Junior-
APUSH(got a 5)
Honors Physics
Honors Precal
English 11
Spanish 3
Senior-
AP Physics C(both mechanics and E&M)
AP BC Calc
AP English Language
Engineering
Music History(required)
Forensic Science
Extracurricular-
Football-4 years(2 varsity)
Basketball-2 years
Soccer-2 years(1 year varsity)
Lacrosse-4 years(all varsity and am starter/captain)
Student ambassador-4 years
Honor council rep-1 year
Student council-1 year
Link Crew-1 year(met twice a month with freshman to teach lessons and organized a freshman “sex retreat”)
Volunteering 125+ hours at many
organizations
Altar server(6 years) and confirmation leader(2 years) at local Catholic
church
Worked with school councilor to organized freshman orientation this year and a summer indoor soccer team
Coached YMCA youth basketball team-3 years
Ceramics/3-D Art- 4 years
Grandfather and Uncle both legacy but I don’t know if that counts
I would say you have a pretty good chance. You’re fairly diversified and don’t focus on one thing or another. Raising your test scores a little (32 for ACT, ~1450 SAT) would make your application a little stronger. Your ECs and coursework are strong, so those should be fine. Keep up the grades this year.
“essays will be pretty good but not fantastic” CHANGE THIS. You are a strong candidate, but essays can make or break your application. They need to be great; a similar candidate to you with better essays WILL steal your spot. Show who you are in them, show why ND is the place for you.
I second feartheENGR’s comments. D enrolled this fall at Notre Dame. Several times over the course of parent’s orientationion the point was made that the middle 50th percentile of admitted students are either in the Top 1% of their high school class or at the 99th percentile of students nationwide in standardized tests. You have the right profile for a Notre Dame student with a good mix of course rigor, sports and church/volunteer activities. Bump your ACT a few points and make sure your essays are the best writing you’ve ever done. Your college essays are incredibly important particularly if you have gaps elsewhere in your application. Legacy is very important at Notre Dame but Grandfather is less helpful than generous parents
I think ND is a reach school for you mainly due to standardized test scores. But here are the statistics, decide for yourself. http://admissions.nd.edu/apply/admission-statistics/
In any event, it is worth an application especially being from TX with some legacy - work hard on your essays.
The legacy benefit, which is meaningful, only applies if either of your parents received a degree from ND, so the grandfather/uncle connection won’t help. As others have said, your test scores need to be raised by quite a bit for you to be competitive. What does your 92.97 convert to in terms of a 4.0 grading scale and where are you ranked in terms of your class? Also, to be blunt, “good but not fantastic” essays will sink you. As someone else said, you have the right profile for ND, but so do thousands of others. You need to make yourself stand out. Good luck!
Your extracurriculars are very good.
You have a few things in your control now:
Get the standardized scores up: take lots of SAT practice tests; use your score reports to focus on those areas that you were weakest on your previous attempts; don’t worry about the writing section; they don’t look at it.
If your essays are “pretty good” right now, make them “fantastic.” This is something you have that you can differentiate yourself; it is your chance to show them how you will add to the University. Make them want you.
Talk to the regional admissions counselor for your area. Keep in contact with him/her. Make a visit to the University and meet them in person.
Apply regular admission so you have time to get your first semester grades to raise your GPA and take the standardized tests again.
Agree completely with above. Take the ACT again and try to boost your scores-go online and look at certain sections that historically have tricks. Study for it and try to get the “gate” score of 32.
Make your essays outstanding~look for something different that you have done. Be original and do your own work. Be proud of what you finally submit.
Definitely reach out to your regional rep. Ask for help and direction. Attend an ND event and write about it. Send thank you notes.
Apply regular admission, but tell them somewhere that ND is your first choice. This helps you in that yield is a big deal.
Best of luck!