Well everybody its finally here! After four years of losing soccer seasons, student government meetings, and probably five trips to the beND (at least for me), it is finally time to see what @NDAdmissions decides about us.
Good luck
Daughter just applied last night. Good luck to you as well!!!
@Itried2023 I hope you donāt mind me asking but what are your stats?
1460 sat
legacy and my sibling is a Senior
My resume is the strongest part of my apps with a ton of leadership/campus involvement (Student Gov., Eagle Scout, etcā¦) and Iām involved in a lot of service.
My ND essays are also really strongā¦ what ab you @HM0527 ?
@iTried2023 Daughter got a 32 ACT, over 300 quality service hours, leadership rolls at school (SADD, NHS and so forth) her essays rock. Yeah Iām her mom but I truly think theyāre really good. No real hook. Her father went to college but did not graduate so maybe thatāll be to her benefit? Sheāll also have excellent letters of rec. I have asked her to possibly take the ACT again but I think sheās just to the point of if she doesnāt get accepted due to a one point score change then sheās ok with that. 4.3 W 4.0 UW, all girl Catholic school. Sorry thatās a lot of info!! I wish you all the luck and sending positive vibes your way. If you have any advice I would love to hear it.
Hi, S19 is applying REA as well. Still working on one more essayā¦in the brainstorming stage. It is making me a little anxious 
He has wanted to go to ND since he was old enough to go to the football games with his dad. No legacy but his grandfather went, but I realize that doesnāt matter. (Is this worth mentioning somewhere though?)
His stats are excellent, but we know that is no guarantee! 36 ACT, 4.2 GPA, lots of service involving working with the poor and homeless and also heavy involvement with campus ministry and leading retreats. Catholic (Jesuit) high school. His school has an excellent track record of acceptances to ND according to Naviance, with 31% being accepted over 3 years (not enrolled). Filmmaker who has worked on projects for a non-profit and currently working on a documentary. Drama club, newspaper, 2 years of JV lacrosse. His strength is math science. Teacher who has agreed to write letter is known to write excellent letters of recommendation ā she has to turn down many studentsā requests because of her reputation. URM.
Good luck to everyone!
@WineLover Two years ago the application asked if you have grandparents that attended, and you could input their name and grad year. I donāt know if thatās still the case, just FYI
@WineLover looks to me your son has everything ND wants. Good luck to him!
@Winelover Iām no expert, but based on the posted stats Iād say your son is a strong applicant.
Iām posting to tell you that the Notre Dame Question section, within the Common App, has a Family subsection that will ask āHave any of your relatives ever attended the University of Notre Dame?ā I think every college has a similar question in their application.
ND is my top choice and I truly love the campus and kids. I wrote a really strong and interesting common app essay and wrote a personal special circumstances essay as well. I am really involved in leadership on campus (Executive Editor of Yearbook, Club President for 2 strong service clubs, volunteer at multiple organizations that I pour my heart into, am on a speaker panel advocating service in my community and go to a top ranked high school), I am mixed (swedish-chinese) and I am catholic. My biggest issue is that no matter how hard I try I have horrible anxiety regarding test taking. This has unfortunately impacted my endless efforts on the SAT (1310) and GPA (3.6). My teacher Rec. will indicate how hard I try within my academic life but Iām worried this will weigh me down significantly. I also want to point out that my GPA is mostly impacted by the rigor of my school (top 50 in U.S.) and my anxiety. Please give me tips on how I can add to my application to make me a more desirable applicant. Iāve also reached out to my regional admissions counselor and I am going to meet her next week. Thank you! Good luck to all!
@sam1712 I personally think your oersonal essay will show ND that there are certain reasons as to why some things on your app may not be ātypicalā of the usual applicant. Will your counselor note that in their letter of rec? I see that your teacher rec will. How are you meeting personally with your AO? I didnāt think they do that? Good luck to you!!! D applied REA as well so the wait is on.
Thank you to @LuvLABS @HM0527 and @waitingmomla for your input! I checked his application, and yes, he did indicate that his grandfather attended and graduated. He hit the submit button yesterday. So relieved but very excited! I do think he has some strong essays, so feeling hopeful and somewhat confident 
@HM0527, maybe the poster above means that he or she will meet the AO on a school visit. Our state AO came to our high school and I met her then. It wasnāt a personal meeting or interview, just a āhelloā in a group setting.
@sam1712 One possible outcome of your ND REA application is that Admissions, based on your GPA/SAT and strong Essays/other qualitative information, may defer your application to be reviewed together with the RD applicant pool. Please be not surprised or discouraged should this occur, as this would not necessarily be a negative outcome, given the above situation. ND REA is incredibly competitive and, while you can not change your application strategy now, it might have been advisable to apply RD, depending on your other personal circumstances. Best of luck either way!
@hpcsa IYHO do you think my D could email her AO and ask if he would like to see her first quarter grades? I know they usually donāt ask for midterm grades unless you are deferred or accepted but we thought this may show how dedicated she is to her academic path still.
?
@HM0527 Many high schools automatically send first quarter grades to all ED and EA schools that students have applied to, then first and second quarter grades to all RD schools. Please check, as you would not want to duplicate already submitted information.
Otherwise ND Admissions would suggest that for REA applications first quarter grades are not required, yet that the student certainly can send them in if they add additional information, relevant to her/his application. In this case, I would suggest for your daughter to send in her first quarter grades in support of her application, without asking first, and to take the opportunity to re-emphasize to her AO her strong interest and commitment to Notre Dame. Best of success to your daughter and your family!
@hpcsa great advice!!! just so Iām clear (sorry college apps and communication with them is new to us) send without asking and following it up with āmy grades should reflect my dedication still to my studiesā blah blah blah?? She has a 4.0 and 4.3W her math ACT is low (28) she is retaking the ACT on the 27th hoping for a higher score to superscore but her first qtr grade are all Aās with the lowest percent being a 97 in APGOV. She was just thinking with getting a 100% APCALC this quarter it would show her dedication. Whoa sorry for all the infoā¦I appreciate any advice.
@HM0527 Congratulations to your daughter, yes it would be great to get the ACT Math score up, if it will come in time for the REA decision. It is one reason we tend to recommend ND RD for students who have a realistic opportunity to further strengthen their application. In terms of my earlier suggestion: if the high school counselor sends in your daughterās official first quarter grades, all is good and I would probably leave it at that. If the school wonāt, then I would scan in the document from her school with the grades on it (which will make them āunofficialā yet this is ok) and have your daughter write a brief cover e-mail with the reason for the e-mail and, as suggested above, her commitment to Notre Dame, while emphasizing how she will seek to effectively contribute to the ND community. It so happens that our daughter is a sophomore at ND and we therefore were in your shoes as parents two years ago. Again, very best of luck!
@hpcsa Itās so nice to get some āreal genuineā advice from other parents. Her score will definitely be in on time. D said she will talk to her HS counselor tomorrow about sending them in. She did a Host Day a couple weeks ago and that solidified her desire to be Irish. Congrats to you D and I wish her all the success.