nd chances for a non-legacy, non-athlete white guy

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Notre Dame
1

<p>Hey I'm a senior in high school and I applied RD to notre dame...it would great if anyone could give me feedback to help ease the pain of waiting until april for a decision. but please be honest</p>

<p>SAT: 1440/2150 (M: 710, CR: 730, W: 710)
ACT: 30 (but i guess theyll just ignore it since my sat is higher)</p>

<p>Quick summary of high school grades (took nearly all honors and ap classes, 5 APs total):
Fr.-almost straight As
So.-straight Bs
Jr.- 1 A, 3 Bs in honors/AP classes: GPA 3.5(UW), 4.17(W)</p>

<p>Rank: 10th percentile (so barely top 10%) out of about 220 (Through Junior year)
...but maybe theres hope...</p>

<p>Senior year report card
________<strong><em>Qtr 1 Qtr 2
AP Calc BC</em></strong><strong>92(B) 94(A)<br>
AP English</strong><strong><em>93(A) 93(A)<br>
AP Gov</em></strong><em>95(A) 96(A)<br>
Honors Physics</em><em>90(B) 96(A)
Biomed _</em><strong><em>96(A) 95(A)
Religion</em></strong>____99(A) 95(A)</p>

<p>My school doesn’t calculate rank or official GPA until the end of the year but if they did, it would be 3.67(UW)/4.33(W) and 4.0/4.67 for each quarter respectively.
(I even wrote a note on my app about how ive had a "killer instinct" to achieve the pinnacle of academic success my senior year that hasnt exactly been there other years..)</p>

<p>ECs: Lettered varsity soccer (11), Environmental club(12), Pro-Life club(11), Intramural Basketball(9-12), NHS (11,12)</p>

<p>Leadership stuff: Lead a retreat for 1 week every summer(11, 12), represented my school through science fair competitions (9,10) (yes, i know its a stretch), invited to/attended a leadership workshop (10), nominated for National Youth Leadership Forum on Medicine (11)</p>

<p>Community Service: Majority of hours come from leading the retreats (50-60hrs per year), volunteer at local farm/nature preserve (11) (about 28 total hrs), other misc. service (20+ total hours)</p>

<p>Employment: Essentially a janitor at local parish (summer of jr yr., 9hrs/wk)</p>

<p>Awards: Various minor awards for science fair, service, etc.</p>

<p>Essays: very good but kinda long (650 and 580 words)</p>

<p>Also Important: (if you are still reading by now you are a saint) i wrote my supp about how i want to save the environment and how i love nature and i want to major in something science related etc. etc. but i only got a 26 on ACT in science and a 3 on the AP Bio exam...will this hurt me? but i did put environmental engineering as my official top major which might be more math-oriented</p>

<p>Thanks in advance
Also...im new to this website...why do people say "bump?"</p>

2

<p>People say “bump” because when there is a new posting it bumps your thread up to the top again. So if no one has been responding, getting back up to the most recent postings might get someone else to look at your question.</p>

3

<p>alright well thanks but it would also be nice to hear something about my chances…even if its just that it’s too hard to tell or you can just tell me i wrote too much so no ones actually reading it which is fine i can condense it</p>

4

<p>It is too hard to tell, in my opinion. Each year the class makeup is different depending on the needs of the school and the quality of applicant. Not to burst your bubble or anything, but these chances threads are really meaningless. There just really is no way of knowing–you can look at previous characteristics of classes and you can read what the general admissions standards are for the school. Ultimately, it is in the hands of admissions officers and just what they want in a particular student for a particular year. Sorry this isn’t much help or encouragement, but from what I have seen on these boards regarding admissions chances, I would have to say that most of what I’ve mentioned is pretty true to form. Good Luck to you!</p>

5

<p>I don’t think the fact that you didn’t score very high on your ACT science of your AP Bio will hurt you. I think your involvement in your parish and the Pro-Life club will make you a competitive applicant for ND. Your SATs are in a good range for RD, so I would say overall you have a fair chance of getting accepted!
Good luck!!</p>

6

<p>Good luck to you! I know the wait has to be tough. My son was admitted EA wtih ACT of 33, W GPA 4.5, UW GPA 3.9, 4-year 3-sport athlete, captain x3, with many clubs and leadership roles as well as teaching a rel ed class. I think his long-term commitment to his interests really helped. I think the thing that may hurt is the ACT but hopefully the SAT will help. I wish I could tell you more, but I will keep my fingers crossed for you.</p>

7

<p>The ACT science section has nothing to do with actual science. It is reading comprehension and critical thinking.</p>