Hello all! I am a senior who just submitted an REA application for the university of Notre Dame. I am currently a finalist for a scholarship that would grant me full tuition to any in state university. I visited Notre Dame a few weeks ago and absolutely loved it and was just curious what my honest chances look like. I want to manage my own expectations but just curious. Getting in would be incredible. Any opinions are much appreciated!
Demographics
US Domestic: US Citizen
State of residency: Indiana
Type of high school: Rural/small town public school
Gender/Race/Ethnicity: Caucasian female
Other special factors (first generation to college, legacy, athlete, etc.): athlete; recruited by several DIII and DII schools, as well as a handful of less competitive DIās
Might be important to note here that I am not Catholic
Intended Major(s)
Biology/PreMed (Applied biology to the school of sciences)
GPA, Rank, and Test Scores
Unweighted HS GPA: 3.96 (1 A in gym bc I did a sport instead)
Weighted HS GPA (incl. weighting system): 4.61 (AP courses are weighted such that a 4.0=5.0, honors are unweighted, dual credit are weighted half of APs I believe)
College GPA (for transfers): N/A
Class Rank: 1/187
ACT/SAT Scores: Applied with 1530 SAT (780 math, 750 English)
Coursework
AP Courses: 11 by the end of high school
Sophomore year: APUSH
Junior year: chemistry, calculus AB, English language, Econ, psychology
Senior: statistics, physics 1, biology, English lit, US government
My school currently offers 7 AP courses yearly
Iāve gotten 5ās on all exams except chem which was a 4
Foreign Language level: 3 years of Spanish
Dual credit: several years of dual credit English/Spanish/Chemistry done at high school (we take an end of year exam to get credit with a community college)
Level of math: Calculus AB, will complete AP stats this year
Awards
National Merit Semifinalist
Rural and Small town recognition award
State-level essay contest winner
AP scholar w/ distinction
Science department award winner
Cross country all-state honorable mention
Cross country 3 years all-conference
XC/Track academic all state 3 years
Athletic mental attitude/MVP awards
Extracurriculars (Include leadership, summer activities, competitions, volunteering, and work experience)
School Clubs:
NHS (elected treasurer for senior year)
Class officer (2 years as treasurer; class president junior and senior year)
Student government
Renaissance club (volunteering/service work within the school)
TASC committee (1 student per grade selected from each school in the county and given a budget to help allocate funds to grant applicants)
Athletics:
4 year varsity cross country and track, team captain for cross country sophomore and junior year
Outside school:
2 years volunteering with community outreach program (put on concerts/events downtown, etc) 100+ hours spent
Summer before senior year began as a lab assistant at a college about 30 min away (8-10 hrs per week) hope to continue a few hours weekly during the school year
Volunteering w/ special Olympics, bell-ringing, etc. (smaller commitments; total around 50 hrs yearly)
Summer job: outdoor work/landscaping for a neighbor
Essays/LORs/Other (Optionally, guess how strong these are and include any other relevant information or circumstances.)
Essays: Strong, maybe not the best essays ever but certainly my best and very good (8.5/9)
LORs: English teacher (good relationship, havenāt read the letter but I get the feeling that itās very strong 9/10); Mentor/Employer ( worked for community leader for two years as an intern. likely pretty strong 8/10) Counselor (no letter; this is probably one of my greatest concerns here; our school only has 2 counselors for all 800ish students meaning that unless you are struggling you really donāt talk to them. I donāt think her letter would add anything to my app but will not having it hurt me?)
If you got an A in PE how did that lower your GPA ?
I think you know you have a strong chance.
Iād encourage you, assuming you become an NMF, to look at schools that will literally throw themselves at you. For example, at Alabama youād earn tuition and housing for five years so grad school. Just one example. There are others. Itās a golden ticket you can take advantage of (NMF) if you do desire. If you donāt thatās ok but in case youāre not aware, it really is a gift these schools provide to the select few.
I think your odds are good at UND. Your not being catholic wonāt matter ( I donāt think) but it likely will matter on the day to day life you live so thatās more for you to think about than the admissions committee. .
Only downside is being female (ND historically has significantly more female applicants). It will come down to your essay and if you would be a fit in the culture of the school. You certainly donāt need to be Catholic, but it should come across that your values are aligned with the Universities values.
Thanks so much for the input/suggestions. Iāve looked into Alabama but are there any other nmf schools I should be aware of? The way our school works for pe is basically you have 1 required semester and then the second year you can choose to take pe at school or play a sport which takes care of the credit for the semester but gives you an automatic A not an A+ so the A in an unweighted class lowered GPA a bit.
Usually a + if weighted is .33 and minus is a minus .33 (or a .67).
I find it out to believe one class impacted your grade that much - butā¦nonetheless - it doesnāt matter.
You are super strong - and yes schools from WVU to Fordham to USC and more will give you āsomethingā. Sometimes someā¦sometimes a ton (thus saving your family potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars depending on your financial situation).
Donāt use the list as a definite - so check each school on their websites - but should give you an idea. I mentioned Bama for the simple reason that they have the most NMFs in the country - and given the offer itās easy to see why.
Back to your UND question - I believe you have very good odds - far above normal - and not sure how this scholarship you are in the running for will impact that school (vs. a public) - but was just throwing out another idea - because some donāt realize.
Basically, youāll do great anywhere.
Good luck - and see the attached two artcles/lists for some guidance. Thereās other lists too you can google. Example - Fordham is on one but not the other - but from what I read on the CC is very aggressive.
That is true at the public high school where I live. An A in a regular class is a 3.7. You need an A+ to get a 4.0. Also where I live physical education would be a regular class.
However, an A in a PE class is not going to harm a studentās chance to get into Notre Dame.
@lbruns I think that your chances are pretty good, and very likely higher than the 13% or 17% or 19% acceptance rate (depending upon which source I believe). However, I would be inclined to put it out of your mind, and continue with applications to other universities until you hear back.
Given your excellent results up to now, I think that you are likely to do very well regardless of which university you attend. Also, there are a LOT of universities with very good premed programs. It looks like you are considering the cost of attendance, which is quite wise for a premed student (medical school is expensive). Best wishes.
Iāve heard the A- / B- being the .67ā¦and Iāve read .7 - but never heard that about the top grade.
So a B is a 2.7?
Schools often recalculate - so it will change anyway - especially those with automerit.
I totally agree - PE wouldnāt impact this studentās chances and the student has such a wonderful profile - Iām sure their chances are well above the normal UND chances.
My daughter had very similar stats last year and was waitlisted. I think ND may be a more difficult admit for girls. It was the only school that I noticed from her results that actually admitted more boys than girls. Essay is probably the key - that one wasnāt my daughterās favorite to write. She ended up at UVA and is loving it.
Chiming in on your statement about being a finalist for a scholarship that would grant you full tuition to any in state university. That typically refers to āin-stateā meaning public institutions (whose tuition is significantly less expensive for in-state residents compared to private institutions whose tuition is typically much higher and independent of residency). Its neither here nor there for a chance me thread, I just want to make sure you are clear on the terms of that scholarship and what that means for universities āin the stateā vs. āin-stateā universities.
You definitely have the grades and scores to get in, but one knows what exactly they are looking for each yr. We your profile you will be successful wherever you attend college.
