Please Chance Me for ND :)

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Notre Dame
1

Junior here who would really like to go to ND, but I’m very anxious about getting in… White female who goes to private Catholic school. Kentucky resident and household income is $100k+.

  • Extracurriculars

Speech and Debate - 9, 10, 11, prob 12

Parish youth group - 9, 10, 11, prob 12

Quick Recall (trivia team competes with other local HSs) - 9 JV, 10 Varsity/JV Captain, 11 varsity, prob 12

Alive in Mercy (visits nuns once a month through school) - 10, 11 (co-president), prob 12

Campus Ministry Council - (helps plan and give feedback about Masses and campus ministry events) -11, prob 12

Girl Scout - 9, 10, 11, prob 12 - hiked over 60 miles on Appalachian Trail with Girl Scouts

Venture Crew Member - 9, 10, 11, prob 12 - hiked over 70 miles at Philmont Scout Ranch with venture crew

Cross country JV - 9

  • Leadership (all I had to apply and was selected for or voted into by peers)

NHS - 11, 12

Beta Club - 11, 12

SNHS - 11, secretary 12

Mu Alpha Theta - 11, prob 12

Rho Kappa - 11, prob 12

English NHS - treasurer and founding member 11, 12

Freshmen Orientation Leader - (summer going into) 10, 11

Youth Advisory Board for Archdiocese - 10, 11, prob 12

Youth Group Peer Leadership Team - events lead 10, president 11, prob 12 (also participated in NCYC in 2017 and will also attend this November)

Participated in Leadership Institute ran by local Archdiocese

Homeroom Mom (helps orient freshmen by leading homeroom in activities first semester) - 11

Advancement Council (helps with alumni events and school fundraising ) - 10, 11, prob

Senior Captain for Speech and Debate team - 12

  • Awards/Recognitions

Qualified and Completed in Public Forum Debate at the National Catholic Forensic League 2018 and 2019 Grand Nationals Tournament

Advanced/Honors Program

Sophomore Distinguished Scholar - top 5% in my class of 250

AP Scholar

Girl Scout Silver Award - completes over 50 hours of service with two other girls by installing permanent anti-litter signs on a local park’s trash can

Principal’s List (all A’s) - freshmen, sophmore year

First Honor Roll (3.75-3.99 GPA) - first semester of junior year

Probably will be National Merit Commended

  • Service

Girl Scout Silver Award (see above)

Have completed almost 100 hours of service through many organizations including 40 hours at an elementary school and 15 hours at an agency for visually impaired preschoolers

  • Scores/Stats

ACT: Currently 33. Aiming for a 34 and going to take at least one more time.

GPA: 3.99/4.0 uw, 4,53/5.0 w (uw might be 4.97 or 4.95 but the end of the year)

Course load: All advance/Honors, dual credit, or AP classes besides mandatory lower level classes (I.e. theology) APHG - 5, APUSH - 4, AP Lang - 4 (AP Scholar). I’m taking AP World, dual enrollment/credit (DC) public speaking, DC Precal, AP Seminar, theology, advanced/honors physics, and AP Psych. Going to take AP Research, DC calc, AP Literature, AP Statistics, AP Bio (or AP Chem if Bio doesn’t run), theology, advanced government (1 sem), photography II (1 sem)

  • Summer Programs

This summer I applied to a 3 week program at Murray State University that I can earn college credit for. I also plan on attending a speech & debate camp and maybe some other other programs.

Major: Undecided (I love literally everything, besides physics. Physics was invented by Satan to punish children) but most likely in the liberal arts field

Thanks for any input! If you have any questions, feel free to ask :slight_smile:

2

@rocket254 Congratulations, your profile looks very good. Please make sure to check your high school course plan against Notre Dame’s recommendations (if it says “preferred”, this is what ND is looking for):

“High school academic requirements
The University requires the completion of the following high school courses in order to be considered for admission. A unit is the credit for a year of satisfactory work in an accredited secondary school. The two language units required should be in the same language.
For students intending to enter the College of Arts and Letters or the Mendoza College of Business, excluding the Arts and Letters Pre-Health program, Neuroscience and Behavior, and the combined Arts-Engineering program, the required 16 units must be distributed as follows:
4 units of English
3 units of Mathematics - Algebra I, Algebra II, and Geometry (4 units preferred)
2 units of Foreign Language (3-4 units preferred)
2 units of Science (4 units preferred)
2 units of History/Social Science (3-4 units preferred)
3 units of additional History/Social Science, Science, Foreign Language, Mathematics, and English courses
For students intending to enter the College of Science, the College of Engineering, the School of Architecture, the Arts and Letters Pre-Health program, Neuroscience and Behavior, or the combined Arts and Engineering program, the distribution must be:
4 units of English
4 units of Mathematics - Algebra I, Algebra II, Geometry, and Advanced Mathematics (e.g. Pre-calculus, Calculus)
2 units of Foreign Language (3-4 units preferred)
2 units of Science - Chemistry and Physics (4 units preferred)
2 units of History/Social Science (3-4 units preferred)
2 units of additional History/Social Science, Science, Foreign Language, Mathematics, and English courses
Although we require at least 16 academic units for admission, our most competitive applicants will have four units in each major academic area and in the most rigorous level their high school offers. We do include algebra and/or foreign language courses completed during eighth grade in our count of admissions requirements. For example, if you earned credit for one full-year introductory French course as an eighth grader, then completed French II in ninth grade, both credits will be counted.”

Source: https://admissions.nd.edu/apply/evaluation-criteria/

Also, please consider taking the SAT, in addition to seeking to push your ACT score - some students achieve higher comparable scores in one test design than in the other. Continued success in high school and all the best with your ND application - please do your very best to excel in your Notre Dame essays.

3

My daughter is graduating from Notre Dame in a few weeks. Your admissions chances are very good. Your profile basically looks like the type of student Notre Dame is looking for both in terms of academics and in terms of outside interests. I’m sure you realize that the 25th and 75th percentile ACT scores are extremely high. Many students would question the wisdom of retaking when you already have a 33 but for Notre Dame this is not a bad idea. In reading your list of EC’s one cannot help but wonder how involved you are in all these activities. I think it might be the longest list of EC activities I’ve ever seen. One thing to be aware of is that Notre Dame does not give out much in the way of merit aid. If you do get a 34 or higher you might be one of the very few students to become a Hesburgh-Yusko Scholar