Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, but mostly because of its alumni network ambit being a throwback in term of culture. The alumni love notre dame and have a national presence with an instant connection with other alumni. It’s similar to the service academies and ivies in that regard.

Yes, because alumni at other institutions don't love their schools and don't have connections with other alumni that have graduated from those schools? I mean how is this even measurable? It's anecdotal.

Of course it’s anecdotal. I’ve lived all over the country…something like 13 states and every region except the plains. You’ll know a notre dame grad went there within 15 minutes of meeting them. Thats not true for places like northwestern, bc, or even the ivies. But it can be true for West Point and navy. Yes, it’s different than other schools.

I assume you are over 50 years of age? There are a lot of great schools that have strong alumni networks especially in certain fields like Tech where I never hear ND.

Don’t recall Georgetown ever being better, maybe in the late 1700s.

Anonymous wrote:I always thought ND was just a football school full of corn fed farmer’s boys.

Some imagination you have.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, but mostly because of its alumni network ambit being a throwback in term of culture. The alumni love notre dame and have a national presence with an instant connection with other alumni. It’s similar to the service academies and ivies in that regard.

Yes, because alumni at other institutions don't love their schools and don't have connections with other alumni that have graduated from those schools? I mean how is this even measurable? It's anecdotal.

Of course it’s anecdotal. I’ve lived all over the country…something like 13 states and every region except the plains. You’ll know a notre dame grad went there within 15 minutes of meeting them. Thats not true for places like northwestern, bc, or even the ivies. But it can be true for West Point and navy. Yes, it’s different than other schools.

You know unless they don't tell you. If you met me, you don't know unless you ask.

Anonymous wrote:I'm an alum and have been increasingly impressed with the academic caliber of the faculty and students. The school is focused on the undergrad experience and has really increased research opportunities in recent years. They've poured money into science facilities and faculty, as well as student facilities. It is Catholic but there is freedom of thought and debate in the classroom. I'm not Catholic and never felt excluded. It means there are soem weird rules but I found some plusses to the single-sex dorms, like your roommate is never going to move their boyfriend in. More upperclassmen are living off campus so that experience is available to kids too.

As for success, yes, the alumni network is strong. Most of us had a good experience and love to talk about it. But the preparation is also top notch. Of my close friend group, one is a doctor, one has a PHD in engineering, two have masters in social work, one has an MBA and I'm a government affairs professional with a masters in public policy. We're all women and very successful in our fields.

Recent true story here. My son is an alum and I still subscribe to a Facebook parents page. A parent posted about their recent grad who is struggling to find employment. I hooked this grad up with my husband who learned that the grad is a Questbridge scholar. Although she had excellent grades and GPA, she was clearly struggling in interviews. My husband coached her and connected her with someone in his industry on the west coast (where she lives). Turns out that person also came from a struggling background and wanted to help. I don't know whether they ultimately got the job (need to ask DH) but this is how ND works. We all have each others' backs.

Anonymous wrote:Please spare me the attack on religion. The fundamental question is: Is ND as academically strong as it markets itself to be?

Absolutely, yes.

Fantastic school with top 10 endowment of $18-20 billion. ND, Georgetown, Holy Cross best Catholic schools in that order. ND has unparalleled brand name with very strong alumni network. Only downside is South Bend location and long winters. Best college fight song ever!

I'm an alum and have been increasingly impressed with the academic caliber of the faculty and students. The school is focused on the undergrad experience and has really increased research opportunities in recent years. They've poured money into science facilities and faculty, as well as student facilities. It is Catholic but there is freedom of thought and debate in the classroom. I'm not Catholic and never felt excluded. It means there are soem weird rules but I found some plusses to the single-sex dorms, like your roommate is never going to move their boyfriend in. More upperclassmen are living off campus so that experience is available to kids too.

As for success, yes, the alumni network is strong. Most of us had a good experience and love to talk about it. But the preparation is also top notch. Of my close friend group, one is a doctor, one has a PHD in engineering, two have masters in social work, one has an MBA and I'm a government affairs professional with a masters in public policy. We're all women and very successful in our fields.

Anonymous wrote:Sitting on pins and needles here hoping for a good outcome Tuesday at 6:40 pm.

6:42 to be exact

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, but mostly because of its alumni network ambit being a throwback in term of culture. The alumni love notre dame and have a national presence with an instant connection with other alumni. It’s similar to the service academies and ivies in that regard.

Yes, because alumni at other institutions don't love their schools and don't have connections with other alumni that have graduated from those schools? I mean how is this even measurable? It's anecdotal.

Of course it’s anecdotal. I’ve lived all over the country…something like 13 states and every region except the plains. You’ll know a notre dame grad went there within 15 minutes of meeting them. Thats not true for places like northwestern, bc, or even the ivies. But it can be true for West Point and navy. Yes, it’s different than other schools.

ND is a popular school for the top 10-15% at our non-religious top private. It is an excellent school. They get 1500-1580 SAT students from ours with great GPAs, great rigor, mostly those who get shut out of ivies/Stanford/Duke.

Sitting on pins and needles here hoping for a good outcome Tuesday at 6:40 pm.

Anonymous wrote:Yes, but mostly because of its alumni network ambit being a throwback in term of culture. The alumni love notre dame and have a national presence with an instant connection with other alumni. It’s similar to the service academies and ivies in that regard.

Yes to this, and I say this as someone who doesn't like ND as an institution and find many of their grads smart but off-putting.

The school has an insular culture with a lot of people from similar backgrounds. This makes its alumni network different than at other similar schools because there is a higher degree of real affinity among their alumni due an assumption of shared values, beliefs, personal experiences, families, etc. So may of ND's students and alums went to Catholic high schools, and come from very similar families (usually UMC or above, most often white, mostly living in suburbs of large cities or in midsize cities with large Catholic populations). They even often share the experience of same-sex education, because so many Catholic schools are same-sex. This means that an ND alum who graduated in 2008 after growing up in an Atlanta suburb, is likely to have an unusual amount of things in common with a 2023 grad from Wisconsin. That's not necessarily true at other schools, but it's often true at ND.

The schools ND remind me most of in terms of alumni network are not other colleges. It's boarding school. The ND alumni network operates more similarly to certain boarding schools in terms of how willing alumni are to help one another and the presumption they have that they have meaningful qualities in common with a fellow alum they many never have met before. It can be hugely beneficial.

But it only works if you are a member of that club or are comfortable pretending to be a member of that club.

Anonymous wrote:Please spare me the attack on religion. The fundamental question is: Is ND as academically strong as it markets itself to be?

Yes. The scholars in my field (I am a professor at a T20) are top scholars. They have amazing resources, and the school is undergrad focused. The increase in competitiveness for admission is causing problems with alumni, who still get a thumb on the scale for their kids but nothing like it used to be in the past.

ND has a clearly different culture from all the other T20 schools, with a huge emphasis on community and kindness. Whether that is attractive to you or you find it suffocating -- that's an individual response.

As a Georgetown grad from the era when Georgetown was indisputably the #1 Catholic college, ND's ascension saddens me!

Anonymous wrote:Notre Dame academics are top notch to outstanding as are the students and faculty.

Thanks for letting us know.