What are my chances?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Notre Dame
1

<p>Hi, everyone! I've been recently looking at different colleges and right now ND looks like the right school for me. The only question is whether I have a chance at getting in. I'm a junior in high school, so if there is something else I should be doing, l should have time to get it done. Here's my rundown:</p>

<p>White, female, Midwest, non-legacy
GPA:3.987
Class rank: 7 out of about 200 students
SAT (I know these are low--planning on taking it again, plus I'm taking the ACT in December):
Critical Reading=570
Math=530
Writing=560
Classes (I received an A in all of them):</p>

<p>Freshmen year:
World Geography
Algebra II (I took Algebra I in eighth grade)
English 9 Honors
Adv. Concert Band
Orientation to Life and Careers
Biology I
Nutrition and Wellness
Physical Education I
Drivers Education
Computer Keyboarding</p>

<p>Sophomore year:
Honors Geometry
English 10 Honors
Adv. Concert Band
Chemistry I
Adv. Nutrition and Wellness
Computer Applications
Physical Education II
Spanish I
Spanish II</p>

<p>Junior year (this year):
AP US History
AP English and Comp.
Business and Personal Law
Adv. Concert Band/ Jazz Band
Pre-Calculus
Debate
Spanish III</p>

<p>Plans for next year include more difficult classes, most likely including AP Psychology, AP Government, AP Calculus, and AP English Lit.</p>

<p>I'm taking the AP tests, and hope to do well on them.</p>

<p>I have taken the hardest classes offered in my school and am among the top students.</p>

<p>English is my best subject, so I will probably be able to write a very good essay.</p>

<p>ECs:
Marching band (9-now)
Pep Band (9-now)
Concert band (9-now)
Jazz Band (10-now)
Pit orchestra (9)
Girl Scouts (9)
Newspaper Staff Writer (9)
Features Editor (10)
Editor-in-Chief (11, now)
National Honor Society (11, now)</p>

<p>I would really love to hear what you guys think and any suggestion you have to help me improve my chances. Thanks!!</p>

2

<p>You need to get your SAT scores up drastically. I did a lot better on my ACT than my SAT, so maybe you will have a similar experience.</p>

3

<p>I agree, those scores have got to go up. Since ur a junior, I'd recommend getting a study book and even just glancing at them and becoming familiar with the test format and the instructions will help you a ton.</p>

4

<p>Thanks for that tip. I recently purchased the College Board's Online Course, so I'm doing to exercises and hoping they will help next time I take it. Also, as I said I'm taking the ACT this December, so I hope I will do pretty well on it.</p>

<p>Is there anything else besides the tests I should be worried about? I'm hoping to bring up my scores, but is there anything else in there that screams, "I could be better, please help me?"</p>

<p>Thanks so much for your help!!</p>

5

<p>The only other suggestion I've got for u is to maybe do some leadership or service. However, you do seem to exhibit a passion for music w/ ur participation in all those bands. Does that take up a lot of ur time after school?</p>

6

<p>KSAzN, yes, while band is a class a large portion of the work takes place outside of school. Marching band has a particularly rigorous schedule; believe me, it has caused some late nights for homework. Now that marching season is over I have no idea how I did it. I do have leadership in band, I am alto saxophone section leader and a member of the leadership team.</p>

<p>While it might come off I have a passion for music (and I do, I don't know what life would be like without band), newspaper is something that lately I've been a lot more interested in. The thing is, there's only one newspaper and a lot of bands, so the whole thing is thrown a little out of proportion. Newspaper takes almost as much time as all of the bands put together. As I am the editor-in-chief, it is my responsibility to make sure everything runs smoothly, and that is no easy task. I wish there was some way to highlight my work on newspaper as much as my work in band.</p>

<p>As for the leadership and service, I get most of that through National Honor Society. I have helped pick up garbage, ran booths at an elementary school fall festival, and am planning to help serve concessions at a symphony orchestra concert next month.</p>

<p>Thanks so much for the advice!!</p>

7

<p>"As for the leadership and service, I get most of that through National Honor Society. I have helped pick up garbage, ran booths at an elementary school fall festival, and am planning to help serve concessions at a symphony orchestra concert next month."</p>

<p>ditto what everyone else said. But also, this isn't really leadership. well it is in the pure sense of the word, but I can guarantee that every single person applying to ND has done at the VERY LEAST that much. What we mean by leadership is something you did on your own, preferably something that requires more than just showing up and selling hotdogs for a few hours. Become a special olympics coach, volunteer regularly at a hospital, play music for an elderly folks home a few times a week, etc. Everyone applying to ND is in a club, and most of them are in NHS. Do something different than the minimum, if possible. It will play great dividends in the college app process. Good luck!</p>

