i have posted numerous times that I have twins finishing their first year of college. They are both NMF and 4.0+ high school students with 1500+ SAT and 34+ ACT. I have noticed a dramatic difference in their development this year. My DS at Notre Dame has received encouragement and support from his Rector, RA and band members. It has been a challenging but fulfilling year. His twin is at ASU. He has struggled socially, not academically. He completed the year as a CS major with a 4.15 GPA. Yet, due to lack of “community” he has felt the loneliness and challenge of adjusting to college life. We are trying our best to support him, but the challenge remains. Notre Dame and “welcome home” is truly lived out in the day-to-day life of students. Thank you ND and GO IRISH!
Just talked with our son before his two finals tomorrow. He is meeting friends for breakfast at 7:00 AM, and is heading to his mini storage place in the afternoon with his three roomates in his quad next year to get communal stuff stored and ready. We saw him at Easter. ND is his home. I cannot understate the impact of positive (and diverse) peers on his development. I honestly believe that there is no school like Notre Dame out there that combines academic excellence and community. There is no statistical difference between ND students and the Ivy League, but they are a world apart in terms of their personalities and orientations. Having said that, for the same reasons, ND is not for everyone. After an incredibly intense private high school experience (average ACTs 32 - 34), my son applied to ZERO Ivies because he was in search of a community similar to that he had experienced in his parochial middle school. He is not particularly religious (but is Catholic), but feels so much at home at ND. The school, his rector, and his peers “have his back”. His confidence, which has been an issue, is off the charts these days. As my friend @usma87 said…Thank you ND and GO IRISH! Feeling blessed…
Scratch “understate”. OVERSTATE!
So nice to read. I wish there was more of this in our culture. Congratulations!
Two students from my son’s high school will be attending ND in the fall. (DS is an underclassman) I know the one student turned down Duke and Princeton for ND. I think both boys will fit in there beautifully. They are exceptional people. ND is lucky to get them as I’m sure the same holds true for your students.
I have said this before on this forum and feel it appropriate to repeat on this thread. My son with a 36 ACT and strong GPA also had no desire to apply to any other top schools for a couple reasons. He did not want the liberal environment of some (think Brown, Harvard, etc.). So my husband encouraged him to apply to schools like Duke, Yale, and Dartmouth (if he did not get into ND), but he did not even want to do that citing that all of those schools were too “cut throat.” He was comfortable with his backup schools of BC and Villanova. He was clearly looking for a community of love and support. Having attended public schools through middle school, he just loved and embraced his experience at his Jesuit high school, and he clearly wanted a similar climate in his college. Go Irish.
@WineLover - my ND student had a similar approach. He avoided the schools he felt were “cut throat” also. It has been a refreshing year for him. Big Stanford Love (BSL) is their unofficial Hall motto.
My wife and I were just commenting the growth we’ve seen with our son socially this year. He’s so relaxed . . . charming in fact. He was a top student at an competitive private school in LA. It came down to UCLA, Yale and ND for him. We just didn’t know if he’d thrive at UCLA or Yale. The type of kids there - by in large - seemed to be ultra competitive high achievers. He never much enjoyed the competition among students, preferring to compete with himself more than anyone. We were honestly afraid that he’d be studying all the time and stressed out.
He just told us that he understands now what makes ND so unique - its the people. He says his fellow students want to do well, but not at another’s expense. He was worried about a final, but when he looked at his phone before he walked into to take it, there was text after text from friends wishing him luck and encouraging him. He said he’s never felt that type of support.
Gives context to “Love thee, Notre Dame.”
This thread is choking me up! On the way home Saturday I asked my freshman D if she was happy she chose ND. “100%”. I asked what her favorite part was, and she said the community there. I am so happy for her, and all of our kids. Older D is graduating this weekend - very bittersweet for all of us. Go Irish!
@usma87, I hope your son at Arizona has a better year next year.
My one son attends Villanova and the sense of community described above also applies there.My younger son is interested in Notre Dame. So from the above comments I can see that most people accepted to ND have very high stats and scores yet, there is no sense of extreme competitiveness? So the caliber of the students is just as high as an Ivy but without the competition?
That has been the experience for both of my girls at ND, @gigs17. One is a humanities student and the other is in the sciences.
Some schools do community extremely well, and ND is one of those.
@gigs17 - I am sure there is competition in certain majors. My DS has not seen it in Mendoza. The seniors in his hall were very helpful with academic advice, even those from what I fell are traditionally competitive majors like finance and management. But yes, you have a crowd of high achieving young adults that are predominately christian and amazing things happen. Agree 100% with @wisteria100 , ND is not the only place like this, but they do it very well.
DS graduated from ND in 17. Somewhat reserved during HS…saw tremendous growth and maturity almost immediately…when his brother started at ND in fall of 2017, he left him a note of lessons learned. Some of the items that stuck out…never let anyone eat alone in dining hall even if u dont know them…make time for all of your friend groups…you have your dorm friends, you have your major or study group friends, you have sports or intramurals friends, ROTC friends, etc…spend time with all of them…its ok to have fun, but make good decisions, go to Mass, pray, visit the Grotto often. Remember your goals and why you are there…make the most of it…I was fortunate enough to watch DS2 who was already really outgoing just shine. Notre Dame is family and an extraordinary place…and it is extremely impactful.
I love that, @gpnnynd89. It just captures the ND spirit, particularly this: “never let anyone eat alone in dining hall even if u don’t know them…” Good on your son.
Notre Dame really is family and an extraordinary place.
Went to Saint Mary’s but the same community feeling applies. Very close (30+ years later) with my SMC/ND friends. Last weekend we moved our daughter from Chicago back to ‘The Bend’ for grad school. The SMC/ND community is pretty special.
My son (ND 2022) is doing a French language program in France this summer. He was obviously nervous about how things would work out. His first day he met a girl from St. Mary’s in the program which I think helped him a lot in terms of feeling “at home”. So, yes, the “ND Community” does in fact extend well beyond ND to St. Mary’s and Holy Cross as well. I think it is great how ND works hard to include students from these schools in classes, clubs, activities and, of course, football seats. At ND. my son has friends at SMC and the social life is pretty seamless. A strong and inclusive community! Unmatched!