<p>vc08,
You're absolutely right. It's not fair. The college admissions process is arbitrary, particularly at top schools seeking to admit a diverse group of students, not just those with the highest grades and test scores. Notre Dame's legacy admission preference is no more "unfair" than admissions policies that give preferences to first-generation college students, or minorities, or state residents, or barely literate athletes, or international students, or the children of wealthy donors. No doubt you could visit the CC board for any school to which you were accepted and see posts by students with equal or better credentials who were rejected or waitlisted. </p>
<p>This is one of the toughest years for college admissions, so you should all be thrilled with the choices you have.</p>
<p>[ b]Stats:[ /b][ list]
[ *] SAT:
[ *] SAT IIs: Bio 720 Math II 750
[ *] ACT:32
[ *] GPA:3.94 UW 4.15 W
[ *] Rank:school doesn't rank
[ *] Other stats: AP Bio 4 AP Calc AB/BC 5
[ /list][ b]Subjective:[ /b][ list]
[ *] Essays: very heartfelt, I felt it was the best product I could put out for ND
[ *] Teacher Recs:should have been good to excellent
[ *] Counselor Rec:probably great
[ *] Hook (if any):Catholic? but none really
[ /list][ b]Location/Person:[ /b][ list]
[ *] State or Country: Minnesota
[ *] School Type: huge public
[ *] Ethnicity: Caucasian
[ *] Gender: male
[ *] major strength/weakness: some unique activities such as Varsity nordic skiing and science olympiad. Didn't have many leadership positions. ACT is mediocre for ND and I had zero hooks.<br>
[ *] why you think you were accepted/rejected/defered: My academics are just about average for ND. My passion in my essay I think got me on the wait list. I most likely wasn't accepted because of lack of hook... what can I say I'm thankful to be on it anyway.
[ *] going to attend? If I get off the wait list, yes!
[ /list][ b]Other Factors:[ /b] I tried to build a connection with my regional rep. I don't know how much that helped in the long run.</p>
<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>] SAT: 2230 (770-Reading, 760 Math, 720 Writing)
[</em>] SAT IIs: US History 780, English Literature 700
[<em>] ACT: N/A
[</em>] GPA: Weighted= 3.9/4
[<em>] Rank: 39/542
[</em>] Other stats:
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[<em>] Essays: Good, about a goodwill project my sports team did
[</em>] Teacher Recs: Excellent
[<em>] Counselor Rec: Probably good
[</em>] Hook (if any): Catholic, brother currently attends Notre Dame
[/ul]Location/Person:[ul]
[<em>] State or Country: NJ
[</em>] School Type: Highly Competitve Large Public
[<em>] Ethnicity: Caucasian
[</em>] Gender: Male
[<em>] major strength/weakness: Good test scores, 2-sport varsity athlete, Solid extra curriculars but no community service
[</em>] why you think you were accepted/rejected/defered:
[*] going to attend? Absolutely[/ul]</p>
<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I: 700 CR, 750 M, 800 W; 2250
[</em>] SAT IIs: 770 Math II, 760 Chem, 750 US History
[<em>] GPA: 3.83 UW, 4.41 W
[</em>] Rank: 24/310 (school doesn't officially rank though)
[<em>] Other stats: AP Chem, Eng. Lang&Comp., US Hist = all 5's
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[</em>] Essays: Surreal.
[<em>] Teacher Recs: Probably pretty good.
[</em>] Counselor Rec: Also good.
[<em>] Hook (if any): Grandfather and sister are both alumni.
[/ul]Location/Person:[ul]
[</em>] State or Country: Los Angeles, CA
[<em>] School Type: Private Catholic
[</em>] Ethnicity: White
[<em>] Gender: Male
[</em>] Perceived Strengths/Weaknesses: SAT and AP scores, essay, rigor of courseload, character traits, community service; only weakness would be GPA, really
[li] Why you think you were accepted/deferred/denied: great essay, pretty good SAT and subject test scores, hooks, varsity tennis, drumline, my overall sexiness.[/li][/ul]Other Factors: General Comments/Congratulations/Venting/Commiserations,etc: The decision came on the same day that I got rejected from Harvard, Dartmouth, and Columbia, so I didn't bother to post because my ND acceptance seemed trivial at the time. I've now realized how awesome it is to be accepted to this amazing school and can't wait to visit later this month (for the 5th time). Congrats to everyone else who got in.</p>
<p>Decision: ACCEPTED! (I don't know how to make it green)</p>
<p>Stats:
SAT: 2240
SAT IIs: 630 Math II, 680 Biology, 730 Lit
ACT: 32
GPA: 4.4 W
Rank: 3/289</p>
<p>Subjective:
Essays: my passion, musical theatre. i worked really hard on this one.
Teacher Recs: Did not see. He did take the time to write me a completely fake letter that he gave me to freak me out!
Counselor Rec: Very nice
Hook (if any): Ummm, I don't know... I'm a Coke Finalist?</p>
<p>Location/Person:
State or Country: OH
School Type: Large urban public
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Female
major strength/weakness: Strength - Grades, ECs Weakness - Not much community service.
Why you think you were accepted/rejected/defered: Prayer.
Going to attend? The almighty dollar will decide, but I hope so.
Other Factors: I'm not a legacy, athlete, URM, and I don't have perfect scores. I'm thrilled to be accepted, because I wasn't expecting it. Go Irish!</p>
<p>Stats:[ul]
[<em>] SAT: 780 M, 640 CR, 710 W (2130)
[</em>] SAT IIs: 790 MIIC, 770 Chem, 730 Bio
[<em>] ACT: Didn't take it
[</em>] GPA: 3.7 UW / 4.0
[<em>] Rank: Top 30% decile out of 75 ppl. (our school doesn't rank, really competitive....)
[</em>] Other stats: AP Calc AB 5, AP Chem 5.
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[<em>] Essays: well... to be honest i'm not a good writer.
[</em>] Teacher Recs: well... my teachers didn't show me what they wrote.
[<em>] Counselor Rec: well... this one for the same. He didn't show it to me.
[</em>] Hook (if any): Nothin.
[/ul]Location/Person:[ul]
[<em>] State or Country: Seoul, South Korea
[</em>] School Type: Private International School
[<em>] Ethnicity: Korean
[</em>] Gender: Male
[<em>] major strength/weakness: strength... i dunno, but my weakness is writing and leadership.
[</em>] why you think you were accepted/rejected/defered: Have no idea. I think i'm one of minorities at ND (asian) so i had a higher chance of getting accepted. you know universities want diversity.
[li] going to attend? Yeah. pretty much i decided to go there. [/li][/ul]Other Factors:</p>