8

<p>Hmmm...thank you for the advice, I didn't think about doing anything along those lines. I will most certianlly look into that!</p>

9

<p>If you can organize some sort of charity event, that can work really well. But YOU have to organize it, not just be a part of it.</p>

10

<p>Hi, again. First off I would like to congratulate all who just got the accepted. I most desperately hope to join your ranks next year.</p>

<p>I thought I would update you on some things I have been trying to do to improve my admission chances. First, I have been regularly going over to my old middle school and helping them put together their newspaper. They are in the beginnings stages of having a great program and I'm trying to help them get there. Their "official" sponsor has been pretty sick lately, so I have pretty much been running the meetings.</p>

<p>Also, I just got back my December ACT scores. I came out thinking I had done a great job, but my results did not come back as good as I thought they would. They were:
Composite-- 25
English-- 28
Math-- 26
Reading-- 24
Science-- 20
(The writing scores have not been published yet. After I took it I thought I had done a pretty good job, but I thought I had done a good job of it rest of it too...)</p>

<p>I read that the average ACT score for Notre Dame is somewhere between 30-33. So, my score is lower, but is it off the charts? I have not found an lowest possible score that would be considered. I know I'm going to take it again, (and as many times as is necessary) but is it possible to get it where it needs to be? Also, I'm thinking about forgetting the SAT and just concentrate on the ACT, since right now it is the higher of the two. Is that a bad move? Should I work both of my scores up?</p>

<p>I am continuing to keep my grades as high as possible. I got all 100%'s last nine-weeks and I think I scored the same results this nine-weeks.</p>

<p>So, am I heading in the right direction, or am I on the wrong path? This is something I really want, so I need to make sure that I am doing everything I possibly can right now.</p>

<p>And congratulations, again, to all who got accepted!!</p>

11

<p>You're a junior? Study hard for those SAT/ACTs. I bet you can bring your ACTs up to at least the 30-32 range by the end of your junior year/beginning of your senior year.</p>

12

<p>Nice stats! If you can write a killer essay, all you need is to find a way to get those test scores up, and then you should be in. But admissions are really random, I know of kids who have been rejected with nearly perfect grades, test scores, leadership, etc...if I had to give you one piece of advice it would be this - if any part of your application seems just so-so (in your case, it would probably be test scores) then apply regular decision. ND's early decision is harder than most schools, and for some reason a lot of seemingly excellent matches are flat out rejected ED.</p>

<p>I'm a freshman at ND this year so if you need any info about the school, let me know. Good luck with those tests!</p>

13

<p>if you are worried about having trouble conveying your love for newspaper, it does ask you to specify how much time u spend on each activity, so it can gauge what you truly spend most of your time with (and for some people, lack of time spent on anything). Good job on helping those middle schoolers! Sounds like a really neat project, and will most definitely show ND some leadership/service potential.</p>

14

<p>yeah....write a kickass essay. i think that might be what got me in because it sure as hell wasn't my grades.</p>

15

<p>Hi Holly09
you sound in really good shape, except test scores. I hear that ND really takes into account your class rank. My thoughts (and I am a mom, so you know I will share them!) is that you not worry abou the tests until this summer. Right now, continue to excel at school and beef up the community service,as was previously suggested. Then this summer take a test prep class, either the ACT or SAT. I would suggest one that actually gives full length tests 1x per week, to get you used to the length, etc. My daughter took an SAT test prep class that also placed her in seperate classes for each of the 3 sections, depending on your scores, so more tailored to your need. Then take the the test Oct 08. </p>

<p>My d has the opposite problem. She did really well on ACT and SAT and SATIIs, but her GPA could be higher (3.5unweighted and 4.2 weighted - I think). She decided to take some classes at the local jr college and also took a class at Cornell last summer, hoping that since she did so well in these classes it will show ND that she can handle college work.<br>
Good Luck!</p>

16

<p>Wow, these are really great suggestions! You guys have no idea how much you are helping me, really. Thank you, and I will definitely look into a prep course this summer. I'm thinking about taking some senior year required classes this summer so I can take an elective I'm really interested in during the regular school year, so I'll have to work it around that.</p>

<p>You guys have given me so much hope (all the people who have been posting "rate me" type threads seem to have better stats than I do). It really makes me happy to know that you guys don't think I'm that much off the mark.</p>

17

<p>ya just work on your scores but try not to get too attached to a school because even with all the right stats you never know..i was rejected with a 34 ACT, 3.93 uw gpa and tons of ECs, so you never know</p>