<p>The admissions office just released information to help those not admitted for the class of 2016 better understand the decision of the admissions office. This includes:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>More than 2,500 applicants with academic performances in the top 1% of the nation did not gain admission to Notre Dame.</p></li>
<li><p>Over 65% of the students ranked in the Top 2-3% of their high school or had an SAT of 1400-1490 or ACT of 32-33 did not gain admission this year.</p></li>
<li><p>56% of the students ranked number one in their class did not gain admission. More than 1,000 students ranked number one or two did not gain admission.</p></li>
<li><p>International admits are up 20% this year and represent about 6% of all admits.</p></li>
<li><p>The wait list profile is: median H.S. rank of top 3%, SAT of 1420 and ACT of 32.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I am sure there are many disappointed applicants who were not admitted. The numbers above would indicate there are several thousand applicants who could not be admitted simply on a space available basis, despite fine high school records.</p>
<p>24% admitted were legacies. ND certainly takes care of their own. That has to be one of the highest percentages around - certainly among the “national” universities.</p>
<p>The top ten most selective universities average about 12% alumni children per the ND admissions office. The other schools are often times just not as up front about their stated objective as Notre Dame is. Notre Dame clearly states their goal is 25% legacies and everyone knows that going in.</p>
<p>I didn’t know that. 2X is a big difference. Makes it literally doubly difficult for a non-legacy to break in. But I suppose that’s part of what makes ND what it is. </p>
<p>It would be interesting to know if stats of the legacy cohort are materially different than the non-legacy cohort.</p>
<p>Legacy stats are not materially different based on past input on this board. My partner’s daughter was a double legacy, state swim champion who could have helped the ND swim team, and was waitlisted as a result of only a 30-31 ACT.</p>
<p>Yeah, I’m a legacy and I got waitlisted because of my 29 (well I’m assuming). I’ve gotten to know a lot of other legacy who’ve also been waitlisted. Being a legacy isn’t a golden ticket.</p>
<p>Here is what I was told by an admissions counselor regarding legacy admissions: The acceptance rate for legacies is actually not much different than the acceptance rate for non-legacies. Where you will see the huge difference is the yield. She said that she believes that many of the accepted legacy students are the types who have spent their whole lives hearing from their parents about how great Notre Dame is, so many of them pretty much decide to go there once they get their acceptance letters. She says that legacies make up a much higher percentage of the enrolling freshman class than they do the pool of accepted students.</p>
<p>Man, these stats are ridiculous (and by that I mean Notre Dame has statistically fantastic applicants). I don’t know how I didn’t get outright rejected; I have two C’s in math (freshman and sophomore year), and I’m not in the top 10%. I’m sure my UW GPA of 3.55 is lower than everyone else’s too. Maybe they just really liked my essay, haha. Hopefully they take a decent amount of students off the waitlist! But if they don’t, Brandeis, here I come?</p>
<p>I’m also a waitlisted legacy.
1420/2190 SAT, 31 ACT, 3.7 GPA (gotta be the weak link).
I definitely thought it would help more than it did but oh well!</p>
<p>This is not so unusual–in highly selective college admissions, wait-listed applicant statistics are often NUMERICALLY STRONGER than the admitted applicant averages (this is true at most of the Ivy League, Georgetown, etc.).</p>
<p>I wouldn’t say numerically stronger… numerically equal at best (though I think someone who is MARGINALLY weaker, numerically, has a better shot at an ivy perhaps, and only in certain cases at that)</p>
<p>Well, you are wrong. There are many years where the statistical profile of waitlisted students is actually higher than the statistical profile for admitted students among these schools. Just a fact. Now, some schools, like Wash. U. for instance, maintain a HUGE waitlist. For these schools, obviously this phenomenon does not hold.</p>
<p>My D is number 2 in her class of over 300 students, quality EA’s but 31 on her ACT. She is on the waitlist but really wants to go to USC (gasp) anyway where she was admitted for “spring”. We thought she really had a chance at ND because “they say” they really take into consideration the strength of you schedule especially senior year (4 AP classes and 2 honors classes). Not sure what the top schools are looking for if ND turned away 1000 validictorians and salutitorians. Personally, I believe schools love the “disadvantaged” student and much as they love the student with a “hook”. Tough luck for the “bright well-rounded kid” from a stable family.</p>
<p>I’m an accepted legacy, but had a lot going for me other than that; I have 3 varsity letters, a 4.2 GPA, and a 33 ACT.</p>
<p>I think the average ND legacy that WANTS to go to ND knows what he/she needs to do to get in. The legacies that get admitted usually have great credentials to start with. As the ND folks say on their website, legacy status will heal the sick, but not raise the dead. I personally have wanted to go to ND since I was 7, so I put in all the effort to get in. Other legacies most likely have the same mindset- they know what they need to do. </p>
<p>Dunno if it’s like that for other places, but I know ND alumni are loyal to their school, and their children grow up with a love for it.</p>
<p>My son is on the waitlist. He also has 3 varsity letters and a 33 on the ACT. He has a 3.92 unweighted and a 5.25 weighted GPA. He has taken 10 AP classes and is an AP scholar with distinction. He is not a legacy.</p>