Should I apply EA or RD? What are my chances?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Notre Dame
1

<p>Stats:</p>

<p>GPA: 3.98 of 4 (unweighted)
My high school does not have ranks.
ACT: 33 (10 on the essay)
-Subscores: English 35, Math 30, Reading 32, Science 34
AP Classes so far: AP European History, AP United States History, AP Language, AP Physics.
Senior Year classes: AP Calc BC, AP Literature, AP Chem, AP Macroeconomics, AP Gov, AP Spanish.
Also, over the years, I have taken 8 other advanced classes which rank higher on a weighted scale; but ND does not look at the weighted scale, supposedly.</p>

<p>EC: Soccer(4 years), Business Professionals of America(2 years and President), Competitive Speech Team(2 years, also Varsity Captain), NHS(2 years, Secretary, 20 volunteer hours), Volunteer Soccer Coach(70+ Hours), Volunteer at the local hospital(90+ hours), Global Awareness against Racial Abuse Club(1 year), Math Team(1 year), Path Changers(1 year, Founder and President), Committee to Improve School(1 year and Founding Member), Spanish Honor Society(3 years)</p>

<p>I also won Regionals and State in Business Professionals of America, competed at the National level but did not place in Top 10. In addition, I have won coach of the year for two seasons in a row. I have won several scholar athlete awards for soccer, but I doubt those are very significant.</p>

<p>I do attend a Blue Ribbon High School- School in an economically disadvantaged area that still maintains high test scores. I doubt this will help at all.</p>

<p>I am not sure if this would help, but I did move here from Bulgaria when I was nearly nine years old. I did not know a word of English; but I am not fluent in Bulgarian, English, and partly fluent in Spanish. Also, I am a caucasian male.</p>

<p>Also, the teacher that will be writing my recommendation is a Notre Dame Alumni.</p>

<p>Should I apply EA or RD? I have my heart set on EA, but what do you think? Also, what are my approximate chances? I know nothing is for certain.</p>

2

<p>On the margin, I would apply EA. Spend a lot of time on your ND supplemental essays. While your academics are right there, your ECs seem a tad lacking, but that is being kind of nitpicky. I wish you luck. My D was in your spot last year. She applied EA, was deferred, then accepted RD and will be attending in the fall.</p>

3

<p>addicted10: I agree with ejcclc; you are right on the edge. Contact your regional admission rep at ND and ask them this question. Give them your test scores, UW GPA, etc . They will tell you whether or not EA or RA is right for you.</p>

<p>Best of luck and Go Irish!</p>

4

<p>I don’t see any downside of applying EA. Good luck.</p>

5

<p>From the ND website:
“Because the Admissions Committee is unable to extend all of its offers of admission in the Early Action process, it is highly conservative when making Early Action admission decisions. The Admissions Committee advises students to apply in the Early Action process only if they are in the very top ranges of our applicant pool. Further clarification of Early Action standards for this year can be gained by seeing the Admissions Counselor who may travel near your area in the autumn or by contacting the Office of Undergraduate Admissions at <a href=“mailto:admissions@nd.edu”>admissions@nd.edu</a>.”</p>

6

<p>The downside of applying EA for so-called “marginal” EA candidates is that, because the applicant pool is extremely competitive, some marginal EA candidates will be rejected who might well have been accepted in the RD pool. That’s why the university itself discourages applicants who are not at the “very top ranges” of the overall applicant pool from applying EA. There is absolutely no downside to waiting and applying RD, except for the waiting part. Don’t get your heart set on applying EA unless your regional rep advises you to do so.</p>

7

<p>So am I this marginal applicant? I don’t see how I am.</p>

8

<p>From the ND admissions website:</p>

<p>“The average student admitted for the class of 2013 was ranked in the top 4% of his or her graduating class. These students also scored well on Standardized Tests. For the class of 2013, the middle 50% of admitted students scored between 1390 and 1490 on the SAT and between 32 and 34 on the ACT. A quarter of the admitted group scored above those ranges and 25% scored below.”</p>

<p>You’re not a marginal candidate, but you may be a marginal candidate for EA. Your stats put you right at the middle ranges for admitted students. Whether your “hook” of Bulgarian immigrant is enough to make you a good EA candidate is a question for your regional rep, who presumably also has more familiarity with the rigor of your high school than anyone responding here.</p>

9

<p>First of all, I don’t understand why you bothered to post your questions if you apparently have already made up your mind about your chances and that you will apply EA.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>Your ACT of 33 places you in the range for enrolled freshmen, based on the CDS for 2011-2012. However, the range for admitted applicants - your actual competition - will be higher than this range. Also, adcoms have stated that admission becomes more competitive each year as the number of international applicants continues to increase. I would also point out that your 33 is a “low” 33, as your subscores average to 32.75.</p>

<p>You have taken a good number of AP classes, but we have no way of knowing how this translates in terms of a rigorous curriculum. You have not posted the scores from the AP classes that you have taken - at some high schools, classes have the AP designation, but students do so poorly on the exams that most students don’t even take the exams and those that do score poorly. </p>

<p>We also don’t know how you compare to your classmates - at some high schools having a 3.98 UW GPA will put you outside of the top 10% (grade inflation is ridiculous). 90% of ND freshmen are in the top 10%, so you will be at a severe disadvantage if you are not. Even if your school doesn’t rank, adcoms are likely to have an idea of how you stack up compared to your peers.</p>

<p>Your ECs demonstate that you are involved outside of the classroom, but I don’t see anything above what is typical for an ND applicant. Perhaps the state/national recognition in Business Professionals of America competition, but this is not an organziation with which I am familiar. There is no indication in your posting for how you have spent your summers.</p>

<p>Will you be a competitive applicant? Likely yes. Will you be a first read reject? Almost certainly no. Will you be a marginal candidate? Perhaps, but you have not provided enough information.</p>

10

<p>@addicted10: I was accepted EA with some similar stats to yours. The thing that I think helped me the most was being in contact with the adcom rep for my area, and really focusing on my supplemental and Commonapp essays. Make yourself sound like you, and the admissions people will take notice. I particularly enjoyed the “Why attend Notre Dame” question. Your stats are competitive enough to avoid an outright rejection at EA I would say. Worst case, you get deferred. But have tried reaching out to your admissions rep for your area?</p>

11

<p>I received a 4 on AP U.S. I scored 5’s on Euro, Lang, and Physics. For rankings, they took them out of our school system after my sophomore year. At that point, I had a 3.9 and that had me at 20/540. Knowing that my gpa has improved (I only have one B+ from my freshman year), I hope to be in the top 3-4%. Also, I have tried to get in touch with my regional rep, but no real luck at this point.</p>