Hi. I posted this under another college, but as it relates to a story I know about specifically with Notre Dame, I thought I would post here. Last year, a friend of mine had a child who was accepted REA and then was flown out (paid by ND) to see the school. I believe the child is exceptionally smart and well rounded. I have never heard of this before. Is this common at ND or even colleges that try to woo the really great, smart and well rounded kid to their school? This had nothing to do with athletics.
DS had a couple of these (didn’t apply to ND). They were at schools known for giving good merit aid to students who had stats well above the schools’ averages.
Yep. See: https://admissions.nd.edu/reilly/
They also do one or two weekends specifically for diversity. See: https://admissions.nd.edu/spring-visit-weekend/
@hcmom65 as @silverdrop said, Notre Dame has Reilly Weekend. I attended the weekend myself last year. In past years, they’ve held two with one in February (for REA admits) and one in April (for RD admits). Each weekend has about 80 kids. This year, they are only holding one weekend which will be held in early April which should be about 80 kids. The students invited are generally in the very top of the admitted students. Notre Dame uses the weekend to try and sell Notre Dame to the attendees, most of whom are comparing it against Ivies/Ivie caliber schools and against full rides at less prestigious schools. As far as merit money, there really isn’t much true merit money at Notre Dame (even for Reilly kids). However, if you qualify for financial aid, they are extremely generous with Reilly students. Additional perks of Reilly Weekend include invitations to apply to the Glynn Family Honors Program or the Engineering honors program. DM me if you have any questions.