<p>A friend told me today that she didn't apply early action because it was for students with incredibly high SAT scores and that there was a much lower chance of getting in. I applied early action...with a 1340/2020 and I'm freaking out because I think I just crushed my chances of being accepted. </p>
<p>27th out of over 380 students
Unweighted GPA - 3.89
Weighted GPA- 4.92
SAT (700 CR 640 M 680 W)
Secretary of National Honor Society (2 years)
Spanish Honor Society (2 years)
Green Group (2 years)
Key Club (2 years)
Varsity Tennis (1 year)
Varsity Cross-Country (2 years and captain this year)
Varsity Track (1 year)
Student of the Month (3 times)
English Student of the Year</p>
<p>I think my essays were very strong and I had two letters of recommendation. Does anyone still think I have a shot? Could I get deferred to regular decision? I am soooo mad at myself for appying early action now. :/</p>
<p>Yeah, I definitely think you have a chance. Don’t worry, your SAT is fine. I applied early too, and my stats are somewhat similar. I think we both have really good shots!! Good luck!</p>
<p>I pulled up the online chat (Prospective Student Chat 2008-2009) from last year that applicants were able to participate in with an ND Admissions representative and this is what she stated about Early Action:</p>
<p>“Early Action at Notre Dame is very competitive. We generally recommend Early Action to students who have a very strong academic profile: At or near the top of their class (top 1-2%) and a 1470+ (out of 1600) on the SAT or a 33+ on the ACT. The students non-academic profile should be just as strong. Any student can apply Early Action, they just need to be aware that it is more competitive for admission.”</p>
<p>“We are more conservative when we review our EA applicants as we only receive a small portion of our applications at that time and we do not want to fill our class with only EA applicants - we want to give everyone a fair chance. For that reason, only the students who are clearly admissible are admitted, only those who are clearly not admissible are denied, and the middle group is deferred to RA.”</p>
<p>She also stated:
“We’ll look at your entire transcript while reviewing your application. We’ll see both your weighted and unweighted, but we’ll take everything (rigor of courses, standardized tests, extracurricular activities, recommendations, and personal statements) into account.”</p>
<p>I know several people at my school who have been accepted to Notre Dame EA in the last 2 years with ACT/SAT scores and a class rank that were not at the top of the applicant pool so there is still hope if you are not an academic superstar.</p>
<p>As a senior who is going through the application process for the first time, I would never “chance” anyone because I don’t feel that I have the knowledge or the experience to do so.</p>
<p>But I would be realistic.</p>
<p>There have been many threads in this forum regarding the fact that Notre Dame places significant emphasis on standardized test scores. Yes, there are always going to be “stories” about other students who were admitted with lower than usual ACT or SAT scores but that is the exception, not the norm. It is stressed that Early Action applicants should have fairly high test scores as it is a rather small yet competitive pool of applicants. Notre Dame does look at the “whole package” but from what I have researched and read, the standardized test scores seem to be a very important part of the picture.</p>
<p>Good Luck to everyone. I hope it works out for all of you!</p>
<p>leoti, I realize that there are anomalies in the college admissions process and that the results of these should not be generalized to the entire applicant pool, but when I say that several people from my school with “modest” scores who have been accepted, I mean 15+ (and I know probably another 10 at surrounding schools). I think that this is a large enough group to give the OP hope at the very least.</p>
<p>I am not trying to take away hope from the OP. I just think that she should know the facts.</p>
<p>Interesting that you would remember the scores of 25 students in your school and surrounding area that were accepted into ND - that is your “story”. I just stated the facts.</p>
<p>I don’t want to go “back and forth” with you. I just know that when I ask a question on this forum, I would rather be presented with the objective facts than a subjective story. But that is just me - I just don’t feel that I am in the position to give anyone any kind of hope one way or the other (be it real or false). But if one chooses to gain hope from reading other people’s stories, then that is their choice and I really hope that it works out for them.</p>
<p>also not trying to start debate, but i’m thinking chance threads help alleviate peoples’ fears by providing them with hope whether it be real or fake… because we don’t know anything about admissions anyway</p>
<p>i just thought of something interesting, do people ususally come back to their chance threads and say if they got in or not? that could be interesting to see</p>
<p>The problem with these “chance” threads are that many of the posters giving “advice” are high school seniors just like you - they don’t have the experience or knowledge of the admissions process as they are in the same position as the poster who is asking to be “chanced”. And many of these posters aren’t even consistent with their advice. If one plans on using these “chance” threads to “alleviate their fears”, then they should look at the posters other posts to see if he/she is knowledgeable with that certain college.</p>
<p>Do you really want your fears to be alleviated by false hope??</p>
<p>This post was posted to this forum back in August 26, 2008 under “Informed Opinions” -
I thought that it applied to this thread. The poster, Irish68178, makes many very good points regarding the “chance me” threads.</p>