Chance me Please!

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Notre Dame
1

Right now I’m an incoming senior and I’m not sure where I should bother applying to college! Obviously I know this is just an estimate, but why not at least get an idea! Here we go…
OBJECTIVE:
SAT 1: N/A
SAT 2: N/A
ACT: C33 (E34, M34, R32, S33)
GPA: Unweighted: 3.88 Weighted: 4.22
Class Rank: N/A (school doesn’t do this)
Senior Course Load: AP Bio, AP English Lit, AP Spanish, AP Calc BC, Madrigal Choir (top choir in school)
Major Awards: Chosen to participate in selective exchange program with a school in Barcelona, Spain, 5 semester high honor roll student, won 4th place in solo competition at a show choir invitational.
AP Scores: 4 in Human Geo and World History, Waiting on English Lang and US History
Planning on taking SAT Subject Tests in the fall

SUBJECTIVE:
Extracurriculars: Show Choir (4 years- 1 year Crew, 2 years JV, 1 year Varsity)(Vocal Captain- 2 years), Vocal Choir (4 years, 3 Year Honors), NHS, Spanish NHS, Principal’s Advisory (chosen to give suggestions for school improvements), Church Choir (4 years), Voice Lessons (7 years), Piano Lessons (14 years), Part of “Buddy Program” that matches responsible seniors with incoming freshmen, involved in all fall plays and spring musicals (either pit orchestra, student director or cast member)
Job/Work Experience: Work at nearby Country as a Banquet Server (Set up, Serve Meals, Clean Up events such as Weddings and work functions etc.)(2 years/10-12hrs per week)
Volunteer Work: Have 75+ hrs of volunteer tutoring (2-3 hrs per week), volunteering at local hospital over the summer, participated in multiple walk/runs for diseases (Walk for Alzheimers, Relay for Life for Thyroid Cancer, Breast Cancer Run), volunteer at PADS for my church.
Summer Stuff: Visited Notre Dame already (LOVED IT) to show interest, cast as a lead in school district wide musical

OTHER STUFF:
State: IL
School Type: Midsize, Public, Suburban (rated in top ten in state by USNews)
Ethnicity: WHITE
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: 100,000-150,000
My dentist (and mentor) attended Notre Dame and I’m getting an extra letter of rec from him
Oh and my family and I are Catholic, VERY CATHOLIC

2

You look very competitive. I am a parent of an incoming Freshman at ND.
From what I learned along the way, take the SAT as well as ACT and you may do better.
Focus on the verbal and math as ND does not factor writing.
Use the official SAT book for practice tests.
Make sure to meet the admissions counselor to your area if they visit. I’m sure they will visit if you live in suburban Chicago. Ask the admissions counselor if you should apply early. They will not give you a direct answer but may intimate that you would be competitive.
Take the regular SAT instead of the subject tests as this is more important to ND and you can’t take both on the same day.
If you are satisfied with your SAT 1 scores, then take the SAT 2s.
Just my opinion. Good luck!

3

Also a parent of an incoming freshman from Naperville. Good GPA. Your ACT is in range. As suggested, strike up a dialog with your admissions officer. Notre Dame is tough to get into for Chicagoland students. I think you are competitive

4

My senior course load was almost identical to yours, with a very similar GPA and extracurriculars. You have quite a bit more volunteer work than I had, however I had a 35 composite score on my ACT. 33 is very solid but if you’ve only taken it once, I would give it one more shot. Put a lot of effort into your essays and make sure you have strong letters of recommendation. I would talk to your admissions counselor to make it very obvious that you’re interested. I got in, and hopefully you do too. Good luck!