REA Chances

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Notre Dame
1

Notre Dame has been my dream school since I was old enough to realize it. Please help me determine my chances for admission with early action.

ACT: C 34 E 35 M 33 R 33 S 35 (one sitting)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.9
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Top 10%
AP (place score in parenthesis): Chem, Lit & Comp, Calc, Bio (only APs offered at my small school)
Senior Year Course Load: Journalism, World History, AP Lit & Comp, AP Calc, Physics, AP Bio
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Football 4 yrs (Captain 12, Special Teams POY 10), Math/Science Club (President 12, VP 11), Student Council (11, 12), Newspaper (11,12), JV Basketball, JV Baseball, Catholic Youth Group (10,11,12)
Job/Work Experience: Live on a farm, also worked at an automotive factory
Volunteer/Community service: Active in my church with ushering, reading, and serving. Had service days for student council and overall pretty good service.
Summer Activities: Engineering Summer Experience at Ohio State
Essays: I think pretty good but its relative.
Teacher Recommendation: Had my Physics and AP Chemistry teacher write and she loves me so I’m guessing 10/10.
Counselor Rec: Pretty personal relationship in a small school so 10/10

State (if domestic applicant): Ohio
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Not sure how much ND cares but my uncle is an alum and my cousin is a freshman at ND.

Please share your opinions!

2

If you look at the REA Decision thread from last year’s admission cycle, your stats look just as good, if not better, than the majority of the people who said they were admitted. As long as your essays and everything are good, I think you have a good chance!

3

Does being from a small school hurt my chances? I know they say that everyone has an equal chance and they look at if you took the classes offered but will it hurt that only a few AP level classes are offered?

4

Also, does the fact that my uncle is an alum and my cousin is attending pull any weight?

5

To your above question, no it does not. Notre Dame only considers an applicant to be a legacy if a parent received a degree from the University. To the one before, coming from a small school doesn’t hurt. I have two daughters currently at ND and their graduating classes were 62 and 49 students.

6

Were your daughters REA or RD? Do you think I have a good shot at getting in REA?

7

Both applied EA, both were deferred and subsequently accepted RD. My guess is you are similar to probably 90% of the EA applications they will receive - good grades, good test scores, decent EC’s. I really believe that ND looks to the supplemental essays to find out how the applicant will contribute to the mission of the University. Making those essays shine will help a great deal.