Notre Dame admissions surpassing enrollment goals despite coronavirus concern

"The coronavirus has changed many aspects of our lives including how students get a college education.

Students across the country are finishing the semester online, and that’s raised questions about the fall semester and how many students will enroll.

We are looking into how Notre Dame is doing. The university says it’s actually above some of its goals.

Notre Dame admissions say in recent years the goal is to enroll 2,050 freshmen and deposits right now are above that. They also say the academic caliber of the group is ‘higher than the year before.’

But coronavirus has changed aspects of the admission process and forced the school to make tough financial decisions." …

https://wsbt.com/news/local/notre-dame-admissions-surpassing-enrollment-goals-despite-coronavirus-concern

Of course! It’s Notre Dame! Top schools won’t have a problem Covid19 or not.

In a word, what is the first thought that comes to mind when meeting a Notre Dame student or alum ?

My first thought in a word = ethical.

While this is very good news in general, it might well be bad news for some of the students on the waiting list. The hope in this respect was that there will be more movement > 125 students this year.

Also, “(Bishop) says so far 11 students have asked to defer admission and he doesn’t expect a lot more”.
This number would be more or less in line with previous years - there seems to be a lot of unfounded hype in the press.

Notre Dame also benefits this year from things that limited them in some other years. Small small city. More rural. And Indiana.

I think they are big pluses now.

@hpsca @Dave_Berry It sure seems like Notre Dame has had to go to its wait list significantly more this year than in prior years.

Notre Dame accepted 3,507 students out of 21,270 applicants for this year’s cycle, per the student newspaper. According to the story linked above, it says that ND now expects to accept close to 3,800 students this year, meaning that roughly 300 more students (give or take) will get accepted off the waitlist.

Per the last 3 Common Data Submissions, ND accepted a total of 96, 20, and 108 applicants, respectively, off the waitlist in 2017-18, 2018-19, and 2019-2020.

If we assume that ND likes to fill the last ~ 100 or so slots in its 2,050-person incoming class using the waitlist, it suggests that ND has had to almost triple its usage of the waitlist this year to fill out the class.

I’m sure that’s better than a lot of other colleges are doing right now with all this Covid uncertainty, but it certainly helps explain why ND started making calls to students on the waitlist even before the 5/1 confirmation deadline had passed this year.

@GeronimoAlpaca Yes I agree, presuming that the effective yield for students from the waiting list may be somewhat below standard REA and RD yields, Notre Dame will need to admit a higher number of students from the waiting list and provide them with Financial Aid packages etc. It might well be possible that they may have to go up to 300+ additional admissions from the waiting list, however I would think that a careful selection of those students might bring the number down to 250 or so, which still will be noticeably above previous years. There is no doubt that the Office of Undergraduate Admissions will increase the number of offered spots gradually, based on effective yield outcomes for students admitted from the waiting list this year, the reason this process will take time to complete. An additional consideration will be the possibly slightly higher “summer melt”, given current circumstances.

Their president mingled and photographed with students without mask or distancing in August.

He attended Supreme Court justice nomination ceremony in September, without mask or social distancing, even shook hands.

He caught Coronavirus in October, my sympathies but lack of caution may have helped.

Is this providing a good example of personal responsibility to students or leading faculty and staff by example?

While colleges are suspending and rescinding young students whose decision making abilities aren’t fully developed then shouldn’t there be some consequences for mature leaders as well?

@1Rubin - we all fall short, even priests who are university presidents. He was tested prior to the ceremony at the WH. Everyone was supposed to be. In that situation, would you wear a mask. I wouldn’t. It was outside. It was not “distanced”, so that is my only knock. The “optics” are being blown out. In the cancel culture, one or even two mistakes is it, you must go. I disagree.

My point is administrative hypocrisy, not human fallibility. Why hold students accountable when enforcers themselves repeatedly undermine the rules.

While D was taking her SAT in a HS in South Bend on 8/29, we took the opportunity to drive/walk through the Notre Dame campus. I don’t think we saw a single mask, except for our own.
We took it as an example of personal and religious beliefs influencing the COVID (in)actions. Not necessary being anti-science but the firm conviction that it is all in God’s hands and our small silly human efforts, like masks, are almost offensive to Him. With this kind of a mindset, infections don’t change anything.

To me it sounds like an odd reaction to your limited observation of the campus.

But it does remind me of this: A town was experiencing an extended period of heavy rains producing floods. The rising waters chased the priest from the local church to the top of the steps of the church. Volunteers came by in a boat begging the priest to hop in to be taken to safety. The priest declined saying he was confident his Lord would save him. The priest fled to the roof of the church as the rains continued and the flood waters kept rising. Another boat of volunteers begged and pleaded with the priest to hop into the boat. But again the priest declined confidently stating that the Savior would save him. Next day the priest had to scramble to the top of the church steeple to avoid the still rising flood waters. This time a helicopter came by begging him to grab ahold of the ladder to be taken to safety. But again the priest refused saying that God would save him. Waters kept rising and the priest drowned. He gets up to the pearly gates and asks God, "Why did you make me look like such a fool? I had confidence you would save me but instead you made me look like an idiot. God’s response “Well, I sent two boats and a helicopter.”

@ArtsyKidDad In late Aug, that was during the “surge” in terms of student infections which led to early Sept switch to remote class for undergrads for 2 weeks. There had been a more “cavalier” attitude about social distancing at that point, before the switch to virtual class. After students returned to in-person class, we’ve heard through our ND friends that masking is pretty much 100%, even on trails back by the Lakes etc.

That’s why Father Jenkins’ decision not to mask, and not to social distance at the White House was so shocking – because the entire community has bought into the mask and social distance protocol in order to stay in-person.

I’m surprised given all the bad press about ND recently. Inviting Bill Barr to come speak. Amy Coney Barrett, her involvement in People of Praise and signing a pro-life statement. Lou Holtz ranting about Joe Biden. Rev. Jenkins contracting Covid in a “do as I say, not as I do” moment at the Rose Garden. The gold dome seems fairly tarnished these days.

This is a whopper of a conclusion to draw. Just curious how you came by it? Did you interview all the students you saw? Any of them? Or is this just your assumption?

Yes, I would wear a mask, even outdoors, I don’t care who has or hasn’t been tested. These tests are not the most accurate and being in close quarters with a hundred people, none wearing masks or social distancing, during a pandemic is foolish IMO.

Remember, this virus doesn’t discriminate, if you are human you might catch it even if you are the President of the U.S. or the President of Notre Dame. You would think our leaders would now this by now (6 months in)?

LOL I am familiar with one sophomore at ND and I can assure you you made the wrong assumption about him, his friends and the faculty he interacts with. Were you observing people outside and more than 6 feet from each other? When we dropped off said sophomore in early August every person we saw inside and many we saw outside even distant from others were wearing masks. ND’s positive cases have been mostly in the single digits for the past few weeks. They have in person classes. Only students, faculty and staff are allowed at football games.And they are doing a fantastic job of coming up with ways for the students to safely enjoy socializing and activities without having to leave the campus bubble. The president’s poor decision especially in the wake of the expectations placed on the students is another matter and I won’t comment on that.

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@hillybean - Bad press? lol. That’s a matter of perspective and depends on which press you read and what you believe. “Tarnish” is in the eye of the beholder. Plenty of us think the Golden Dome is looking as shiny as ever

It’s a mess.