<p>I know that many of you are going to have a difficult decision deciding where to go to school and if ND is right for you. I know people are pretty free and usually just start their own threads, but if you would like to ask a current student anything, feel free to ask in this thread (or start one, your call)...it is the last year I can offer this so you better take me up on it :). </p>
<p>Any questions? Anything you want to know from a current student's perspective?</p>
<p>Hi Irish --
Thanks for offering to help with a tough decision for my daughter. What can you tell us about engineering at Notre Dame? Currently my D is interested in civil engineering. We haven't visited ND yet, so we don't know a lot about the program or facilities. Any help would be appreciated! Thanks.</p>
<p>Ugh, why must I be a Psychology major. If you have any specific questions on Engineering let me know and I will forward them to a friend who can answer them better than I. Here is what I know through the grapevine, however.</p>
<p>I believe ND engineering is very good, but it is also very very challenging and a lot of students end up dropping engineering, mainly going to business but some to pre-med (which is why it is nice that ND has strong departments across the board and isn't just known for one thing...keep that in mind with other schools because it is part of the reason I transferred to ND). ND has always done will with placing students, so I am assuming that you can get a job pretty easily after but I bet Engineering has stats on that.</p>
<p>Anyways, sorry I am not more help on that, but let me know if you would like me to get you in touch with someone who is majoring in Engineering as a have a friend who is who owes me a favor :)</p>
<p>S will be visiting ND during the winter. He is going to fly into O'Hare. </p>
<p>Irish, have you ever taken either the bus or train from O'Hare to campus? Which one is preferable? </p>
<p>Thanks for your help.</p>
<p>My son takes the bus, $59 round trip right from the main circle to Midway Airport, and flies Southwest home and back. They also run the busses to O'Hare. Reasonable prices, nice busses, no transfers necessary, scheduled departures every two hours like clockwork and, best of all, reliable. No question, I'd have him take the bus...</p>
<p>Bus is a good option (btw it goes to the bookstore, not main circle) but there are negatives as well. If it isn't during a major school travel time they will not have direct busses from ND to the airports. This means one transfer (pretty minor) and many stops which can make the trip run upwards of 4 hours! Just something to keep in mind for planning your travel! If they are running direct, however, it can't be beat!</p>
<p>Overall best way to go, if you can get it affordably, is to fly into South Bend. Other than that, however, I do think the bus is the next best bet.</p>
<p>Thanks for your replies. </p>
<p>I spoke with a lady at the bus company. She said it takes 3 hours from O'Hare to ND. She did not mention a transfer. Fare is $59. Seems to be many stops between Chicago and ND.</p>
<p>Amtrak is actually quicker and cheaper. Fare is $15 each way. It takes an hour and a half from Chicago to South Bend. Anyone know how to go from O'Hare to the Amtrak station - is it difficult?</p>
<p>Hey Irish,
What can you tell me about financial aid? What is your experience with the financial aid office? Are they generous or pretty stringent?</p>
<p>Princeton review gives ND's FA a rating of 96.... which is really good</p>
<p>but......</p>
<p>Its all need based..... no merit money</p>
<p>Amtrak is scary unreliable... I wish that weren't the case, but it's true</p>
<p>With the Amtrack the biggest problem I have heard is that you can't pick it up at the airport. You actually have to take the subway to pick it up and I have never wanted to do that with bags.</p>
<p>As for financial aid ND is usually very good and will meet your need. However, chillin' is right, no merit based unless it is a sports scholarship.</p>
<p>How common are study groups? On average, how many hours of sleep an average ND student gets each night? Do you ever feel entirely overwhelmed with the workload?</p>
<p>Personally I have found study groups to be quite common at Notre Dame and also very helpful. The students all really work hard to help each other and are willing to help each other and that makes a huge difference. Here is an example: I had a major cumulative final in one of my classes and I spent 6 hours on a study guide. I then offered it up to anyone in the class and sent it out to many people. I don't say this to brag, I say it because it is fairly common. I have often worked in study groups, or even just had study partners who are now very good friends.</p>
<p>The sleep varies a lot. I think freshmen get the least amount of sleep just because of all the freedom that comes with college. When I was a freshman (granted not at ND but nonetheless I think it is pretty similar) I was only getting 5-6 hours a night because I would stay up really late and had early classes (some depends on when your classes are too). I now usually average about 7 hours a night which isn't too bad.</p>
