<p>Hey all,</p>
<p>I've applied EA to ND with high hopes of not only getting into the school, but perhaps getting a H-Y scholarship. </p>
<p>Yet when I look at all the early admission forums from years past, I haven't seen an SAT below 2000, and it's kind of freaking me out. My application seems to parallel many parts of these EA admitted students, except the SAT. </p>
<p>My score was a 1960, (670 W 650 CR 640 M)</p>
<p>Should I be worried?</p>
<p>to be very honest your SAT is low. Writing does not matter so your SAT is basically 1290/1600. </p>
<p>ND Middle 50%
1370–1500 on the SAT</p>
<p>Im not familiar with the scholarships but I doubt you get in let alone a scholarship to be brutally honest…are you highly ranked in your class?</p>
<p>1st. I have very bad test anxiety. I know it’s a lame excuse, but it was the best I could do.
I’m also a legacy if that helps</p>
<p>well #1 and legacy are big hooks. Obviously you are smart and you never know what can happen</p>
<p>Thank you. I appreciate the opinion but now I can’t help but feel uneasy.</p>
<p>Any further advice would be fantastic.</p>
<p>Here is a clearer picture of who I am.</p>
<p>• Cumulative GPA of 99.79 unweighted
• Currently ranked 1st in class of 2013
• 28.25 earned credits thus far
• Current Total AP class grade 100.00 unweighted (Two in Junior Year, Three Senior Year)
• Passing grade on all AP tests taken( 3-AB Calc, 5-AP Language)
• All math courses taken one year early starting with Pre-Algebra in 6th grade (99.88 total grade)
• Advanced or AP English Classes taken all four years of high school (99.75 total grade)
• Three years of Spanish Language starting one year early in 8th grade (99.67 total grade)
• Variety of Choirs taken with exposure to multiple types of musical literature(100 total grade)
• Two year newspaper staff member (100 total grade)
• 1960 SAT Score (Reading 650, Math 640, Writing 670)
School
• Six Year member of Student Council (Middle and High School)
• Freshman Class President
• Junior Class Treasurer
• Seven Year Academic Games Participant (State Tournament Qualifier ’05, ’06, ’07, ’08, ’09, ’10, & ’11. National Tournament Qualifier in ’09 and ’10)
• Four Year member of TKMON(Show Choir) (2009,2010,2011,2012)
• Three Year Chamber Choir member(2009,2010,2011)
• Six Year Stage Crew member, Pro-Crew Achieved in Sophomore Year. Over 200+ Hours
• Five year musical participate, including leads in “Guys and Dolls” (Harry the Horse), “Into the Woods” (Rapunzel’s Prince), and “Seussical”(Gen. Schmitz)
• Senior Class Play “Rumors” lead role- “Ken”
• Four Year Homecoming Committee member(2009,2010,2011,2012)
• Three Year Student Football Game commentator/broadcaster(2009,2010,2011)
• Three Year member of Cross Country(2009,2010,2011)
• Choir Secretary (2011-2012)
• Choir Publicity Officer (2010-2011)
• Three Year Spanish Club member(2009,2010,2011)
• Three Year Honor’s Choir Festival Participant( 2010, 2011, 4th Chair Bass 1 2012)
• Two Year District Choir Participant (2010, 2012)
• Penn State Talent Search member
• Prom Committee (2011)
• Quest/Encore Program Participant
• Dual-Enrollment Participant (Current GPA 98.50, classes include Nutrition and Speech)
• National Junior Honor Society Vice-President
• English Festival Participant (2009)
• Newspaper Staff(’11-’12, ’12-’13)
• Regional Cross Country Qualifier (2011, 2012)
• Physics Club(2012)
Community Activities
• Area Community Theatre of Sharpsville Member (2012)
• Performed in A.C.T.S. Roger’s and Hammerstein Showcase(2012)
• Performed in Tara’s production of “Clue the Musical” as Prof. Plum (2011)
• Performed in Walnut Street Lodge’s production of “Rocker-Ella” as lead male Johnny Prince(2010)
• Performed in A.C.T.S. production of the opera “L’elixir d’amore” as a Soldier (2010)
Volunteer Work
• Offered fellowship at local campaign headquarters of Barack Obama
• Religious Education Aide with St. Joseph’s Church (2nd Grade, 2009-Present) 400+ hours
• Four Year Summer Bible School Volunteer at St. Joseph’s Church
Activities Co-Director for Summer Bible School 100+ hours
• St. Joseph’s Religious Education Retreat Volunteer
• Volunteer with West Hill Ministries After School Group 200+ hours
• 40+ Miscellaneous Volunteer Hours with the St. Joseph’s(Various tasks)
• 40+ Miscellaneous Volunteer Hours with West Hill Ministries(Various tasks)
Work Experience
• IT Assistant at Flynn’s Tire & Auto Service (2012-Present)
• Sales Associate at The Kitchen Shoppe (2009-2012)
Awards and Honors
• Harvard Prize Book recipient(2012)
• Rensselaer Medal Scholarship winner(2012)
• National Honor Society (2012)
• English Department Award (2010, 2011, 2012)
• Math Department Award (2010, 2012)
• Science Department Award (2010)
• History Department Award(2010 ,2011)
• Highest Honors with Distinction(2010, 2011, 2012)
