<p>Notre Dame has always been my dream and I want to do everything I can to get in. I'm a junior this year and I will be applying next fall so I would greatly appreciate some feedback on my stats! I'm not a legacy and I don't play a sport so I'm worried that might hurt my chances a little. Here are the stats:</p>
<p>Academics:
-96.58 unweighted GPA
-101.05 weighted GPA
-I just took the ACT and I'm still waiting for my scores. I'm taking a prep class for the SAT.
- I have 2 APs this year (Lang and US History) but I will be taking Calc AB, Bio or Environmental science, and Lit (unless I take college english, which is better?)
-I have 10 honors except 2 history classes because my school does not offer them in honors courses and spanish 2 but I moved up to honors spanish. </p>
<p>ECs:
-Summer swim team (freshman/sophomore year)
-FCA (freshman/sophomore year)
-Youth Group at church (participant for 2 years, now I'm a leader)
-National Beta Club
-National Art Honor Society
-National Spanish Honor Society
-Tutor for middle schoolers
-Mentor for freshmen
-yearbook staffer this year, hopefully I'll be an editor next year
-camp counselor at my church every summer</p>
<p>Extras:
-3 "VIP" awards in school
-Toshiba Exploravision technology contest qualifier
-National Spanish Exam gold medal winner</p>
<p>I think that's everything or most of it. What can I do to improve? I want my application to be as strong as it can be in terms of the ECs and Academics.</p>
<p>Don’t worry about not being a legacy - probably more than 90% of admitted freshmen aren’t legacies. Also, don’t worry about not being a varsity athlete - I would guess a significant number of admitted freshmen aren’t athletes.</p>
<p>However, it is not clear what you do with your time after school based on your EC list. Many non-athletes are musicians who have extensive resumes training and performing. Perhaps they work part-time jobs to support their families or even start new businesses. Another possible area of involvement is in service activities (starting grass roots organizations and spending hundreds of hours every year).</p>
<p>What is your passion? Figure this out then invest major amounts of time making an impact in your community. The advantage that athletes and musicians have is that it is easy to describe spending 20-30 hours per week on the activity outside of class. Other students certainly can have similar amounts of involvment, but they will usually need to be more descriptive to convey this to adcoms.</p>
<p>I have a ton of service hours, the youth group I’m a leader of is a few hours each week, tutoring middle schoolers is every week and I’ve done that for a few years now. I also am super involved in other things at my church. Would being an officer in the honor societies or some of the clubs next year help? Would getting a part time job also help? I just don’t want my grades to drop because of having a lot of activities. I go to a highly ranked and very competitive high school so I have to spend a lot of time doing school work.</p>
<p>Just this year alone, I’ll have 250 (it will probably end up being 300) hours of community service from just two of my activities, that’s not including extra events I volunteer at through different organizations. I have over 100 from my freshmen and sophomore year combined and I’ll have 250-300 next year.</p>
<p>Re: legacies. ND attempts to have approximately 25% of each freshman class made up of legacies. The legacies mirror the academic/test score/other qualifications of the class as a whole, so legacies are not admitted without regard to qualifications. It is better to be a legacy than not, but it is not an automatic “in.”</p>
<p>“I just don’t want my grades to drop because of having a lot of activities. I go to a highly ranked and very competitive high school so I have to spend a lot of time doing school work.”</p>
<p>@melr - Now you see why varisty athletes and accomplished musicians with solid grades and test scores have success in admissions. They are able to successfully balance their EC commitment with their school work despite heavy loads in both.</p>
<p>It is commendable that you are pushing yourself right up to the point that you feel that your grades would suffer. However, the most competitive candidates are able to push a bit further, either by investing more time in ECs (and having more of an impact) or taking more AP classes or other quantifiable activities.</p>
<p>Don’t worry about being able to list a number of hours for your service activities. Rather, be able to point to an accomplishment that clearly shows your commitment over a significant period of time. Sticking with the sports analogy, it is one thing to say that you have been a member of the track team for four years but another entirely to be captain/all-conference leader of the Regional champion.</p>
<p>Also, consider adding more rigor to your course load. An adcom from ND told me that most admitted students have about 5-7 AP classes. If you want to stand out, you will need more.</p>
<p>By the way, if you go to “a highly ranked and very competitive high school” then talk to your GC about what you will need to do. He will have a good idea based on other students who have applied to highly selective schools.</p>
<p>I forgot to write in the first post that I’ll also be in ap Spanish next year so I would have a total of 6 aps. I also have TAG classes at my school which are a level above honors. I’m only allowed to take one a year but i ended up with 2 this year so i have 4 of those classes. I don’t know if a lot of other schools have that or something similar with a different name.</p>
<p>I’ve been reading a lot of other posts and what I’ve been seeing is that loading too many ECs onto the application doesn’t look as good as only including the ones that really impact you which I’m assuming is no more that 8-9 (that’s just my guess, if anyone has applied or knows what a good number is, please let me know). Each thing I’m involved in is something that is important to me. I know that it’s hard to say what is really best unless your an admissions counselor, but what are some other opinions on that?</p>
<p>EC’s that show growth into leadership positions ie… worked on school newspaper, then wrote articles for same, then was sports editor, then overall editor. Another… played JV soccer, then varsity, then varsity starter, then team captain. GROWTH INTO LEADERSHIP!</p>
<p>I started as a participant in my churches youth group, now I’m a leader. I’m a yearbook staff writer this year and I will most likely be an editor next year or the business manager (my school’s yearbook is a big production like a business that has won national awards).</p>