Chances for Notre Dame

<p>I would greatly appreciate any advice on my stats! I love notre dame and will be applying next fall (I am a junior this year). I'm not a legacy so I know that won't be great in the process because 25% of admitted students are, but regardless I'd love feedback!</p>

<p>Academics:
- 99.6 weighted average
- ~95 unweighted
- I go to the #1 public school in my state that is in the top 100 in the nation.
- my sat scores aren't great. I know I can bring them up to at least 2100 because they were almost there with no preparation.
- 5 APs by the time I graduate (Lang, US history, Stat, Spanish, Lit)
- all honors and additional "TAG" classes when possible</p>

<p>ECs:
- summer swim team
- National Art Honor Society
- National Spanish Honor Society
- Beta Club
- Fellowship of Christian Athletes
- Small group leader at church (I was a student in the group and after I was confirmed I became a leader)
- Middle School Tutor
- Mentor for underclassmen
- Yearbook staff writer (my school has a nationally recognized, award winning journalism department)
- Vacation Bible School Camp Counselor
-- hopefully next year I will be in National Honor Society and NHS for other subjects as well as having leadership positions in clubs.</p>

<p>Extras:
- I have organized candy drives at church for homeless shelters on Halloween.
- Toshiba "Exploravision" participant.
- National Spanish Exam gold medal winner and 4th place in my state.
- various awards in school
- I'm catholic and very involved in my church, if that makes a difference. On their common data set it says they do take religion into consideration.</p>

<p>Notre Dame: Match
Where else do you want to go?</p>

<p>Vanderbilt is also on my list, but I’ve wanted to go to notre dame for as long as I can remember so it’s my top choice.</p>

<p>might also look at Holy Cross in Massachusetts and Villanova.</p>

<p>I’m still looking into more options so I’ll take that into consideration!</p>

<p>Any other thoughts on my chances for ND? I’d really appreciate it!</p>

<p>I’d be wary of viewing ND as a match. Test scores matter a great deal and even a 2100 would not stand out. Your EC’s seem a bit unfocused and while there is some breadth there, I am not seeing much depth. My advice would be to pick a few to spend what time you have left really sinking your teeth into. Also, I would probably advise against applying EA even if it is your first choice. That extra couple of months could be used to retake SAT’s, if need be, or work on your essays to really perfect them. I would also at some point connect with your regional rep. ND does consider demonstrated interest. I would wait, though, until the summer to do this, or at least until after this admission cycle is over. I am sorry if I seem a bit tough, but I hate seeing kids have their heart set on a school, only to be denied. I agree with one of the above posters that you need to look at a few less selective schools, and Villanova seems like it would be a great fit. I wish you the best of luck.</p>

<p>ND: Reach (at least it’s reachable)
Vanderbilt: Reach
Holy Cross: Match/low match</p>

<p>ND: Reach
Vand: Reach
Holy Cross: High MAtch</p>

<p>Villanova: Match/low match</p>

<p>What do you mean unfocused in terms of ECs? Almost all of it is service oriented and a lot is church related. Can you just clarify more on that? There’s probably something I’m not seeing and I want to have the strongest application possible. I know my chances aren’t too great, but I have faith that I can write a really good why ND essay as well as other strong essays.</p>

<p>And in all likelihood, notre dame, vanderbilt and Clemson (my safety one) will be the only out of state schools I apply to.</p>