3.72 Unweighted GPA
4.15 weighted
32 ACT
9 AP Classes: APUSH, AP GOV, AP LANG, AP LIT, AP MICROECONOMICS Online, AP MACROECONOMICS Online, AP EURO, AP CALC BC Online, AP CALC AB Online
AP LANG- 5
APUSH-4
AP GOV- 4
39/419 ( Top 9% )
Races: African American
Income: 34,000/yr
Single Parent household- essay will be about this
Extracurriculars:
NHS
Mu Alpha Theta
NEHS
FBLA
Student Council
Bridge Builders
Awards:
AP Scholar
2nd Place; Intro to Parliamentarian Procedure Regional Level- FBLA
2nd place; Intro to Financial Math and Analysis Regional Level- FBLA
1st Place; Securities and Investments Regional Level- FBLA
Work Experience:
Internship at a Law firm; I gained soft corporate skills: Ability to work long hours and still be able to be energized with only 5 hours of sleep. I know how to prepare business documents for business deals.
Letters of Rec:
Biology Teacher- 8/10
APUSH Teacher- 8/10
Vandy Educated Lawyer who I worked for at the internship- 9/10.
Major: Finance and Econ
Dream Job: To be a Mergers and Acquisitions Investment Banker.
GPA is a bit under average for ND and ACT is within range. I think maybe the URM bump will make up for the slightly low GPA, so I’d say you are roughly an average applicant at ND.
So since ND’s admit rate is about 18%, I would say ND is a borderline Reach/Low Reach for you.
Make sure you find some other reaches and matches and at least one safety, that you like and can afford (run NPC), to cover you in case ND does not work out.
Notre Dame admissions has stated that they put more weight in classroom performance then the test scores. As others have stated, your GPA appears to be below average for ND. The standardized test score is already in the bottom quarter for ND.
Based upon the stats that ND admissions gave from the current class, people with a 32 on the ACT had about a 14% chance of getting admitted.
The admit rates based upon classroom performance are below
Top 1% = 39% admitted
2 to 3 % = 24% admitted
4 to 5% = 14% admitted
6-10 % = 8% admitted
Below 10% = 3% admitted
Given your ACT score, you really needed your classroom performance to be top notch to offset it. As others have stated, the URM will help. But given your class rank puts you in the top 9% which would equate to an 8% admit rate and your ACT score equates to a 14% admit rate, you would probably have to have some absolutely amazing essays to up your chances.
@Mtttho I’m not a very good judge of essay choices. I will point you to a great resource of information where the Associate Vice President of Admissions at Notre Dame is part of a video where he not only guides you through the admissions process in general, but what Notre Dame is specifically looking for. From the 37:45 to 43:23 mark as well at the 56:20 mark he gives specific guidance related to essays. However, I would encourage you to watch the whole video. It’s great information, coming straight from the admissions office, that can only help you. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DQOPx1EGE8&feature=youtu.be
Also in the video he talks about how Notre Dame is 5 to 6% below their peers in enrollment by low-income students but they are making progress. It sounds like they are making a conscientious choice to seek out and recruit low-income students.
Below is another article where an alumnus donated $20 million dollars to fund The Fighting Irish Initiative will be a “groundbreaking” program to fund fully the education of students coming from low-income households making less than $50,000 annually. Again, they appear to be actively focusing some recruitment for low-income households. Your chances are probably a bit better then what I laid out earlier given this focus. If you are also a first generation college student, that would also help. http://ndsmcobserver.com/2015/09/alumnus-donates-20-million-support-students-low-socioeconomic-status/
@Mtttho Here is some additional info about how Notre Dame has established a “Matriculate” chapter.
Founded in the fall of 2014, Matriculate is a college-access organization based in New York City that helps high-achieving, low-income high school students make the transition to college by pairing them with advising fellows at leading colleges and universities nationwide. Their service is free to high achieving high school students from low income families and it looks like it could serve as a tremendous tool to help you through the college admissions process.