Is ND a good fit for me?

Aside from all of the chance me stuff (which, if you’re curious 35 ACT 4.0, 5 languages and some good ec’s), some people have said that other schools like UChicago would be a better fit for me, so I’m looking for some input. The main reasons ND sounds attractive to me are I’m a practicing Catholic (but I went to public school since I live in the country), it’s obviously a great finance school, it’s in a (comparatively) smaller town, and they have an epic culture, which I’m used to since I’m from Nebraska. I get that the last two are more minutiae-ish but anyway what’s your input?

P.S. On the ND website, it says they consider your high school. Does that mean better grads from better high schools get brownie points with everything else equal or vice versa?

Thanks

@TheJohnboi Mendoza runs a first class undergraduate business program - both Finance and Accounting, together with several other majors, are simply outstanding.

By all means, if you are interested in Notre Dame you defintely should apply, your GPA, test scores and softs seem to be in the right ballpark. PS: you will not be at any disadvantage hailing from a public high school - check out Naviance, if available, or other data of your high school on past admissions to highly selective colleges and universities. Ultimately, you will only be able to find out for sure if you apply. Best of luck and success!

I would agree completely with what hpcsa has noted. You can’t control your high school. Your performance will be evaluated in light of the curriculum that was made available to you at that high school - not against what others may have been offered elsewhere. You can’t do better than a 4.0 (assume unweighted), and hopefully you have taken whatever AP/Honors courses are available.

Two closings thoughts:

  1. Notre Dame’s “epic culture” and strong community are not in any way “minutiae-ish”. It is often the very reason students choose to attend ND over other comparable academic schools. There are plenty of good schools out there, but precious few (if any) that exhibit the strong community of Notre Dame.
  2. Your question was about “fit”. I would observe (personally) that from a “fit perspective”, it would be hard to find two schools so different in terms of fit than University of Chicago and Notre Dame (though both are great schools). Five minutes on each campus would probably confirm this - which suggests that it would be ideal to visit Notre Dame, UofC and other schools before you apply - if possible. Not only will it help you decide where you want to apply, but you will be better prepared to make a case as to why you would be a good fit at the school.

I would definitely recommend visiting both schools, but it sounds like Notre Dame would be up your alley. The Catholic culture and midwest vibe are prominent so if that’s your thing then ND would be a good fit. I also had identical stats (minus the 5 languages) so you have a great shot of getting accepted as well.

We just toured both schools and I would say apply to both. If you mark that you are interested in financial aid from U of C there is no application fee. So what do you have to lose? Both campuses were absolutely amazing in different ways. We discussed the difference being do you want a cultural or collegiate experience. Neither is wrong and both are amazing options.

Won’t a student from Nebraska be a plus at colleges? Schools like to say students accepted from every state. You have amazing stats and five languages.

@3sonsmom Notre Dame’s regional undergraduate student foot print and geographic break down is pretty balanced:

East - 24%
South - 14%
Central Midwest (MI,OH, IN, WV) - 19%
Midwest - 15%
Southwest - 6%
West - 14%
Outside of U.S. States - 8%.

Hailing from Nebraska therefore won’t be a plus per se, given the strong respresentation from the Midwest including the State of Nebraska, however it won’t be an disadvantage neither. OP should check out Naviance, if available, or other data of her/his high school on past admissions to highly selective colleges and universities, which possibly might provide additional insights.

An app coming to ND from Nebraska is going to be more rare than one coming from Chicago-land, IL. But to make a meaningful difference in your chances, you probably need to move to Wyoming, North Dakota or maybe Alaska.

Honestly, I wouldn’t be opposed to moving to Wyoming, but that ain’t happening. Also, I would check out Naviance, but I can guarantee you all that no one from my school has gone to ND, because it is one of those small rural ones.

I think the reference to ‘considering your hs’ is directed more to the Catholic high schools giving a bump. I know quite a few kids who went to ND and most of them came from Catholic hs.

@TheJohnboi I guess Wyoming suggestion was tongue in cheek. Naviance recommendation meant to suggest a review of past admissions to any highly selective college or university, not limited to the University of Notre Dame of course. You had mentioned the University of Chicago in your initial posting, for example, or any other T-50 public or private U or LAC? Ultimately, you will only be able to find out for yourself if you apply and give it your best shot. Best of luck!

@twoinanddone In fact, only about 40% of students who attend Notre Dame come from Catholic high schools…with about 40% attending public schools and 20% attending private schools. So not sure about the “bump”, though some of these Catholic schools are likely major feeder schools for Notre Dame.

Most selective colleges will consider the high school you’ve come from. What they mean by this is that your class standing or rank and GPA mean something different if you are attending a highly competitive HS that offers 20+ AP’s and from which 90% of students matriculate to 4 year schools vs. if you attended a smaller HS with limited higher level courses and fellow students that do not matriculate to 4 year schools in great numbers. If you attend a Catholic HS, particularly one that has a track record of sending students to ND, that has to help as well. We live in a Chicago suburb and “Benet Academy” in Lisle, IL is a good example of this type of HS.

There are definitely Notre Dame feeder schools. Having said that, ND won’t discard an applicant just because the Admissions folks don’t know anything about a student’s high school. Your Guidance Counselor’s high school profile sheet will need to really outline the strengths of your school. If need be, the GC can call Admissions to provide additional information.

There are schools in the area that send a ton of kids to ND so that is probably what they mean by “consider your high school”. That being said, your high school definitely wont lose you any points so i would not worry about it at all. I came from a public school that never sent a kid to ND before and I got in so it cant be that big of a factor.