@FRM1617 I believe that you and the others you quote are right. The second email in the beginning of November said your application is complete and to expect an email notification when decisions are released.
It is fair to say that the next email should be expected next Wednesday or a little later with the moment of truth 
@Winelover My daughter is currently a sophomore at ND and your sonās stats blow hers out of the water. Is that a saying? You have NOTHING to worry about. She had 33 ACT and 101 weighted GPA. Her essay was meh. Both parents college grads, non-legacy. Good luck. I am sure you will be posting good news here soon!
Thank you @shotsy34 for that vote of confidence. I do hope you are right. I donāt like counting chickens before they hatch though! And looking back at the old threads, there were some applicants with very high stats denied. So we are sitting tight and hoping for the best just like everyone else. Congrats to your daughter. Does she just love being there?
OK, based on what @RFM1617 posted, I believe our next communication WILL be the email saying decisions are posted. So in that sense, it could be anytime. I guess we will all be checking the portals at 6:42 every day next week. I hope each and every one of you has good news! This has been a great thread with positive and supportive messages. It makes me want my son to be a part of this community even more. Enjoy your weekend everyone!
They did not have a portal to view when I was accepted 2 years ago on 12/10/2016. So we received an email the week before with portal instructions.
Now there is a portal for all applicants to check. Perhaps they are just going to send an email saying decisions are released as there is no need to set up a portal the week before.
Good luck to all
12/12/2016 I meant to say
Is there a link to the applicant portal? Iām not sure my daughter is aware of how to access it. She told me she got an email telling her that her application was complete. Thanks!
To clarify, Iām not sure my daughter has ever accessed the applicant portal because she was notified by email when she was told in early November that her application was complete. How would she access the applicant portal? How would she get a username and password? Thanks!
@katrina1 I received an email on Nov. 2 at 8PM with the subject heading āND has received your applicationā and in that email were a link to portal and instructions to set it up.
I got an email on November 3 with my portal information. I have had one set up for a couple weeks now. However, one of my best friends never got this email to start with. Iām not sure if it was a mistake that I got my portal or a mistake the he didnāt.
My daughter received notification her application had been received and instructions for the portal on September 24. I think you may receive an email relative to when you applied. This is what that part of the email said -
āPlease click on Your Applicant Status Portal link and enter your PIN. You will then be directed to create a secure password for your use on your Applicant Status Portal.ā
Then on November 5th she received an email that said, in part -
āWe are pleased to share that your application is complete and ready for review by the Committee on Admissions.ā
That email goes on to say that she will receive an email when decisions are released.
Very helpful! I will check with her. Thanks!!!
I personally think the previous ND Admission decision process has been advantageous: the announcement e-mail with portal access information started the countdown and students received a reminder on how to access their admission decision a few days before the announcement. Now, admission decisions may come any day next week (time is set), between Monday and Friday, and possibly will result in confusion with students who either never received their portal information or may have forgotten their portal access login info. Hopefully there will be a heads-up posting by ND Admissions on Twitter and Facebook before D Day.
Either way, ready or not, next week will be the week for REA applicants. Very best of luck and success to All!
The email after D submitted her application stated the following:
Thank you for submitting a restrictive early action application for undergraduate admission to the University of Notre Dame. Decisions will be released in mid December. You will be notified via email when decisions have been released.
I wonder if this language was sent to applicants last year who also received the same email language December 6, 2017.
Waiting impatiently! Good luck to all!
@hpsca, do you think that the email announcing that the decisions are available on the portal will include the portal link? That may prevent any confusion that you are worried about.
@WineLover Yes, this will hopefully be the case, in order to avoid mass confusion. Already on this forum, with a group of highly involved folks, there seems to be some uncertainty. It would certainly be quite awful in the general REA populationā¦ Nevertheless, re-confirming portal access information a few days in advance would be prudent, as it will be pandemonium when the final ādecision has been madeā e-mail will be coming out.
When a students is denied, does the school ever let them know why?
Thanks for the responses about the applicant portal! I had to admit to some stealth helicopter parenting in order to get my daughter to make sure she has access to the portal. Iāll have her log in every night next week around 7 PM EST!
@HM0527 I truly believe it is much too early to discuss this aspect at this stage of the process, as admission and deferral decisions are both very realistic outcomes of the REA admission program at ND. Yes, unfortunately there will be denials coming out next week, however those are never related to any perceived āweaknessesā of applicants, who all tend to be of the highest caliber at this university.
In fact, in many cases it is easier to pinpoint retrospectively why a student has been admitted at Notre Dame, than with some reliability to determine why another student has been denied admission. As the review process is truly holistic, every year there are surprises if and when some highest performing students in terms of GPA/SAT/ACT are being informed that they are not being admitted. There will be discussions about yield protection again this year, yet this is utter nonsense - Notre Dame is simply doing a very good job in putting together the best possible class of incoming students.
On the specific question you asked: the admission department can and will not go into details why a specific student may not have been admitted to the university. At this time, however, all REA applicants are potential admits, and this is very important as the coming days will be very, very tough for the students (and to some extent to their parents). Best of luck to you and your daughter!
@katrina1 
Yes, this truly is what it sometimes takes during the college application process! Good idea to stay involved!
@hpcsa I was hoping youād answer that question. Youāre always very thorough. I meant no disrespect. Iāve enjoted being a part of this thead and continue to be hopeful for not just my daughter but for all of the other applicants. Especially those children whose parents Iāve communicated with on here.