Hello! I’m going to SMC next year and I was hoping to find out if ND students feel like SMC girls invade their space. Also, do some feel that it is unfair that they get to participate in ND clubs and activities as if they were a ND student even though they aren’t? Just trying to get some insight on the relationship between both! Thank you!
Hello. I’m a SMC graduate and I always felt welcomed at ND. It was never an issue. I was at ND quite a bit and attended all their football games and lots of other activities too. It was fun!!
In case you aren’t aware you can take classes at ND too.
Congrats on your SMC acceptance. 
Thank you so much! It’s important for me to feel welcomed at ND considering that I do want to participate in clubs, classes, and sporting events. Happy to hear from a graduate!
No, not at all. You all are always welcome at ND and please join our activities.
My daughter is a senior, and in the band. Although she goes to ND, she has many friends that are at SMC and she enjoys spending time with them. I don’t think it’s an issue. When I attended ND in the early 80s, there was some rivalry, but I think it’s because women at ND were still a novelty, and there weren’t a lot of us, and we were a little intimidating for some of the guys.
D is at SMC and enjoys being involved at ND too. She’s in clubs and has been in a Center for Social Concerns seminar. That was a ND weekly class, which culminated in a spring break immersion experience.
S is a ND graduate. He never had any negative feelings/concerns about SMC being involved. I do think there might be a small amount of perceived rivalry between ND and SMC girls, but D hasn’t experienced this.
Congrats on becoming a Belle!
My son is a first year at ND. He has many friends from SMC–everyone is part of the ND “family”. Like the above poster stated, there may be a small amount of perceived rivalry…but I have never heard of any actual instances. The clubs and activities he participates in include students from SMC, ND and HC and I have never heard him make a distinction when talking about his friends. I only know that some are SMC vs. ND because I have asked him–as I was curious as to how it all worked! One of his close friends originally applied to ND, did not get in (was waitlisted) and was all set to go to another school. She then realized that she really liked the ND atmosphere and decided on SMC. She loves it and has not regretted her decision one bit. My son sees her often, as, again, no real distinction among the kids–everyone is at the football games, can join clubs, etc. Congrats on attending SMC!
My son is an ND alumus and my daughter-in-law is a SMC aluma. Their group of friends was made up of students at both schools in pretty even numbers (and they were the only “ND/SMC couple” in the group. I’m not sure if my DIL took any classes at ND, but my son took several at SMC. SMC even has a meal plan where you can bring guests to dinner (a lot!). My DIL applied to transfer to ND as a Junior and was accepted, but decided to remain at St. Mary’s (girl power!). You should enjoy yourself!
I never heard anyone complain about SMC students being able to attend ND classes or join ND clubs. I had casual friends in clubs that I didn’t find out were SMC students for years because it never came up. SMC students can also attend ND football games in the student section and virtually everyone from both schools does so.
That’s not to say that there aren’t some unhealthy attitudes about the schools’ relationship. There is a small minority of ND girls who seem to feel threatened or annoyed by SMC girls “stealing” ND guys or something. Again, small, but I ran into a number of them, so it is somewhat a thing. Maybe more widespread is the (not super serious, “joking,” but still potentially hurtful) impression that SMC girls are promiscuous and/or just looking for a husband from ND. SMC students call the shuttle that brings them to ND’s campus “blinkie,” while a great deal of ND students call it “the sluttle.” I also heard the joke about the “MRS Degree” a lot about both SMC students and (less often) ND girls. Towards the beginning of freshman year especially, there were several disparaging jokes going around, which mostly fizzled away as people started making actual friends. So there’s definitely that latent sexism to deal with. I’m not trying to turn you off, and I think the relationship overall is a good one and most people have friends on both campuses, with there being a strong blending of the student bodies socially, but it’s something you should prepare yourself to shake off from time to time.