University of Notre Dame.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My HS friend's kid got in there (2020) without even applying. Swimmer. Application was a formality.

It's not even a "formaility" with the football team. You know nothing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Over the last 10 years at my kids' Catholic preps I've seen the #1 and #2 seniors head to Notre Dame nearly every year. These overachiever kids don't want to go to Ivies, Stanford, or Duke, they don't even apply to other top universities. It's basically Notre Dame or bust. The school is honestly underrated on US News. Love that kids live on campus all 4 years.

The flaws: Location does suck. Quite literally the worst location, by far, of any university in the top 50. They give too much boost to (rich) legacies. Football players (and other recruited athletes) are idiots, which really calls into question all the so-called campus integrity. They also accept transfers who don't deserve to be on campus. Also, stupid gals at neighboring St Mary's desperately throw themselves at ND boys and pretend they're ND students; it's like Northeastern students pretending they're Harvard Students. Super weird dynamic. And yes, I get St Mary's was a "sister school" back when ND was boys only, but that was over 50 years ago.

Huh? How could you possibly know this?

And the living on campus thing is weird and paternalistic. Yes I know it’s common at private colleges.

It is also inaccurate. My niece and many of her classmates lived off campus junior and senior years and that was typical.
Btw, that’s not what paternalistic means either.

They recently changed the rules so that you can't really take part in activities if you live off-campus as a junior and senior.

Wrong. She just graduated in May. This was NOT her experience

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My experience goes back 20 years to when I was in college but others have agreed with my description. Catholic families send their children to both ND and CUA. The preppy conservative oldest child goes to ND. The youngest child in the family that is more adventurous and more left leaning goes to CUA.

My sense has always been the opposite. CUA is *way* more conservative and religious than ND. And academically they really aren't in the same discussion. Replace BC with CUA in your sentence and you might have a point.

I grew up in Chicago and went to what is possibly Notre Dame's biggest feeder high school (any Fenwick Friars on DCUM?) -- the kids who came from ND families but couldn't get in or didn't want to go (for whatever reason) tended to go to BC, Marquette, Providence, U of Dayton, Villanova, SLU, the Loyolas...not so much CUA.

maybe it is different for DC area Catholics since CUA is right there, but CUA didn't really seem to be on the radar screen for most of my high school. The aforementioned colleges though...definitely.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My experience goes back 20 years to when I was in college but others have agreed with my description. Catholic families send their children to both ND and CUA. The preppy conservative oldest child goes to ND. The youngest child in the family that is more adventurous and more left leaning goes to CUA.

My sense has always been the opposite. CUA is *way* more conservative and religious than ND. And academically they really aren't in the same discussion. Replace BC with CUA in your sentence and you might have a point.

I grew up in Chicago and went to what is possibly Notre Dame's biggest feeder high school (any Fenwick Friars on DCUM?) -- the kids who came from ND families but couldn't get in or didn't want to go (for whatever reason) tended to go to BC, Marquette, Providence, U of Dayton, Villanova, SLU, the Loyolas...not so much CUA.

maybe it is different for DC area Catholics since CUA is right there, but CUA didn't really seem to be on the radar screen for most of my high school. The aforementioned colleges though...definitely.

I just had to chime in. I was raised Catholic, am from the midwest and I went to Dayton. I had many friends who had siblings or best friends at Notre Dame. My friends all used to joke that they weren't smart enough to go to ND so they ended up at UD. When I was in high school, I filled out the application but never submitted it because I was convinced I wouldn't get in. This was in the 1980's so even then, ND had the reputation in the midwest of being super selective for the really smart kids who were also super involved in social activities in high school (the valedictorian who was also the class president and the captain of the basketball team.)

