<p>My D attends Notre Dame and loves it for the close knit dorm community as well as for many other reasons of course. </p>
<p>My other D would love that environment too, but might not have the SAT score to get accepted. </p>
<p>What other universities are similar to Notre Dame in their seemingly really close dorm communities?</p>
<p>Rice appears to be very similar, but unfortunately similar to ND in admission standards.</p>
<p>VolTear, I am afraid you might be looking for a needle in a haystack here. Notre Dame’s residential community experience is very unique. I have two kids in college (one at ND) and so I have looked at many, many colleges and universities. In all of our looking, I don’t think we ever came across a school that has the same dorm experience as ND. At other schools, it is very unusual for a student to live in the same dorm all 4 years (or however long they choose to stay on campus). At ND as I am sure you know, most kids stay in the dorm they are randomly assigned to as a freshman while at most other schools kids move dorm to dorm as they so desire. When we were looking at other schools, I was surprised by how quickly many of the students move off campus, some even as early as sophomore and junior year. I went to Saint Mary’s and my husband and brothers attended ND so I had always loved that dorm camaraderie that you are referring to. We never found anything quite like ND as far as residential living goes. </p>
<p>Having said I am a SMC grad, I will suggest SMC as a great choice for a student who may not have the scores to go to ND. The whole woman’s college thing is a turn off for many, but honestly with ND across the street it is not an experience that you are with only women all the time. SMC students have access to clubs and classes at ND and they also sit in the ND student section at football games. SMC girls have many friends both male and female at ND (probably more male if I am being honest). Many students at SMC live in one or two dorms during their four years and there is a very strong feeling of community there. </p>
<p>I would also recommend looking at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, NC (I have a son there). Wake has an active Greek community and what I have come to realize is that the ND dorm experience closely resembles that of fraternities and sororities. What makes the Wake Greek experience different from other schools is that they do not allow off campus Greek houses like many other schools. There is one fraternity that has an off campus house but that has been around a long time and it is the exception. What happens at Wake is that they have block housing for fraternities and sororities. Freshman are randomly placed in freshman dorms their first year. In the spring, freshman will go through rush, if they want to join a F or S. If they join a F or S, they then have the opportunity to move to block housing for the next 3 years. The best way to describe block housing is that a F or S occupies a section (in my son’s case 4 floors of a wing of a dorm). In his section there are 5 or 6 doubles and a few singles with a shared bathroom. Not sure how it is for girls. Each F or S has a “lounge” at the bottom of the dorm which is where they have parties, meetings, etc. In his case, most members of his F that live on campus live in this dorm and so there is a sense of real brotherhood that resembles the feeling you get in the dorms at ND. Wake has a new policy where all students must live on campus for 3 years. If Greek students move off campus they tend to find houses that they rent with members of their F or S. The President of Wake Forest is Nathan Hatch and he came to Wake from Notre Dame where he served as Provost. Wake reminds me alot of ND in many ways however, it is not Catholic and so you do not have that Catholic feel like ND. Maybe worth looking into. My son wanted to go to ND, was waitlisted and ended up at Wake. He has loved his experience there. Wake was very high on the list for my daughter who is currently at ND.</p>
<p>Other schools my 2 ND loving kids applied to included BC, Villanova, UVA, UCONN (our instate U), Saint Mary’s, U of Miami and Wake. Vanderbilt floated around their lists also but for whatever reason we never visited and so they never applied. In their search, they always had that ND ideal in the back of their minds. </p>
<p>Wake is also SAT optional so it is a great choice for a great student who has SAT scores that don’t enhance their application.</p>
<p>Good Luck to your daughter!</p>
<p>Have a look at some of the women’s colleges - they tend to have beautiful dorms that also serve as social outlets.</p>
<p>We were faced with a similar situation. One D at ND and loved it and we wanted the next D to go to ND. She wasn’t as strong an applicant and frankly she did not love ND like us parents. So in the end she attends our State U. However, we attempted to get her interested in Villanova. We found Villanova to be close to what ND offers - close knit community, student body that performs a lot of community service, Catholic school, and lots of school spirit. Good Luck</p>
<p>In college hunting, I did find that Franklin & Marshall and well as Smith (and perhaps other women’s colleges, I don’t know) have a house system for dorms. I would also look into Jesuit colleges which are a match for her stats because you may find a similar type of environment.</p>
<p>Xavier in Cincy. Great school, tight-knit community.</p>
<p>Look at Villanova ¶ and see if that is a match for your D. St. Mary’s is another possibility if she wants the all-women school next to ND. And I agree that you should consider some Jesuit schools for a cultural fit. Not sure what your D’s stats are but there are many choices so some should work both in terms of desired location/admission etc.
