<p>Congrats Project 86, usakidabroad and limkid66! How exciting!</p>
<p>For everyone else, I've been watching the boards to see what happens. In my heart, I'm waiting for the postman with you too! It is almost like last year! :) </p>
<p>The luck of the Irish to all! May you get the Christmas present of your dreams. And remember, should things not turn out as you desire, God always has a plan. One of my favorite sayings is God never shuts a door without opening a window. </p>
<p>I would really advise ya'll not to worry about stats right now. You have to remember that ND looks at the entire student - it is not just simply stats. Essays, recommendations, EC's, the kind of person you appear to be in the total package - all play a major part in the decision as much as quantifiable stats. </p>
<p>It looks like the letters went out on the same time schedule as last year. If you live a good distance from ND, chances are you won't get your letter until Monday so don't freak if you don't hear anything today. </p>
<p>Since I'm going to be gone before the decision gets here, I tried to call the office and ask for my decision over the phone. The receptionist took some information from me before putting me on hold for about five minutes and then telling me that they can't give out decisions over the phone. While I want to believe her, but if that policy was already in place, wouldn't she have said that to me immediately following me question rather than going and talking to people for five minutes about it? It really seems like a bad sign.....</p>
<p>My son was accepted, got his letter late this morning (we live in suburban St. Louis.) :)</p>
<p>I immediately went down to his high school guidance office. His counselor had him paged to the office, while I waited hidden from view. When Eric walked in, Mr. G handed him a flyer for a state university open house, and I could hear the disappointment in my son's voice, thinking--what a lame reason to call me in here? So then, I stepped out from the shadows, and handed him the envelope (mysteriously ripped open on its own while I pulled it out of the mailbox ;) ), with a red bow on it, and asked, "Is this what you're looking for?"</p>
<p>Oh, to bottle that emotion and energy! The boy jumped five feet in the air, literally missing the ceiling by inches. He hugged me so hard he nearly knocked me out of my chair, then returned to class. I can't imagine having to have him as a student for the last period of the day, but he's a good kid, and no one has made it from ND for awhile, so they're ecstatic for him, too...</p>
<p>Thank you, thank you, thank you to all of you who have been a great support while I bit my nails to the nubs--especially docmom and theirish, who let me know I wasn't crazy, and whose calm faith helped me get through this.</p>
<p>For those interested in EA admissions stats--Eric's were: 34 ACT; 3.93/4 unweighted GPA; weighted class rank 11/126; took all honors/college credit courses offered (quite a few); track; cross country; sports editor for paper; video productions news staff; MO Boys State; NROTC scholarship already offered previous to ND acceptance (we did let them know that at ND admissions); legacy.</p>
<p>YES! Congratulations! You brought tears to my eyes! I love your way of telling him! My d still has not received her letter and we live in Indiana! I can only hope later today!
That is just such fantastic news!
Go Irish!</p>
<p>Congratulations to your son Diane! Woot Woot! You'll never believe this but that is the same thing my hubby and I did when the envelope came - the exact same thing! Only, we didn't open it though because you could see the Congratulations through the window. She was so nervous walking into the counselor office. The counselor took a pic of the 3 of us hugging and crying after we jumped out from behind the door. It's a pic we'll always treasure! I am SO happy for your family and your son! Great things are ahead for him!</p>
<p>Well... my sister just came home from ND for Christmas break. It'd be very, very cool if I could get in tomorrow. Keeping my fingers crossed! And thanks ddjones for keeping all the rest of us in your prayers--you, theirish, and docmom make it bearable to manage these last few stressful days. It's pretty cool to see what it must be like for my own parents watching me go through the college app process. I guess I never realized how stressful the process can be for the parents, too... a lot of it is out of their hands and all they can do is hope that everything falls in place for their children. Anyways, this is my big thank you to all of our parents.</p>
<p>I'm not accepted or anything, but I guess I'll post the stats anyways; you'll have them either way for me... whether accepted or rejected.</p>
<p>SAT: 1500 (800V, 700M)
SAT IIs: 800 Biology (Molecular), 760 Math IIC, 740 Math IC, 730 Writing
APs: Biology (5), European History (4); To take this May: Physics C: Mechanics and E&M, Calculus BC, English Lit.
Cumulative GPA: 4.27 weighted/most rigorous curriculum (capped at 3 APs/year)
Class Rank: Not given. Top 5%.
ECs: Science Olympiad (tons and tons of hours into this... got a lot of awards), Web Design Club, Academic Team, NHS, Biology Tutoring, Irish Dancing, Summer Program Counselor/Instructor, random Robotics Club stuff involving a class at a community college.
Other Stuff: National Merit Commended Student, selected from NHS members to receive the Caltech Signature Award, scored either Summa or Maxima Cum Laude each year for National Latin Exam.
Essay: Created my own topic. Wrote on the people I've met and friendships I've formed through my science projects (and no, I didn't make it cliche and sappy).
Teacher recs: from my AP Euro teacher... I worked myself to the bone in that class junior year. He writes great recs and seems to enjoy my sense of humor and my work ethic. I also had him as a teacher freshman year.
Possible hooks?: Brother went to ND, sister is a senior there now. Not sure if that qualifies as "legacy," but I figure it couldn't hurt.</p>
<p>So there you go. And here's to hoping my decision comes tomorrow or else it'll be a long weekend!</p>