[Anonymous]

I think ND is a great school academically but my perception, as someone who didn’t go there but does hiring in the DC area and sees a lot of ND grads, is that the school is somewhat insular and there is a degree of immaturity among their graduates as a result. I do think the combination of being in a remote area, having a heavily Catholic student body, and drawing from a somewhat narrow applicant pool, may have a negative impact on this aspect of development. My overall impression is not negative at all, but there have been a number of ND grads that I didn’t feel comfortable hiring right out of school because they seemed unusually immature compared to other applicants. I often got the impression of very accomplished high schoolers, where you think “wow you are going to be great as soon as you get some real life experience!” Of course, there is some of that with all recent college grads but it feels more pronounced with ND grads. Things like study abroad and summer internships don’t seem to matter either… it’s still the impression I get.

For that reason I’d be unlikely to encourage my child to go there. I think college should be at least partially about broadening your horizons and ND seems more like a comfortable, familiar environment for a pretty specific type of student. Very good school though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our kids are double legacies. Two applied, one got in and didn't go after concluding it didn't make sense economically given other options. Would have liked it there, but no regrets.

South Bend is a dump but ND is on the outskirts of town and most students stick to or very close to a beautiful campus so it doesn't seem to matter. Dorm assignments take the place of greek life. The large majority of students were high school athletes and leaders. The large majority were raised Catholic and many attended Catholic schools, but they're not all super religious by a long shot. It's not accurate to say the school is conservative -- Obama, Clinton and Biden all won mock elections handily -- but there are more conservatives on campus than most top 25 schools. Many but not all students come from wealthy and UMC white families, but the school has an Ivy League sized endowment (nearly 10 times larger than Georgetown's) and is generous with financial aid. Students work hard and play hard. Football is king.

How generous are with merit aid?

Not very at all. For a long time they had no merit aid at all. Now they have a very small honors program and a very small amount of merit aid. For all practical purposes, assume that any aid from Notre Dame is need based.

Actually the Glynn Honors Program does not come with any aid. There are several merit aid opportunities. Students who can potential qualify are invited to apply after admission. Here is a list of merit aid possibilities. https://scholars.nd.edu/awards/list-of-awards/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Over the last 10 years at my kids' Catholic preps I've seen the #1 and #2 seniors head to Notre Dame nearly every year. These overachiever kids don't want to go to Ivies, Stanford, or Duke, they don't even apply to other top universities. It's basically Notre Dame or bust. The school is honestly underrated on US News. Love that kids live on campus all 4 years.

The flaws: Location does suck. Quite literally the worst location, by far, of any university in the top 50. They give too much boost to (rich) legacies. Football players (and other recruited athletes) are idiots, which really calls into question all the so-called campus integrity. They also accept transfers who don't deserve to be on campus. Also, stupid gals at neighboring St Mary's desperately throw themselves at ND boys and pretend they're ND students; it's like Northeastern students pretending they're Harvard Students. Super weird dynamic. And yes, I get St Mary's was a "sister school" back when ND was boys only, but that was over 50 years ago.

Huh? How could you possibly know this?

And the living on campus thing is weird and paternalistic. Yes I know it’s common at private colleges.

It is also inaccurate. My niece and many of her classmates lived off campus junior and senior years and that was typical.
Btw, that’s not what paternalistic means either.

They recently changed the rules so that you can't really take part in activities if you live off-campus as a junior and senior.

Not true. Seniors can move off campus and still participate in all activities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My HS friend's kid got in there (2020) without even applying. Swimmer. Application was a formality.

It's not even a "formaility" with the football team. You know nothing.

Actually, one of the biggest challenges of the competitiveness of the ND football team is the academic standards put upon the team vs. other football powerhouses. In fact, ND's academic requirements are very close to Stanford's for football players.

