot.
Thank you so much for your insight. Thoughts on going ND RSEA and then Vanderbilt EDII?
Sorry never looked at ND. Think ED at Vandy would work, not sure re ED2 but would think so. Out of curiousity - no Georgetown? Would have expected to see it on your list given other schools on it, and would have expected no UChicago lol; and Georgetownhas nonbinding EA like BC.
Thinking about Georgetown, was confused about being able to apply EA to both. Thats a great idea! She isn’t sure she will apply to Uchicago or Rice but wanted opinions in case. BC ED2?
I would EA Georgetown and RSEA ND, and if rejected from both, then Ed2 Vandy. If accepted, can regular apply to all others or even add in a lottery school. Would drop UChicago as not really consistent with others. Maybe replace with WUSTL. Just make sure the timelines work… I am no counselor lol.
I actually think she’d only be a solid at BC and slight reach to ND. The others - it’s gonna be tough. Rice is very tough. That she has such great leadership and so many hours of service will help. She would get a ton of merit at public Honors colleges - if that were of interest at all.
If you’re interested in catholic schools, Villanova and Santa Clar (if open to the West) would be nice fall backs - just in the sense that I’m not as confident as others given the stats.
Good luck.
Ok that’s awesome, will probably follow that advice! Maybe you should be a college counselor 
Thanks again!
Thanks for your insight. She is applying to Villanova EA. She is also applying to several public honors as she understands she needs to have as many options as possible if top choices fall through. Her HS sends many kids each year to ND…do you think its worth it for her to go early there knowing it’s her first choice school? I would hate for her to waste the early app.
I think it’s around 35% each year from catholic high schools. Her school tends to send 2-5 each year to ND.
If ND is your first choice, you should absolutely apply restrictive early action - especially since it’s non-binding. The binding always bothers me - due to $$. If it wasn’t your first choice, it’d be different - but why ED somewhere else like Vandy if UND is your #1 - when then you are bound.
You didn’t mention $$ and perhaps it’s no issue. But just because you can afford to spend $300K+ doesn’t mean you’ll want to or you should, if for example, you find a great public Honors College for $100K. A lot of times the “first choice” changes based on that.
But since Notre Dame is not binding, you retain all flexibility and can still get in ED2 elsewhere if you are deferred or rejected. Of course, if you’re deferred and apply ED elsewhere, you potentially give up the chance to attend UND.
Chicago seems different than the rest of your list - you might consider an Emory/WUSTL or for better chance at $$ - a Miami as a supplement.
Good luck.
PS - I see the “extras” in this case as the strength of the app…very impressive.
I agree that UChicago isn’t the best fit for her. I also have issues with the ED being binding. I guess I just feel it is so limiting for many kids. But since ND is her first choice and she wouldn’t be bound I appreciate your insight on that being worth it and then maybe by then we will have more info on other apps? Honestly I think BC would be a better fit for her than Vanderbilt but she hasn’t been able to visit. Out of curiosity, do you think the “extras” are impressive as a whole or does anything stand out? She really is one of those just great kids who loves to do stuff…sports, community service, stuff at school. I guess that never seems enough these days with the competition out there.
I travel for work - and while my job isn’t educationally related, I stay in hotels near colleges because I like to walk each day for exercise and what better place to walk than college campuses. I had a server at Knoxville who got into Northwestern, a student served me at Tallahassee that turned down Columbia for FSU…and I know at each of the top Honors colleges, they are littered with kids who could get in the top 20.
My daughter is at College of Charleston, #16/17 she got into, because it was right for her even though she got into some very high rated schools… It’s a bonus for dad. My son turned down Purdue engineering for Alabama. So it’s good that you are seeking fit. In my case, I lucked out - fit saved me $$ - but the kids chose them for their reasons, not for mine.
There are many success stories from, for example, Middle Tennesse State and there are many “failures” from top 20 colleges - so nothing is a guarantee, as while there’s no assurances that what you think fits, obviously spending four years in a place that seems comfortable is best. You never know, even at the right school, where one struggles with a roommate or has bad profs, etc. So it’s all a crap shoot.
I think what you think is not relevant - that it’s what she thinks. I mean, we all think we know our kids but… Hopefully she can visit but all the schools have ample virtual opportunities - not just tours but student panels and maybe that can help your daughter get a feel. I personally don’t see Vandy an option with her #s - but I could be wrong - others thought she had a shot.
I like her extras because of the cross country captaincy - i.e. leadership and while you don’t label the 300 hours, hopefully there’s a great group behind it.
But if you were studying, say engineering, there are kids out there that have done research or built parts of rockets and doing bio chem, there are kids who’ve done research at hospitals or almost cured Cancer. I like yours because it seems like your kid has been a kid!! There’s too many kids not being kids. But again, I gave you a harsher “chance” than others - and there are so many bright/experienced/helpful posters on here let’s hope that they are right.
But i would add, since you mentioned you don’t like the “binding” aspect, I’ll assume $$ are a concern. I’ll assume you are full pay - you don’t mention - and with bio chem I assume there’s more school after undergrad which means more $$ - I don’t know the unweighted or your state, but you might look at Arizona, Arizona State, Arkansas, Florida State, Ole MS and MS State, UT Knoxville, U of SC, Pitt and more.
Or are you only wanting mid-size? What’s your state? Is there a preference weather (you’re looking at cold) or school size (I assume mid).
Also, you tend to get more $$ when you stand out vs. being one of everyone which your daughter would be at each of these schools - so perhaps a U of San Diego, Loyola Marymount, Loyola of Chicago or Depaul or even a Gonzaga might be of interest? I know NC State has a strong progam…one of my daughter’s fellow students went there for that.
If ND is top choice, applying early is a good decision. She has the stats, and applying early can only boost her chances. Her strong service hours will be important to catholic schools. Of the schools you list, BC is the most like ND, but due to the binding nature of ED, I would not suggest applying EDII without visiting first. D20 is at BC and absolutely loves it there. I’m happy to answer any questions you may have about BC. Good luck to your D!
What did your daughter do Junior year for classes? Many of these classes you list for her senior year are done junior year in our school.
Your daughter has great numbers. However all those schools listed are lottery picks. The majority of kids applying to those schools have similar numbers. Be sure to include a couple of safeties. My D18 had 35ACT 8-10 AP’s with all 4s and 5s. Had UW 4.0, Varsity sports, musical etc. She got rejected at Brown Princeton, UNC, UVA, and WL at Vandy. She was accepted at Clemson and Delaware with very good merit money. She ended up at Clemson and with her AP credits graduated in 3 years. And just started at UF law school.
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