Notre Dame Class of 2020 here. Pleas post any questions--would love to help!

@Ruby789 Good tip! If freshmen move in on Friday, do most parents leave that same day or the next? I would assume parents don’t stay the entire Welcome Weekend.

@sdteak: I think most parents stay until Sunday. There’s a lot to do. Usually there are several trips to move in, and there are things going on. This past fall students started sleeping at the dorm the first night, and have their activities, and the parent can attend seminars on Saturday morning while the students attended the Moreau sessions. Then there were the college talks in the afternoon, which most students attend with their parents.

I think the parent talks on Saturday morning were extremely helpful. The one I thought was most helpful to us was the career center talk. Notre Dame is known for having one of the best career centers, but Freshmen and their parents have so many other things to think about, they don’t really look into that.

A lot of parents stay for mass on Sunday morning. Because we were moving two students in we stayed until Monday, but I think most parents leave Sunday. We left Sunday when we only had one student to move in.

Good to know!

Mom of two ND kids chiming in here…Definitely plan to stay for Orientation though Sunday. There is a welcome Mass that is not to be missed (even if not Catholic! seriously!) It is just beautiful. Right after the Mass is a welcome Notre Dame that includes the band and cheerleaders~SO fun! Honestly, it is a great weekend for the whole family. Feel free to ask any “parent questions” here too. Happy to help!

Current junior science major just addressing a few things I read (and I’m also happy to answer any questions).

@Darude I live in Zahm and people will party hard Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, but it is really there is you want it, but easy to avoid if it isn’t you’re scene. People either go to dorm parties, off campus house parties 9usually more upperclassmen, or bars/l

@sdteak Science classes start large but get much smaller and the preprofessional community is remarkably collaborative (I would argue ND is the most collaborative school of any top institution). You always have people to study with, work with, and help you if you need it. The classes can get hard (like organic chemistry) but it really isn’t cut throat at all.

As for the political climate on campus, it is more liberal than you would expect, but still conservative relative to other universities. Our college democrat and republican clubs held a mock election and Hillary got about 55% of the vote, Trump got about 30% and Gary Johnson got most of the rest. It’s nice though because there are people who are incredibly liberal and others who are incredibly conservative, so you can really get a diversity of perspectives on different political issues.

Also no one has mentioned this yet, but our football culture really fosters a unique level of school spirit that I haven’t found at any other school I visited. And football games are super fun in the student section.

Thanks to everyone who has replied. We are going to visit soon and my D18 is very excited! This will be her first visit to ND. She is deciding between it and a great Big 10 university. I’m afraid we are caught in the donut hole for financial aid. This decision is not easy!

@sdteak If that great big ten university is Michigan I can imagine your choice will be pretty easy. One of the schools is incredible and the other sucks.

@picklechicken37 the only thing I would note on your previous comment is that the diversity of perspectives on political issues does not apply to abortion.

@silverdrop I disagree. ND has a lot more pro-life students that the average college campus, but there are also many pro-choice students as well. I would estimate its roughly 50/50.

@Darude At Cornell there are bike racks outside most buildings. I have not visited ND yet but I plan to if I get accepted. I was wondering if I should take my bmx with me or leave it in order to preserve it from rust in the snow. Or are there bike racks inside the buildings? Do any students even bike, or are the buildings close enough to just hoof it. This is regarding the computer engineering track.

@reformedman Bike racks are outside. Bikes are very useful, especially for getting to the other side of campus. I’d say probably half of students have bikes. I definitely would recommend bringing a not as nice bike because bikes can get pretty trashed being outside the whole time.

Good idea, I’d hate to get the mongoose ruined. A trashy craiglist bike from the area for $20 would be a better deal. Thanks

How are classes like? Like do teachers honestly truly care about you? Also, I am constantly seeing how students that were accepted have like outrageous EC, and excellent awards. Is that really necessary to get accepted?? How was your acceptance profile like, if I may know? Thanks!

Professors REALLY care about their students. ND is one of the few schools that have next to no TAs teaching classes. I firmly believe TA teaching is ruining higher ed!

My ECs and grades were all pretty good, nothing outrageous.

@Ruby789 @irishcali This is a relief to hear about orientation. We just returned from an Accepted Students weekend and were a little let down. I think our expectations were too high, we have heard so many great things about the welcoming, family, fun community, yet we did not experience that. It was panel discussion after panel discussion. He is actually slightly LESS excited and I am way more nervous.

momnerves that would be great feedback for ND to hear.

@sassymon You are right and I did let them know.

@momnerves: I’m sorry to hear you didn’t see what you hoped at the accepted students weekend. I have to admit my kids didn’t go to those. Both visited campus and did an overnight with a student. Because there are (according to D1)a shortage of science students who can host overnights, D1stayed with a poly sci student. She had a great visit, but the classes she attended with the student didn’t give her a feel for the academics. She almost attended another university because of it. But, the community aspects she encountered on that visit were what swayed her to ND. In a way, her experience was the opposite of yours.

Here’s something else. I was recently on campus for a mom’s weekend. Some of the moms were talking about how at fall break some of their freshmen weren’t sure about their decision to go to ND. As with many students everywhere, they were missing family and friends from home, and hadn’t solidified their friendships at ND yet. But by the end of the first semester, that had changed, and they all had found good friends and felt they belonged. I think the reputation of community and family at ND is justified, but it might be a month or two to get there for freshmen. Going to college, especially going away to college is a big change for kids. The best thing to do is make the most of the orientation social activities, and go to the club and activity fair, and join in some clubs! That will definitely speed up the process of adjusting.

All I can tell you is that both my kids absolutely love ND. My oldest is graduating in a few weeks. She would tell you that the ND family is the best in the world. Feel free to PM me if you want on any of this.

@darude @anttiniemi : Do you think me being a Catholic will have a significant affect on my application? I am really involved in my church right now and I am wondering if I should become more involved in order to help my application?

how would you describe the attitude of the average ND student