I am currently a junior in high school and I know I want to go into business. ND is my 1st choice to apply. Here is my stat:
-I currently have a 4.18 weighted GPA (my school does not give unweighted GPA. I am guessing ~ 3.7, As & Bs)
-I am ranked top 10.7% of my class (~1400 students) in a very competitive public high school.
-I have taken almost all honors classes, 3 APs in sophomore year, 6 APs in junior and more APs in senior year.
-I have gotten a 33 on my ACT and will be taking it again.
-On SAT I got 680 CR, 740 Math, 610 Writing - 2030 overall. I have not taken any SAT II test yet.
ECs: I am in National Honors Society (3 years), a Dance Club member (2 years), 3 years Art class including Art 3D AP (I will make a portfolio for my 3D art work this year). I’ve played club soccer for 7 years with year-around intensive training, games and tournaments (my team is D1 team in the most competitive league of the area and is currently North State Rank #4, Region Rank #21, and National Rank #93). I have some leadership roles for few local youth programs and had enrich community service volunteer experience, etc.
I am an Asian male. I’d like to know if I have the best chance at ND or if it’s a reach/match college for me. Please help to provide your advices.
best advice I can give: does your school have naviance? if so, then check how students applying to ND do. 10.7 seems low for most schools, but if it’s an incredibly competitive school it may not be too much of a hinderance. (I think like 50% of students are in the top 2 percent of students, and 90% are in the top 10 percent: there are at competitive school).
Other than that, ACT looks solid, sports looks solid, you stand a decent chance. ND is probably somewhere between a reach and a match for you.
Final comment: what state? that could make a big difference. also, if you’re that strong a soccer player, you may want to reach out to the coach to see if he can offer academic assistance and possibly walk on to the team.
I am in Texas. Yes, my high school is the most competitive HS in town and one of the best high school in Texas. My HS just start to use the naviance which is not much useful because there are not much student data to be pulled out.
I know my ranking is not good enough. It’s not easy to get into top 10% in my HS. I am hoping to raise my raking a little bit by the end of this semester. Would the AO consider to give a weight for students from a competitive HS vs less competitive HS? I’ve not heard anyone from my HS are going to or already in ND.
ND men’s soccer team is D1 team which is a reach for me, but I will give it a try.
Based on your comments, if I won’t be selected to ND men’s soccer team, and if I will apply for EA, do I stand a decent chance?
@elcollege Admissions counselors will look at your class profile in a file submitted by your guidance counselor - they will basically detail how your class ranks in terms of GPA and test scores, and how you compare. I was admitted this year with pre-approval to Mendoza with a top ~5% of my class, while our salutatorian was rejected. A lot of my application hinged upon my grades - I had a 3.95 GPA and was originally deferred REA. Make sure to form a relationship with your admissions counselor also - it helps so much! Good luck!
ND common data set says 90% top tenth of class and 98% top quarter for 2013-2014 which is most recent year available. It is a competitive admit school, but you’re looking like a very legit candidate. It’s not a match as it’s competitive enough to not be a match for anyone, but it is a reasonable reach. Pretty sure not many, if any, school is 50% top 2%.
@elcollege I didn’t start until after I was deferred, but looking back on it, I would at the beginning of my senior year, make sure to introduce yourself, say you are applying, you are very interested, etc
ND admissions counselors travel extensively so later in the summer or early fall check whether they are coming either to your school or one nearby. That would be a great opportunity to get some face time. Also I have heard that they can give you guidance as to whether you should apply REA or RD. ND does deny over half their REA applicants, so if the advice is to wait until RD, that might be advice worth following. That being said, both of my daughters applied EA, were deferred and later admitted RD. One is a currently a sophomore and the other finally decided on ND last night.
