Anonymous
Post 07/21/2025 06:48     Subject: Why is Notre Dame bot as selective as it's peers?

Anonymous wrote:Acceptance rate is a useless & irrelevant stat.


in what context?
Anonymous
Post 07/21/2025 04:07     Subject: Why is Notre Dame bot as selective as it's peers?

Acceptance rate is a useless & irrelevant stat.
Anonymous
Post 07/21/2025 02:30     Subject: Why is Notre Dame bot as selective as it's peers?

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:ND has a niche with midwestern Catholic HS grads. Most secular private school or public school grads aren't interested because of the overt religious overtones. Also, the location dims interest among a lot of people.


Only 35% of enrolled students are from the midwest. In actuality, it is much more competitive applying to ND from a midwest Catholic High School vs a Catholic HS in DC. Why? Because a larger percentage of students apply due to location. I know a Chicago family (big donors with their name on a building) who pulled their kid out of Catholic school for high school and enrolled in public solely because the competition in the public school was less.


Wow that's crazy. They were all in on ND. They obviously really determined where they wanted their kid to go to school.


Things like this may happen more than we think. A co-worker who went to an elite high school in the Huntington Beach area told me some families were sending their kids to a Compton high school instead because the elite school was no longer sending kids to Ivies, UCLA and Berkeley as much as in the past.

But Compton? Sounds implausible. That would be like a Berkeley family sending their kid to a high school in Richmond. Maybe some people try to game the system like this.
Anonymous
Post 07/21/2025 01:12     Subject: Why is Notre Dame bot as selective as it's peers?

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Conservative evangelicals are ruining the schools. Georgetown seems to have found the sweet spot.


They're not evangelical. They are conservative Catholic.


They are not even that. On the Catholic political spectrum, with 1 being the most liberal and 10 being the most conservative, Jesuit schools are about a 3 with GU being maybe 2.5 for being a little more secular. ND is a 5. Conservative schools would be Ave Maria, University of Dallas and some others. No shortage of socialists at ND (saying that as a good thing).


I know a conservative Catholic who doesn’t even consider Notre Dame a “real” Catholic school.
Anonymous
Post 07/20/2025 23:53     Subject: Why is Notre Dame bot as selective as it's peers?

Agree ND is more conservative than Georgetown and Holy Cross.With a 20 billion endowment, Notre Dame is in a different neighborhood than any other Catholic school.








Anonymous
Post 07/20/2025 20:17     Subject: Why is Notre Dame bot as selective as it's peers?

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Conservative evangelicals are ruining the schools. Georgetown seems to have found the sweet spot.


They're not evangelical. They are conservative Catholic.


They are not even that. On the Catholic political spectrum, with 1 being the most liberal and 10 being the most conservative, Jesuit schools are about a 3 with GU being maybe 2.5 for being a little more secular. ND is a 5. Conservative schools would be Ave Maria, University of Dallas and some others. No shortage of socialists at ND (saying that as a good thing).
Anonymous
Post 07/20/2025 15:22     Subject: Why is Notre Dame bot as selective as it's peers?

Anonymous wrote:Conservative evangelicals are ruining the schools. Georgetown seems to have found the sweet spot.


They're not evangelical. They are conservative Catholic.
Anonymous
Post 07/20/2025 14:05     Subject: Why is Notre Dame bot as selective as it's peers?

It makes sense for ND to favor Catholic school kids, but you still need to be in the top grouping of the school with high test scores. Unless you’re an athlete who have different standards.
Anonymous
Post 07/20/2025 13:33     Subject: Why is Notre Dame bot as selective as it's peers?

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:ND has a niche with midwestern Catholic HS grads. Most secular private school or public school grads aren't interested because of the overt religious overtones. Also, the location dims interest among a lot of people.


Only 35% of enrolled students are from the midwest. In actuality, it is much more competitive applying to ND from a midwest Catholic High School vs a Catholic HS in DC. Why? Because a larger percentage of students apply due to location. I know a Chicago family (big donors with their name on a building) who pulled their kid out of Catholic school for high school and enrolled in public solely because the competition in the public school was less.


Wow that's crazy. They were all in on ND. They obviously really determined where they wanted their kid to go to school.
Anonymous
Post 07/20/2025 13:14     Subject: Why is Notre Dame bot as selective as it's peers?

Anonymous wrote:ND has a niche with midwestern Catholic HS grads. Most secular private school or public school grads aren't interested because of the overt religious overtones. Also, the location dims interest among a lot of people.


Only 35% of enrolled students are from the midwest. In actuality, it is much more competitive applying to ND from a midwest Catholic High School vs a Catholic HS in DC. Why? Because a larger percentage of students apply due to location. I know a Chicago family (big donors with their name on a building) who pulled their kid out of Catholic school for high school and enrolled in public solely because the competition in the public school was less.
Anonymous
Post 07/20/2025 11:14     Subject: Why is Notre Dame bot as selective as it's peers?

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:ND has a niche with midwestern Catholic HS grads. Most secular private school or public school grads aren't interested because of the overt religious overtones. Also, the location dims interest among a lot of people.


A T20 school is not a niche.


It actually is.


Other T20 schools like Dartmouth, Rice, Vanderbilt, etc. are as much niche then by whatever standard you apply.


Having attended Admitted Student's day there this last cycle, it definitely seemed like a niche school but not in a bad way. Kid liked it enough but couldn't see himself spending 4 years in South Bend. Cold weather was definitely a factor which he wanted to get away from since he grew up in a similar climate here in the Midwest. But, I really liked it.
Anonymous
Post 07/20/2025 10:37     Subject: Why is Notre Dame bot as selective as it's peers?

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Scoir at my kid’s top DC area Catholic HS has 40% acceptance rate overall. 100% for students with my kid’s stats who apply REA.


This is what I’ve been told as well. As long as you’re coming from Catholic school, it’s not nearly as competitive as the numbers show.


Your parrell world must have a different number system.
Anonymous
Post 07/20/2025 10:31     Subject: Why is Notre Dame bot as selective as it's peers?

Anonymous wrote:Scoir at my kid’s top DC area Catholic HS has 40% acceptance rate overall. 100% for students with my kid’s stats who apply REA.


This is what I’ve been told as well. As long as you’re coming from Catholic school, it’s not nearly as competitive as the numbers show.
Anonymous
Post 07/20/2025 10:29     Subject: Why is Notre Dame bot as selective as it's peers?

Scoir at my kid’s top DC area Catholic HS has 40% acceptance rate overall. 100% for students with my kid’s stats who apply REA.
Anonymous
Post 07/20/2025 10:26     Subject: Why is Notre Dame bot as selective as it's peers?

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Friend’s daughter is at an area Catholic school. She has good grades, average extracurriculars and great test scores (1500 after her 4th attempt). She has been told she will get in due to all the connections she has. When I asked my friend about it, she said that calls had already been made. I feel like this is how it works. Obviously, this girl will do fine anywhere, but the connections from her high school benefiting her have already started. Unlike some schools, ND is all about connections.


Wait and see. My 2 legacy, Catholic school kids (2 A-, no Bs between them, tons of AP, 1530, 1550, great EC etc.) didn't get in. I hope it works out for your friends daughter. It's a great place.



I’d be curious as to how their essays and recommendations were. That can make all the difference.