I’m going into my senior year and here is a short resume:
GPA before my AP’s this year: 4.02
Class rank: 8 (out of 356)
SAT: 1900
Junior and senior year i took the most amount of AP’s possible
Heavily involved in my band, and my band is a pretty good one, we’ve performed at Kimmel Center, Lincoln center and hopefully Kennedy Center next year. Thinking about being a part of the marching band in Notre Dame.
I am the varsity captain my senior year for my volleyball team, which is too nearly successful, 5 years straight of a division title.
Varsity bowler all four years
participated in JV softball for two years
participated in the pit orchestra and jazz band since junior year and will continue into senior year (i should probably include that i actively play 5 different instruments for the school)
3 clubs freshman year to 9 clubs sophomore and junior year
current girl scout for 11 years
NHS member
i have a job at a local ice cream shop
Female
New Jersey
White
Catholic
1 Immigrant (father’s parents are from Ireland, and he was born in Canada when they were making their way into the United States, he was raised in New Jersey however)
I have not listed everything I have accomplished or all of my awards, just the major events/clubs/sports I have participated in. Also, do you think it will help at all if my neighbors/friends have two boys (that I am friends with) that go to Notre Dame currently?
I recognize that my sat scores are not the best and my GPA isn’t either, (hopefully that will go up with my ap classes), so im hoping that i might succeed with my extra curriculars? thank you! and i swear that I’m not too conceited in real life as i sound on this forum.
I would also like to add that I’m definitely am going to apply to the University, since it is my favorite school, but I would like to hear what my chances are just to know, I suppose. Thank you! and if anyone else reading this is also an applicant, good luck!
This is going to sound very harsh, but your test scores are way too low for ND, which has the reputation of being very score conscious. The fact that your neighbor’s kids go to ND will have zero effect. Your father’s status as an immigrant will have zero effect. Your mother’s battle with cancer will only help your application to the extent that you perhaps use it in an essay. Is your 4.02 a weighted or unweighted GPA? Your EC’s, while good, are somewhat run of the mill. If I haven’t completely discouraged you, which I hope I haven’t, read on. My advice to you would be threefold. First prepare, prepare, prepare for and retake your SAT. Perhaps try the ACT. The middle 50% for ND on the SAT is @2120-2250, on the ACT it is 32-34. ND does not consider the writing portion; the CR+M middle 50 is 1380-1510. That is the ballpark that you should be in to be among the competitive applicants. My second piece of advice would be to get to know your regional admissions rep. Finally, and maybe most importantly, spend time making sure your supplemental essays show why you are a fit for ND. They are very conscious of admitting students who they believe are a good “fit”. Sorry this was so long, but I wanted to give you advice that I think proved helpful to my two daughters, one of whom is a junior and the other of whom will be a freshman at ND. Feel free to pm me if you have any more specific questions. Good luck!
You can see as well as anyone that the SATs are below the average for the school. I’d suggest studying hard for the SAT (or perhaps try the ACT) and re-take in the fall. Other than being a recruited athlete or doing something truly spectacular (ex. Olympic metal, Intel finalist) ECs generally don’t compensate for academics. http://admissions.nd.edu/apply/admission-statistics/
D got into Notre Dame for class of 2019. Notre Dame prides itself on something like half of it’s class either being number one or two in their class or having standardized test scores in the top 1% nationally. They also tend to admit students from certain high schools at a much higher rate than
hi, wje9164be, is there something else at the end of your reply that youre missing?
thanks everyone for the help! since im a rising junior, i suppose senior now, I plan to work hard in my studies and rise to the top five of my class, maybe even top three. That would be the top 1% of my class. Currently, I sit top 2%. Would moving up 5 spots in my class rank help?
My current SAT score out of 1600 is 1260. I have taken the SAT already twice, and i have not taken the ACT yet. Thanks!
@ejcclc , the 4.02 is my weighted GPA for my sophomore and freshman year, which in my school, AP’s were not allowed. This junior year I have taken the most AP’s I could fit and the same will be next year. i have no idea what my unweighted GPA is because my high school does not do them. Also, would it help if I was in the top five of my class? That is the top 1%. I am currently top 2% (just barely however). I look forward to my senior year which is comprised of solely AP classes plus my mandatory gym and wind ensemble so i can continue my passion for music in my school’s (really my county’s also) finest band.
Also, I was not sure about the neighbor acceptance, because i had wondered if it helps that there was two recent applicants from my school that got in.
I have taken the SAT twice, would you still recommend that I take it a third time and try to receive above a 1380 out of 1600? (that would be 100 points above where i am right now).
okay!
honestly, quite a few. im not too proud of them. no c’s however. most are all high b+'s, with the average b here and there in two AP classes. I think that there are more A’s than B’s overall. and i did not finish below an average of an 89 for any class i took, ap or not.
freshman year: all A’s, marking period and final average
sophomore year: a bit of a struggle in chemistry and algebra, but still high B’s and the rest all A’s
junior year: this one is all mixed up i got a 98 average in my APUSH class but my AP English class i had finished with an 89 (with an overall improving grade moving up from each marking period).
senior year: taking all ap’s and i am determined not to receive below a 90 on any of the final grades. (however this is unfortunate because colleges do not see your senior year as much as your junior)
Really strive to exceed 700 per section across the board. They were rejecting kids who averaged over 750 per section. If you want it, it will mean a lot of work this summer.
I’ll put in my input as an accepted student in the class of 2019. Don’t lose hope, seriously. I am a white upper-middle class kid, who had a lousy 28 on his ACT and in the top 10 percent of his class (barely) and isn’t even catholic and I got in, I think because I really explained why I wanted to be there. (Notre Dame has the US’s top medieval studies program). I read a bio of the class of 2019 and it said that as opposed to around 80(?) percent of the incoming students having the top 1 percent of act/sat scores, they had only fifty-something. They are really moving more toward that holistic approach. Even if some 80 percent of students identify as catholic. Seriously I am very against the standardized tests in general and I’m glad I chose ND after reading that ACT/SAT is less important. (Probably how I got in as well XD)
