<p>Notre dame is my DREAM SCHOOL and have had my eyes set on it since i was in elementary school. My mom went to Notre Dame, and went on to medical school. I hope to do the same. I can't tell you how crushed I would be if I did not get accepted. I am a current junior at a private catholic academy that has a good affiliation with Notre Dame, and sends at least one student out of each class every year, out of about 60 per class. I took the PSAT as a sophomore, with only Algebra 1 knowledge, and got a 185/240. I now have Algebra 2 and Geometry knowledge, and I plan on doing much better this fall. Math was my lowest score, but I am very good at math and I attribute that to my lack of courses taken so far by last year. I am taking the SAT 3 times, and expect to get above a 2100. I take SAT prep, and take all I.B Classes at my school, and am earning my I.B Diploma. I have always taken the most rigorous courses available, except freshman year I took regular instead of honors spanish. I got straight A's except 2 B+'s my freshman year, and my sophomore year I had straight A's and A+'s. Also, my school has 93-100 as an A, instead of 90-100 like public schools. My gpa is a 4.93 weighted, and I'm not sure unweighted. I volunteer at a local nursing home, as well as many other places, and am involved in a leadership training program. Also, I am doing a special "program" in my city for girls with lots of service hours. They get honored at an elite formal dance. I am a cheerleader and softball player, but don't want to do either in college as i'm not good enough. It is MY DREAM to go to Notre Dame. Do I have a chance?</p>
<p>Hi! You’re on the right track, but it’s still a little early to tell; you still have half your high school career to go, after all. ND is fairly selective, but you have legacy and a strong interest, which can help, and they like community involvement and leadership. Keep going the way you’re going, and you’ve got a chance. :)</p>
<p>(Quick note on the SAT: ND doesn’t look at the writing score at all, so if you absolutely need to pick particular areas to study, go for verbal/math.)</p>
<p>That said, always have a backup. It’s nice to have a dream school, but sometimes it doesn’t work out, so don’t skimp too much on research about other colleges.</p>
<p>Let me preface my remarks by saying that no one on these threads can really tell you what your chances are. They can merely tell you whether your credentials are in the ballpark based on information that the schools provide via things such as the Common Data Set, etc. I just had a daughter go through the admission process at ND, so I will share my advice and observations based on the info you have provided. First, your grades are good and the rigor of your courseload seems fine. Your test scores will, obviously, be very, very important. Even at 2100, your SAT would be below the 50th percentile for Notre Dame. I probably don’t need to tell you that you need to work as hard as possible to be as prepared as possible when you do take the test. While practice tests are fine, the real thing is very different. It counts. As far as your EC’s, they appear somewhat thin. ND really values leadership, and I don’t see any, unless the “leadership training” thing is more substantial than it appears. Being a legacy will certainly help. Now for a bit of tough love, and this is something the previous poster mentioned. Find other schools and fall in love with them. Period. I can’t stress this enough. Believe me, I understand the allure of Notre Dame. My daughter, who is currently a freshman at ND, has loved every single moment of her time there and can’t imagine herself anywhere else. The truth of the matter is, though, she applied EA and was deferred. And was crushed beyond belief. That deferral forced her to look at alternatives, and I can’t help but think that there would have been a lot less angst and many fewer tears had she found those other schools before applying. ND has become, especially in the last several years, a very, very difficult school to get into, and many, many extremely qualified applicants, many of whom had hooks that we could only look upon with envy, were denied admission. So while you may be in the ballpark, please, please, please find other schools that you love as well. You may not end up needing them, but it is always batter than not to have alternatives that will make you happy and would ease the sting should things not work out with ND. Good luck!</p>
<p>Ugh! I didn’t realize that post was so long! Sorry!</p>