<p>Notre Dame's acceptance rate is obviously low, and I'd be remiss to ignore that it is hard to get into. With that said though, is the acceptance rate somewhat skewed by applicants who know they aren't qualified but apply anyway? My school, for example, has a lot of "T-shirt Notre Dame fans" who would never get in, but apply because they love the sports and spirit. My question is really this: are only 21% of qualified, well rounded students accepted, or is it more like 35-45% of qualified, well rounded students? </p>
<p>It would seem that all elite colleges suffer from this same phenomena, especially since the common app makes it easy to apply to any school with very little extra effort. ND put out an interesting set of stats in April, see link, with more in depth information than I’ve seen elsewhere. It might help you to understand what constitutes a qualified applicant at ND. I agree with you that elite schools probably have a lot of students apply that never had a shot at getting in, but I don’t believe we will ever know to what extent.</p>
<p>Another issue with elite schools is that they tend to not look for well rounded students these days. They look for students that are elite in a particular area and take all of these uniquely gifted kids to make a well rounded class.</p>
<p><a href=“‘A more qualified pool than ever before’ // The Observer”>http://ndsmcobserver.com/2014/04/qualified-pool-ever/</a></p>
<p>It’s complicated. While there are certainly some weak applicants who will seemingly skew the average in one direction, Notre Dame’s help given to legacies, athletes and other special cases likely evens that out. Something I did hear, however, was that students in the mid fifty percent, so those with a 33-34 act and who are top 4-7 percent of their class, had about a fifty percent acceptance rate. These are still students who are varsity athletes, considering 75 percent of Notre Dame’s students were while they were in high school, and students with significant leadership experience. Besides the link that knight linked above I’d look at the 2018 results thread to see some more cases.</p>
<p>So does not being a varsity athlete decrease your chances?</p>
<p>No: not everyone is an athlete. However, at a school like notre dame, they expect you to have a major time commitment like varsity athletics. Another misconception is they aren’t looking for well rounded students: they’re looking for students who excel in something. A student who fits in the mid fifty percentile but doesn’t have anything spectacular is a less qualified applicant compared to someone who excels in something but may be shy of that mid fifty</p>
<p>Most people I know that go here excel in some form or another outside of the classroom while also doing exceptionally well in school. There is no secret formula for getting in; just be yourself and if you don’t get in it is not the place for you. </p>
<p>To better address your question, a large portion of the applicant pool could be accepted based on their academic achievements. This article may help answer your question as well: <a href=“‘A more qualified pool than ever before’ // The Observer”>http://ndsmcobserver.com/2014/04/qualified-pool-ever/</a> </p>