Notre Dame: https://www3.nd.edu/~ncaacomp/academics.shtml

Stanford: file:///Users/soniavigilante/Downloads/NCAA%20Academic%20Eligibility%20Requirements.pdf

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think ND is a great school academically but my perception, as someone who didn’t go there but does hiring in the DC area and sees a lot of ND grads, is that the school is somewhat insular and there is a degree of immaturity among their graduates as a result. I do think the combination of being in a remote area, having a heavily Catholic student body, and drawing from a somewhat narrow applicant pool, may have a negative impact on this aspect of development. My overall impression is not negative at all, but there have been a number of ND grads that I didn’t feel comfortable hiring right out of school because they seemed unusually immature compared to other applicants. I often got the impression of very accomplished high schoolers, where you think “wow you are going to be great as soon as you get some real life experience!” Of course, there is some of that with all recent college grads but it feels more pronounced with ND grads. Things like study abroad and summer internships don’t seem to matter either… it’s still the impression I get.

For that reason I’d be unlikely to encourage my child to go there. I think college should be at least partially about broadening your horizons and ND seems more like a comfortable, familiar environment for a pretty specific type of student. Very good school though.

Our organization actually seeks out ND grads (along with other top universities). We find the ND grads to be not only brilliant, but the easiest to work with..the least pompous. Just a personal experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think ND is a great school academically but my perception, as someone who didn’t go there but does hiring in the DC area and sees a lot of ND grads, is that the school is somewhat insular and there is a degree of immaturity among their graduates as a result. I do think the combination of being in a remote area, having a heavily Catholic student body, and drawing from a somewhat narrow applicant pool, may have a negative impact on this aspect of development. My overall impression is not negative at all, but there have been a number of ND grads that I didn’t feel comfortable hiring right out of school because they seemed unusually immature compared to other applicants. I often got the impression of very accomplished high schoolers, where you think “wow you are going to be great as soon as you get some real life experience!” Of course, there is some of that with all recent college grads but it feels more pronounced with ND grads. Things like study abroad and summer internships don’t seem to matter either… it’s still the impression I get.

For that reason I’d be unlikely to encourage my child to go there. I think college should be at least partially about broadening your horizons and ND seems more like a comfortable, familiar environment for a pretty specific type of student. Very good school though.

Our organization actually seeks out ND grads (along with other top universities). We find the ND grads to be not only brilliant, but the easiest to work with..the least pompous. Just a personal experience.

Brilliant? I might have bought this but your word choice gives you away. ND is a good school with smart students, but no one but an ND booster (either alum, or parent of student, or both) would say ND grads are “brilliant” and not pompous.

Some are definitely pompous, for instance. True if any name brand school, though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think ND is a great school academically but my perception, as someone who didn’t go there but does hiring in the DC area and sees a lot of ND grads, is that the school is somewhat insular and there is a degree of immaturity among their graduates as a result. I do think the combination of being in a remote area, having a heavily Catholic student body, and drawing from a somewhat narrow applicant pool, may have a negative impact on this aspect of development. My overall impression is not negative at all, but there have been a number of ND grads that I didn’t feel comfortable hiring right out of school because they seemed unusually immature compared to other applicants. I often got the impression of very accomplished high schoolers, where you think “wow you are going to be great as soon as you get some real life experience!” Of course, there is some of that with all recent college grads but it feels more pronounced with ND grads. Things like study abroad and summer internships don’t seem to matter either… it’s still the impression I get.

For that reason I’d be unlikely to encourage my child to go there. I think college should be at least partially about broadening your horizons and ND seems more like a comfortable, familiar environment for a pretty specific type of student. Very good school though.

Thanks for sharing your stereotyped view. Much appreciated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think ND is a great school academically but my perception, as someone who didn’t go there but does hiring in the DC area and sees a lot of ND grads, is that the school is somewhat insular and there is a degree of immaturity among their graduates as a result. I do think the combination of being in a remote area, having a heavily Catholic student body, and drawing from a somewhat narrow applicant pool, may have a negative impact on this aspect of development. My overall impression is not negative at all, but there have been a number of ND grads that I didn’t feel comfortable hiring right out of school because they seemed unusually immature compared to other applicants. I often got the impression of very accomplished high schoolers, where you think “wow you are going to be great as soon as you get some real life experience!” Of course, there is some of that with all recent college grads but it feels more pronounced with ND grads. Things like study abroad and summer internships don’t seem to matter either… it’s still the impression I get.

