I know everyone says that being a legacy when applying to Notre Dame gives you a boost, but exactly how much of a boost? With an already competitive application, would it make your chances of admission much better?
“Much” is a subjective word. Difficult to answer. It’s not a shoo in, but it helps If you are already very competitive, it might not even have mattered. Two kids who got into ND EA from son’s school are not legacies, didn’t need the boost. The one who has legacy status that I know of, was deferred, but was not as strong as the two who were accepted, though still within the mid range and it would not have been an shocker had he been accepted. Clearly the legacy was not enough of a tip to get him in.
The AO’s phrase it like this: “we love to admit our legacies, but if there is a more qualified applicant, they will get the spot.” Technically, in their Common Data Set, it is ranked as being important (I believe, someone correct me if I am wrong). Notre Dame receives a HUGE endowment every year from alumni, so continuing so admit legacies does increase their chance of continuing to receive (and build) the endowment.
Yeah I know they make an effort to admit a certain percentage of legacies. In a recent article in Notre Dame’s magazine, they did say that there were some students at Notre Dame who wouldn’t have been admitted had they not been legacies. It’s just hard to determine how beneficial legacy status actually is to an applicant. If you had an overall good application with a 33 act (the median for ND) would the legacy status give you a decent chance of being admitted?
I’ve read that they like legacies because the yield rate is better with them. So, again, all things equal (or very close), a legacy would be a better bet for attendance. I don’t think a number can be placed on “how much” because there are so many other factors.
I agree with all the above posters. Legacy will give a boost but the overall application process is still “holistic” and many other factors play into the decision. Subjectivity and the regional readers can also make an impact
I hope it helps some, I feel like I’m somewhat competitive with a 34 ACT and a 3.92/4.15 gpa, but I’m hoping the fact that my mom went there will give me an extra boost. Guess we’ll see!
What qualifies as legacy? Does it have to be mom and dad or can it be grandparent, aunt or uncle or even cousin?
@MOMOF5TX I’ve been told that it is only a parent that qualifies you as a legacy, and anything after that is just additional but won’t boost you too much. I have my dad, two aunts and an uncle who went there, so really its only my dad which makes me a legacy
see this http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-notre-dame/1695973-legacy-benefit-p1.html.
@feartheENGR is right: Notre Dame only considers a parent legacy. Anything besides that will be a boost, but not in the same realm as a parent: for legacy statistics, they’re only referring to students who had one or two parents who attended. Not sure how grad school/ PHD calculates into it.
At Notre dame admissions briefing I believe I heard the admissions officer say that the admit rate for legacies is 20 percent higher. that is a huge boost. Good luck!
Yes I heard it was something like that as well. Somewhere between 20 to 25 percent of the incoming class will be legacies. Thank you too! @Wje9164be