[Member</a> Institutions](<a href=“http://www.ajcunet.edu/Member-Institutions]Member”>http://www.ajcunet.edu/Member-Institutions)</p>
<p>Bucknell and College of the Holy Cross are also worth a look. The campus at the University of Richmond was beautiful, and the school seemed a little like ND. Elon university in North Carolina also seemed to have a good environment. Also, Centre College in Kentucky, Oberlin and Dennison in Ohio are also something to check out.<br>
I have 2 kids at Notre Dame, and I have to agree that finding similar schools is not easy. However, if she can find places that seem to be a good fit for her, the rest of the process will work out ok.</p>
<p>Although we don’t know Wake Forest specifically, I have heard it is a similar vibe to ND (and a number of years ago, several administrators from ND moved there). Perhaps Washington & Lee as well. </p>
<p>I would disagree about Oberlin as being similar – we have spent time at both schools and there are significant differences, including that ND is a largely conservative institution, as are its students (not so much politically, though that is true too, but in the sense of valuing continuity, stability and predictability) whereas Oberlin thrives on independence and originality. My son – liberal, creative type – felt that everyone was like him at Oberlin (and thus, it would be oppressive because non-diverse) whereas no one was like him at ND (or very hard to find. </p>
<p>Again, we did not visit, so I cannot speak with any knowledge, but I have heard that Denison and Miami of Ohio are more straight-laced though still plenty of good academics. </p>
<p>Good luck with your search.</p>
<p>Good call NdgradNDdad!</p>
<p>Thumbs up for X! I have a senior at ND and a freshman at Xavier in Cincinnati. Like the OP’s daughter, S2 didn’t quite fit the ND academic profile. Personality wise ND would have been the perfect fit, but he has found a great community at Xavier. While mostly known as a regional U, S2 is from FL, has a suitemate from Puerto Rico and a guys down the hall from Viet Nam, Texas, CT and Maine. Not to mention a group from the midwest with whom he has watched the last 2 ND football games! Dorm life is tight, affording a great community experience!
Last year Xavier completed a $200 million campaign which funded the new Williams College of Business, Hoff Residential and Dining Facility and Conaton Learning Commons. It is a vibrant campus with engaged students. S2 has found the faculty and staff to be caring, attentive and responsive. Granted, we are only 4 weeks in… but so far S2 is happy and DH and I are thrilled!</p>
<p>University of Portland is Congregation of the Holy Cross, same as Notre Dame. In fact, they sometimes share/trade teachers and administrators. The community may not be quite as tight as ND, but it’s quite nice, and they follow the same dorm format.</p>
<p>Saint Mary’s is a great option for your daughter, with access to a larger University across the street, small classes, no TA’s, and a tight community. Dorm life is much like ND, classes can be taken at either school, and clubs and EC’s are almost all joint. It is absolutely worth the visit.</p>
<p>I don’t know what your other daughter’s scores are, but UR is a terrific school and is almost in my backyard. It is small (3500) but it feels much larger because of its campus size. Greek life exists, but doesn’t seem to be dominant. Bucknell, another great beautiful school, is also on the small side but about 50% of students are in the Greek system so I am not sure what role the dorms play.</p>