Hello, everyone! I am a junior this school year, but I am just trying to work out where I should allocate my time for demonstrated interest and summer programs (since apps open soon). If you could just check where I would stand now, that would be great. I am pretty sure these are the stats that I will have when I apply.
STATS:
GPA: 4.18W (out of a 4.8), 3.87UW/4.0UW – should be top 10% of class (school doesn’t give actual ranks)
^ I do have an explanation for the slack in GPA
WILL HAVE COMPLETED 11 APS BY GRADUATION
SAT: 1500 (760 RW, 740 M)
ECs:
President, Founder of the Political Club
Treasurer of the Student Council
Student Body Leader
Student Ambassador
Member of the NHS (running for office)
Member of OMUN (running for office)
Member of my school’s board
Student activism with a major organization
*Hopefully I can add some summer programs to the mix for this upcoming summer (like Notre Dame Leadership Seminars)
SERVICE HOURS: 150 hours
Intended major: Political Science/Government
Demonstrated interest this far: Campus visit, corresponded with my officer via email, meeting with officer at school, meeting with officer at local visits and fairs.
My teachers are kind of rooting for me to try and go to Notre Dame (one teacher I know really well offered a recommendation – attended ND)
@ab2002 I’m a senior and going through the application process this fall. My gut feeling is that based on stats and the ECs you listed, you’re tracking along pretty good. In terms of the hard numbers, you have a solid UW GPA (3.87/4.00). I’m not sure how your school weights GPA’s, but for someone with 11 AP’s, I would have guessed your weighted GPA would have been a little bit higher (?). Your SAT is fine, as ND’s range for admitted students last year was 1430-1540, so you’re right there. Your EC’s look fine, and you have already done a good job of getting to know your admissions rep.
If you can do a summer program between your jr and sr year, that would be another way to indicate interest in ND.
You seem to fit the ND profile, but don’t forget that there’ll probably be about 7,000 applicants in the pool who will look very similar. That’s where the essays and a great letter of rec could help distinguish you from all the other well qualified applicants. One other thing I found helpful was to go back and look at the decision threads for the schools you’re interested in. It’s not only a reality check, but it can help you to think about ways to present yourself and your ECs. You still have time since you’re still a junior.
@ab2002 That makes total sense. Despite the fact that you mentioned you’re just starting junior year, I forgot that your weighted GPA doesn’t yet reflect all the AP’s you’ll take during junior year. Seems like you are about where you need to be, and big ups to you for getting started now.
OP, since you are a junior, you may want to consider retaking the SAT or taking the ACT to see if you can up your score a bit since right now it’s right in the middle of the middle range.
@ab2002, consider applying to one of the Notre Dame summer programs – Summer Scholars or the Leadership Seminars. You will have the chance to live on campus for two weeks and get a real sense of what it is like to be a student at ND