<p>please be specific!!</p>
<p>it's kind of hard to make a general pro/con list because not everyone would consider the same feature to be a pro or a con. here is MY list</p>
<p>PRO:
big on tradition
sports/school spirit = big deal
dorm loyalty/love
gorgeous campus
friendly students
i have HUGE alumni connections
you're part of the ND family even after you graduate</p>
<p>CON:
catholic
required theology class
separate male/female dorms and parietals
no environmental studies major
right-leaning
larger than i'd like</p>
<p>i agree with rhov...except all the con's would be pro's for me ... in addition to the pro's rhov listed...except for the size, it's actually kind of small to me</p>
<p>I would say the catholic and the theology requirement on the con list are really non-issues. I came to ND really thinking it would be saturated with Catholicity, yet it certainly isn't the case. It's here for sure, but it really is a choice to be part of that particular world. And the theology class is really no big deal, esp if you're worried about having something forced down your throat--it's absolutely not like that at all.
Right-leaning? Theres definitely a greater proportion than in other schools, but most universities are so thoroughly liberal(even to a bias) that it's a refresher to have a balance of contrasting viewpoints. Keep in mind it is college, full of young people and intellectuals, so there's no shortage of left-leaners.</p>
<p>The whole too big thing, IMO, shouldn't be a concern either. Every day I see tons of people that I recognize, whether from a class, party, or simply one of my friends. It's quite a small world after all.
The dorm and parietals thing....I could spit you the form answer on that, but it is actually one of the things I would put on my own CON list. Not something that can't be overcome, but I feel it is certainly a detractor to social life/interaction.</p>
<p>I am a first semester freshman and here's what i think of the school so far:</p>
<p>Notre Dame has stellar academic and awesome resources available for undergraduates. The alumni network is the best in the country and it has already helped me out in terms of having places to stay over break and a summer job. Notre Dame's students are very friendly and this place is not very cut throat like some of its peers. Also, Notre Dame is doing a lot to improve how it's viewed by the world and thus pouring tons of money into new projects (innovation park, adding on to the law school, new eningeering building, new cancer research facility, eddie street commons)</p>
<p>That being said there are some things I despise.
1. Parietals. I am an adult, I don't need people watching over me telling me when and when I cannont have girls over. It really strains gender relations. It's awful to think that at certain times, girls are UNWELCOME, in the dorms. How does that fit in with a family feel?
2. There are so many authority figures setting rules that I feel like I'm at an upscale boarding school and not a top 20 university. I am an adult and I want to be treated as such, I don't need people telling me what I can and can't do (within reason, I understand dorm rules are for the benefit of the community). </p>
<p>I just feel like the university needs to get over itself and allow normal male female interactions and abolish pareitals, we are not middle schoolers that need to be watched. I feel like the school makes a pretty large assumption as to what is going on. It's always, "what time is it?!" Parietals! you have to leave in the middle of the movie we are watching, even though we are just hanging out"</p>
<p>Ther is an enviromental science major, and an geoscience major btw</p>
<p>All of my pros were already mentioned. </p>
<p>Cons:
Nobody mentioned the weather yet or having South Bend as your college town. But it's only like 1.5-2 hours to Chicago, so it's all right. </p>
<p>And the 50k COA sucks</p>
<p>Other than that, I'd love to go to ND</p>
<p>Air transportation? The SB airport is a regional airport; next closest being Chicago-O'Hare and Midway. And, that involves charter bus trip. You might consider whether air transportation will be an issue for you. So far, son has used SB airport w/relatively no issues and made Atlanta connections.</p>
<p>Second previous posters weather con as well. Son indicates that worst time of year is late Jan into Feb. I suspect this year is going to be quite interesting given the amount of precip already! Fall is gorgeous, tho, and the campus is indeed beautiful and fairly accessible compared to some campuses we visited when he was looking.</p>
<p>Safety seems pretty good on campus as well. But, when one leaves campus, it can become quite the con. </p>
<p>According to son, Dining Hall food is good compared to most campuses as well. I know that there has been much debate regarding South Dining Hall vs North Dining Hall. I think all will agree that dining is above average when considering other college campuses.</p>
<p>Wait, was the air transportation comment directed at me? </p>
<p>What I meant was South Bend is not very appealing to a college student and at least Chicago is two hours away.</p>
<p>No-just think people need to also think about transportation when evaluating a college. Obviously, I would not think that it would be a major factor when looking at a college, but if you have to consider travel to and from college, ease of transportation as well as cost of that transportation could possibly be a pro or con for a college.</p>
<p>I agree with BPK043- Wash U flew me out for free, and what I thought when I got there was this- "I love that everyone is really friendly-that's a midwestern thing. I also love the facilities and opportunities afforded to the students by middle size, top-notch universities. It's just too liberal." So, you can see why ND interests me. Personally, I think ND, Rice, Duke, or W&L will be a nice change after living in VT for 18 years.</p>
<p>I have to agree with notre dame AL, transportation is usually a factor for people who live far away from ND. I know that both times I travelled to ND this summer, I had a few problems associated with flying into South Bend...5+ hours for an Atlanta connection is not fun, especially when you want to go to mass at the Basilica!...but that's a different story :)</p>
<p>Major con for me: Lack of diversity</p>
<p>Transportation is the most minor of issues. Legitimately, how many days per year does that affect you? Move in, move out, Christmas there and back, Thanksgiving and Easter there and back, Fall and Spring break there and back? That's 12 days out of 365, or .045 percent of your days per year. It might suck, but no matter where you live in the US, home is less than one day away.</p>
<p>I checked the Facebook ND 2012 group and it was full of whites; so I agree about the lack of diversity.</p>
<p>That would be 3.29% of your days per year...</p>
<p>is what kills the football program. Black kids visit and see a nice suburban school, but cannot relate as well as they do at Florida or Texas. USC has the advantage of being in LA. I know the admin is trying to address it-I am sure that any qualified AA female was offered admission.</p>
<p>It can't get any worse than my year (2012) with only 61 black students. Fortunately, I hear that there were alot of strong black applicants in the EA pool this year.</p>
<p>Honestly I think what killed ND football is that Willingham didn't do much recruiting (at least killed it a few years ago). Anyway, since I was little, I was always told "Everyone at ND is Irish Catholic, except the football team." I know that if I weren't Irish Catholic, I probably would not consider ND. I do consider it a major drawback of the school but at least I will fit in.</p>
<p>The Irish catholic stereotype is faaaaarrrrr from true. Of course theres a good bit of them, but there's also a good bit of most everything else</p>