All stats are not including sr year (I’m a junior). I’ve got some additional questions after the stats.
State: FL
School: top 5 private college prep school in state, for reference 4 srs out of a class of 200 accepted to Harvard last year
GPA: 3.5UW 3.7W
Rank: school doesn’t provide rank to my knowledge
Grades: As and Bs absolutely no Cs
SAT: 1800 (96th Percentile on new PSAT, waiting on new SAT results)
ACT: TBA
Disabilities: ADHD
Course Load (as of now): 3 APs, mostly honors and a few CP
Legacy: Dad - Mendoza
Income (not sure if matters): High
Need Finance Aid: no
Sports: Lacrosse, Football at varsity level
EC: Coaching local sports camps, leadership academy (run by marines), local leadership camps, play several instruments
Hopefully that covers most of it… Here’s some questions I’ve got for those who have been through this process:
- tore ACL and destroyed knee, should I mention overcoming this in my essay or is it too run of the mill?
- I plan on mentioning how ADHD/ADD has become a part of me… embracing difficulty and overcoming adversity. Should I leave this out of writing prompt? I can’t help but feel most kids feature some type of adversity and I should focus on writing a more creative and memorable essay.
- acquaintance is on the ND board of trustees, should I ask for a letter of ROI from them and include this on application?
- would it be more beneficial to get a ROI from ex-marine coach/dean of students or teacher? I’ve got a great relationship but I’m unsure of which ND may value more
- I’m a solid writer (not evident here obviously) so please assume my essays will be top notch when formulating an opinion
Thanks for the help!
so, normally people look at GPA and test scores and use those to base how likely it is for someone to be accepted, but if your family income is really high, all bets are off the table. I would assume that will have a huge impact on your application but there aren’t enough data points like that to give a more precise answer.
On to your other question, the letter doesn’t hurt… but it may not have as much impact as you’d like. You’re allowed to send additional letters of recommendation but the name of the person writing doesn’t have a huge impact. That’s not to say your BOT friend can’t rattle some chains and get in contact with the head of admissions directly and talk to him about you, but just writing a letter won’t get the same result.
My only recommendation would be to really work on that test score. If your family makes huge donations, seeing the strength of your school, your GPA probably won’t be a deal breaker, although it is a bit low. Getting your SAT up will really help show that your GPA is low compared only to future Ivy league students.
If your family has a relationship with development, that will be a factor in the evaluation of your application without your prompting. Please don’t ask your BOT acquaintance to write a letter on your behalf, no matter how well he knows you. It won’t help and could hurt you. Essays about sports injuries are right up there with “I went to build huts in Haiti and suddenly realized that there are poor people” as cliches. Don’t be a cliche. Best letters are from academic sources. Your grades and scores are not competitive, so you will need to find another way to demonstrate your intellectual potential. An excellent essay and letter from a teacher who can explain that your numbers don’t reflect your true ability will help. Based on what you posted, I would write about the instruments you play. Really.
jumping a bit off of what @emmamarie said: when you write about a certain subject, your essays get mentally lumped together with other people who wrote about similar things. Because of that, really strong essays about certain subjects lose their potency because they’ve been overdone. It doesn’t mean that you can’t write about a sports injury, it means that if you chose to do so, your essay will be compared against other top ND applicants with sports injuries. Do you like those odds? with certain essays that take unique looks or perspectives, that may be alright. But for most essays in those subjects, even a good essay will be lost in a sea of comparable works, and you’ve then just given up one of your opportunities to differentiate yourself.
What may be less overwritten would be coming to terms with how certain injuries slowed your career in athletics, but gave you newfound time to work on your grades and pursue other passions. There are plenty of people who tore an ACL and came back to succeed in their sport, but not as many who took that as an chance to try something new. If that’s what you did, there may be a story there that isn’t as common.
If I were you, the biggest thing I would work on would be your SAT scores. If you have great (I mean do all 10 tests in the official study guide and maybe pay to have a tutor if you can afford it) scores, you can prove that your 3.5 GPA - which is below average - is the way it is because of your school’s rigor.
Also, I would look into the ACT. You might be able to make higher scores there - some people perform better on the ACT, some on the SAT, and vice versa.
If you do that, I think you’ll have as good of a chance as any other of the competitive people applying.
“so, normally people look at GPA and test scores and use those to base how likely it is for someone to be accepted, but if your family income is really high, all bets are off the table. I would assume that will have a huge impact on your application but there aren’t enough data points like that to give a more precise answer.” Huh? This is not true. Notre Dame likely has enough apps from kids who don’t need FA to fill each class. They don’t do that.
OP: honestly, your GPA is going to hurt you, and the 1800 on the SAT (assuming that’s the old test with old scale) is going to hurt as well. I second the suggestion to take the ACT (and prepare for it) to see if you can get a higher score. Also work to get your GPA up as much as possible. Good luck!
Not sure why the OP and my response were edited by a third party, but replacing “cello” with “instruments” dilutes the meaning of my suggestion. Lots of kids play “instruments;” very few play the cello. Especially multi sport male athletes. (A comedian named Rob Paravonian posted a hilarious rant on YouTube about the boring cello part to Pachelbels Canon in D, which was memorable largely because of the obscurity of the cello. Check it out.) An applicant with less competitive scores and grades needs an excellent and memorable essay. Best way to do that is to focus on something that makes him stand out in comparison to the sea of athletes with sports injuries or students who struggle with ADHD. Make sure to mention in the “additional information” section any relevant info about the ADHD that might explain lower numbers, or the injury if it forced you to drop your sports.
I read dozens of essays about injuries and overcoming learning issues. I read none about the cello. Take it for what it’s worth.
I think OP’s post may have been too descriptive and so asked the moderator to modify it to be more anonymous.