For that reason I’d be unlikely to encourage my child to go there. I think college should be at least partially about broadening your horizons and ND seems more like a comfortable, familiar environment for a pretty specific type of student. Very good school though.

Our organization actually seeks out ND grads (along with other top universities). We find the ND grads to be not only brilliant, but the easiest to work with..the least pompous. Just a personal experience.

Brilliant? I might have bought this but your word choice gives you away. ND is a good school with smart students, but no one but an ND booster (either alum, or parent of student, or both) would say ND grads are “brilliant” and not pompous.

Some are definitely pompous, for instance. True if any name brand school, though.

There are very few colleges in the United States where entering freshmen have better qualifications and test scores than Notre Dame. You don't have to be a Notre Dame booster to know that, but you'd have to be a real Notre Dame hater to deny it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think ND is a great school academically but my perception, as someone who didn’t go there but does hiring in the DC area and sees a lot of ND grads, is that the school is somewhat insular and there is a degree of immaturity among their graduates as a result. I do think the combination of being in a remote area, having a heavily Catholic student body, and drawing from a somewhat narrow applicant pool, may have a negative impact on this aspect of development. My overall impression is not negative at all, but there have been a number of ND grads that I didn’t feel comfortable hiring right out of school because they seemed unusually immature compared to other applicants. I often got the impression of very accomplished high schoolers, where you think “wow you are going to be great as soon as you get some real life experience!” Of course, there is some of that with all recent college grads but it feels more pronounced with ND grads. Things like study abroad and summer internships don’t seem to matter either… it’s still the impression I get.

For that reason I’d be unlikely to encourage my child to go there. I think college should be at least partially about broadening your horizons and ND seems more like a comfortable, familiar environment for a pretty specific type of student. Very good school though.

Thanks for sharing your stereotyped view. Much appreciated.

Stereotypes exist for a reason -NP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think ND is a great school academically but my perception, as someone who didn’t go there but does hiring in the DC area and sees a lot of ND grads, is that the school is somewhat insular and there is a degree of immaturity among their graduates as a result. I do think the combination of being in a remote area, having a heavily Catholic student body, and drawing from a somewhat narrow applicant pool, may have a negative impact on this aspect of development. My overall impression is not negative at all, but there have been a number of ND grads that I didn’t feel comfortable hiring right out of school because they seemed unusually immature compared to other applicants. I often got the impression of very accomplished high schoolers, where you think “wow you are going to be great as soon as you get some real life experience!” Of course, there is some of that with all recent college grads but it feels more pronounced with ND grads. Things like study abroad and summer internships don’t seem to matter either… it’s still the impression I get.

For that reason I’d be unlikely to encourage my child to go there. I think college should be at least partially about broadening your horizons and ND seems more like a comfortable, familiar environment for a pretty specific type of student. Very good school though.

Thanks for sharing your stereotyped view. Much appreciated.

Stereotypes exist for a reason -NP

Oh, really? Is that what you tell your black friends?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think ND is a great school academically but my perception, as someone who didn’t go there but does hiring in the DC area and sees a lot of ND grads, is that the school is somewhat insular and there is a degree of immaturity among their graduates as a result. I do think the combination of being in a remote area, having a heavily Catholic student body, and drawing from a somewhat narrow applicant pool, may have a negative impact on this aspect of development. My overall impression is not negative at all, but there have been a number of ND grads that I didn’t feel comfortable hiring right out of school because they seemed unusually immature compared to other applicants. I often got the impression of very accomplished high schoolers, where you think “wow you are going to be great as soon as you get some real life experience!” Of course, there is some of that with all recent college grads but it feels more pronounced with ND grads. Things like study abroad and summer internships don’t seem to matter either… it’s still the impression I get.

For that reason I’d be unlikely to encourage my child to go there. I think college should be at least partially about broadening your horizons and ND seems more like a comfortable, familiar environment for a pretty specific type of student. Very good school though.

Do you have favorite colleges to hire from?