Reading through threads has made me question how holistic admission to notre dame is. It seems like they only really care about numbers and legacy… is this true?? Can really good ec and essays help or are you a done case if you don’t have a 4.0 and 36 act?
Yes, it is holistic. I had a 4.0/4.65 (I think that’s what my weighted was), but a 1440 SAT and still got in. I spent a lot of time on essays and was very involved in a bunch of EC’s. I’m not a legacy either.
Given Notre Dame’s acceptance rate and GPA/test score ranges among admits, the incontrovertible answer is: yes, Notre Dame is holistic.
What you may mean to ask is, “Relative to other selective schools, how holistic is Notre Dame?”
I think we can all agree that the top 20 or so private universities and top 10-15 LACs receive enough applications from top applicants to all report average admit GPAs of 3.9+ and 1500+/34+ – yet not all do.
I think the following statements are plausible:
- If test score and GPA averages are relatively high given the admit percentage -- relatively high stats, relatively high admit % -- I think you can say that a school is relatively less holistic. Examples may include WUSTL and Caltech.
- If test score and GPA averages are relatively low given the admit percentage -- lower stats and low admit % -- I think you can say a school is relatively more holistic. Examples may include Stanford and Columbia.
Sure ND is holistic.
But you can read the numbers to suggest that ND is less holistic than some schools ranked higher than ND. ND’s 33-35 ACT range is in most cases higher than the schools ranked above it. Which would tend to suggest that ND values test scores a bit more.
Ok thanks!