<p>At first the workload will be overwhelming; college just is that way for just about everyone. Don't take more than 15 credits your first semester! After you have finished your first semester, however, life will get much easier and you will learn how to manage your time. This semester was the only time I have ever felt overwhelmed since my first semester of college but I did it to myself. I had 14 credits, was a teacher's assistant, was applying to graduate school, and was working on a Psychology honors thesis at the same time...don't do that, lol. Some depends on the major as well, but you will find ways to manage. 15 credits is almost always doable but you will just be busy. As long as you do the work though, it shouldn't be too too bad. Many have walked these paths before you, and we all somehow survived, you will too!</p>
<p>I hope that helps. Good questions!</p>
<p>Freshman son has flown in and out of South Bend airport with no problems whatsoever! He takes a cab to and from the airport, in fact, has met a cab driver that he calls regularly (very nice!). His roommate, on the other hand, flies in and out of Chicago. What a nightmare! Bus has been late, missed buses, flights delayed!!! And, when he attended the Intro to Engineering program summer of his junior HS year, his roommate had flown into Chicago. Roommate did not receive luggage until 3 days into the program. I saw a thread on the boards that discussed flights home for college students a couple of days ago. The main info seemed to suggest that if you can use smaller regional airports with a couple of hours wait time in between flights, you are much better off. Luggage is less likely to be lost and there is less chance of missed flights.<br>
When son wakes up this morning, I will ask him to comment on the Engineering Program at Notre Dame thus far. We have not seen his final grades for this semester, but I do know that he is planning to stay in the engineering program. Right now, his intended major is Aero, but he has had a senior student try to talk him into Computer Engineering. I do know that he has mentioned that there are going to be a lot less Engineering majors Spring '07. It is very hard--he took 17 hours. Engineering programs are on a very strict class schedule to follow. Will be taking 17 hrs next semester also. For those with questions about the engineering program, see if you can obtain a Bulletin of Information which lists the courses for all disciplines. That can be very helpful! Also, I know that Engineering school put on a week long(?) career fair. He attended even though he was just a freshman. I think he was able to gain info about job opportunities for engineers. I know he mentioned that a lot of good companies were trying to recruit upper class students--he had a couple of companies take his resume for future possibility. The engineering school does a great job with this, I think!</p>
<p>My son had good luck with South Bend airport, too...that's when the US Navy picked up the tab for the flight. We do the Midway thing because the flights are very cost-efficient (aka, cheap). The Coach USA bus limo service makes it work... Gotta admit, we haven't really thought much about our son's convenience as much as we have the out-of-pocket cost. :)</p>
<p>Notre Dame AL --
Thanks for your help with engineering info -- that would be great if you could get your son's take on the program for me. Especially wondering how many women are in the program? What about women on the faculty? Facilities? Again, thanks very much!</p>
<p>And, of course, he's still asleep~~As far as women in the program, faculty and facilities, go to the Notre Dame engineering website. It is very good! That can get you started--I know he checked it out as part of his decision making to attend.</p>
<p>Don't feel bad, ND Al...my son just came downstairs bleary-eyed at the crack-of-dawn hour of 11:36 a.m. First day he was home, he slept till 2:00 p.m. </p>
<p>Ah, how I remember the days when I could do that!</p>
<p>It is 10:45 here in Denver and I have been up since 8...then again I am still stuck on Eastern time for some reason. Anyways, just so you current ND parents know, grades have been posted online for better or for worse.</p>
<p>Really I think the train is the best deal. It is pretty easy to transfer to from the airport. From either O'Hare or Midway you just take the subway downtown and make a transfer and walk a block to the train station that leads straight into South Bend. Granted, you do have to get a taxi from the train station to campus, but it's doable. It is ALOT more reliable and cheaper than the bus imho.
You don't have to sit in bad Chicago traffic, which has gotten worse w/ a huge construction project just south of downtown. Here's a link to the train's website:
<a href="http://www.nictd.com/%5B/url%5D">http://www.nictd.com/</a></p>