<p>The University of Notre Dame has always been one of my dream schools, and now that I will be a senior in the fall, it would just kill me if I got a rejection letter. Do I have a chance, and what should I do in order to improve my application?</p>
<p>GPA (weighted) - 4.1 (unweighted about 3.7)
ACT - 30; English - 32 Math - 27 -- possibly retaking? The first time that I took the test I got a composite of 27. The second time I got a 30 (score reported). Will it look bad if I take it three times?
Top 5% of class (26/558)
SAT - 1800 (combination of English/Math/Writing - DEFINITELY retaking)
SAT II - US History - 670</p>
<p>Volleyball - 9
German Club - 9,10,11
SADD Club - 10,11
Student Council - 11
Track -9
Cross Country - 10,11
Scrabble Club - 9
Chorus/Show Choir - 9, 10
Brain Game (Quiz show on local news station) - 11
Church Youth Group - 9, 10
Environmental Club - 11
Academic Pin received grade 10, Academic Letter received grade 11</p>
<p>I volunteer at a local hospital about 21 hours a month. I also volunteer at a local animal shelter. I also volunteer as a page (assistant) for my state's house of representatives and senate twice a year. </p>
<p>Also, I have taken German every single year in high school and went with family for about three weeks to meet their former German foreign exchange student in order to speak better German. Do you think that I could put that I studied the language for a couple of weeks on a college application, or would that be too much of an exaggeration.</p>
<p>Any helpful advice on how I can improve my application would be very helpful. Thanks!</p>
<p>The GPA is good and I bet you can up it this coming semester. As far as taking the ACT or SAT multiple times goes, it really isn’t an issue in your case. What ND does not want to see is three separate ACT scores of say 27. However seeing as you are showing an improving trend in your ACTs I do not see how it could hurt to take it a third time. The extracurriculars are diverse which is a bonus. Do you have any leadership experience that stands out?</p>
<p>I am on the student council advisory panel (a group of a couple of students who kind of lead the meetings and stuff) and I helped organize some of the activities for my Church group. I really have tried to obtain leadership positions (such as my class treasurer and a leadership position for SADD club), but I lost both times. How greatly does Notre Dame look upon leadership in extracurricular activities?</p>
<p>Most schools in general like to see a bit of leadership experience. I get the feeling that ND likes to see a bit more than most. Leadership isn’t simply limited to being the president of a club or being on the student council, it can also involve going about a unique or creative project independently, for example. At times the more subtle experiences are all the more telling and important.</p>
<p>Keep up the good work. If you have not contacted your regional ND admissions representative to introduce yourself it might be a good time to do so.</p>
<p>i had very similar stats, 31 act, top 1% of class (9/1,063), nhs leadership, key club (volunteer org), dedicated a lot of time to soccer (high school and club) and was waitlisted…eventually took my name off though. my advice, don’t count on anything. if you get in great job, if you don’t, you’ll do fine somewhere else. once you send in your app just forget about it and don’t let all the talk on CC bother you. oh and if you’re a minority (black, hispanic or native american especially) from what i’ve seen your chances increase tremendously thanks to america’s form of reverse discrimination: AA. good luck to you ND is a great school</p>
<p>You should retake both the ACT and the SAT – they don’t care how many times you take it they are just looking for your best score. I got an 800 on my first SAT (the math section) and it went down into the lower 700s and high 600s the next two times I took it (so I could get the other sections up) and I got into ND and MIT (so it proves the are just looking at top score) … like Irish45221 said - make sure to have priorities in your club so you can devout more time and take more leadership. Leadership is very important. GPA is good, but see if you can get it up ----- I would say right now you are probably on the waitlist — with a GPA up to 3.8, get into top 22-25 or so in your class, get above 2,000 or 32 on the ACT and you should be in good position, as long as your continue to be involved, write good essays, and have good recs.</p>