• Academic Games Undefeated winner (Propaganda, Linguishtik-2009 & Propaganda, Equations-2010)
• Academic Games Excellence Award (2010, 2011)
• People-To-People Leadership Conference Nomination (2008, 2009, 2010, 2011)
• Sound of America Choir Nomination(2009, 2010)
• Shenango Valley Urban League Martin Luther King Jr. Poetry Contest 1st Place(2011)
• National Junior Honor Society (2009)
• National Society of High School Scholars Nomination(2012)
• Four Year Academic Letter Winner</p>
<p>Hopefully that paints a bit better picture.</p>
<p>Yes, you will be competitive in the applicant pool. Yes, your test scores are low and will hurt your application. I would agree with spambearpig that H-Y is unlikely, but admissions can be unpredictable. It also sounds to me that some of your credentials are optimistic estimates - a 99.8% unweighted average means that you missed only 1 out of every 500 available points for four years? 800+ hours of volunteer service on top of a varsity sport, many musical productions and other ECs? Every school is different so be sure to put these in context.</p>
<p>A bit of unsolicited advice - figure out a way to omit 80% or more of the information you listed here in your application. Delete all references to middle school. Drop anything that includes “member” or “participant” or otherwise sounds passive. Figure out what has been important to you and helps define you then emphasize your activities that highlight this.</p>
<p>Yeah, sorry that’s literally just my personal list of activities.</p>
<p>Reading through your ECs, I read a lot of repeats. As the other posters mentioned, try to eliminate repeats and activities from middle school. To be quite frank, it seems to me that you’re “hyping up your application.” How much did you really learn from being apart of all those clubs? If an admissions officer contacted you and asked you several questions regarding each activity, would you honestly be able to answer all of them with heartfelt responses? Consider that.</p>
<p>I agree with the remarks made by TPJrNY and rmldad. Your scores are low for ND. You need to contact your admissions rep. They will tell you whether or not you are a candidate for EA. EA candidates are typically the strongest of the applicant pool. H-Y applicants are usually nominated by their high school. My son, who is a freshman @ ND, has roughly 6 friends in the program; all 6 are extremely outstanding, both in terms of scores, leadership and service.
Good luck to you!</p>
<p>I’ve actually learned quite a bit about myself through many of these activities. I can elaborate on anyone you ask.</p>
<p>eliminate most of your extra curriculars. A padded resume will be rejected. I have visited many schools like Brown, Notre Dame, Northeastern, among some. The common opinion about extracurriculars is to only list the most important ones. Listing meaningless activities will only do you harm. Admission officers will look for a padded resume to reject. </p>
<p>I suggest eliminating EVERYTHING from middle school, no matter what. Then eliminate most of the high school stuff. Keep enough to show you are a leader, are well-rounded, and make a difference through dedication to things. If you just participated then eliminate it. </p>
<p>Admission officers will think that you are trying to embellish to get in. Even if you, your parents, friends, and teachers know you aren’t it does not matter. They decide if you are in and that is the only opinion that matters.</p>
<p>Personally I would not apply Early Action, Notre Dame is harder to get in EA unless you have a 1500+/1600 SAT</p>
<p>Is 2100 too low?</p>
<p>It really depends on your break, in a way. Notre Dame still focuses mainly on the math and critical reading sections, therefore those two being good scores are critical. With my SAT’s coming back yesterday, I got a 2170: 740 m, 740 cr, 690 writing. The 1480 is right around what would be considered a decent score for Notre Dame admission, from what I’ve read. So see what your two part score is, and go from there!</p>
<p>OP: I’ve always heard that Notre Dame does value the objective material quite a bit… but from your EC’s, maybe with some great essays… I don’t see why you wouldn’t have a chance, especially RD.</p>
<p>For the H-Y scholarship, a LOT rides on your counselor’s recommendation. When you met with your HS counselor to discuss this rec - did you get the sense that your counselor would be able to speak about you in all four areas of importance for the scholarship? If HS counselors are overwhelmed or not actively involved in student life at the school, that can make their recs a little too general and essentially put a student out of the running. Yes, your test scores are pretty low, but much also depends upon your counselor doing an outstanding job of presenting you to the committee.</p>