cinnamon9724

I've heard Notre Dame is 80% catholic. Does a protestant then stand a better chance of being admitted because she has "minority" status?

CCG

I doubt it, I think Notre Dame does not accept or even consider religious affiliation in considering the applicant.

MITpwnsnoobs69

well if anything your chances would probably be less if you designated yourself as protestant on your application because Notre Dame is a Catholic university, clearing favoring Catholic applicants (as evidenced by 80% catholic statistic). let's put it this way, although Notre Dame does not officially consider religion as a criteria for admission, it clearly wants to maintain its Catholic identity.

kevdude

MITpwnsnoobs69, I'm pretty sure you've got your logic working backwards. Notre Dame is predominantly Roman Catholic because its applicant pool is self-selective. Because of its strong Roman Catholic ties, proportionally more Roman Catholics apply, which leads to a proportionally greater contingent of Roman Catholics. Consider Historically Black Universities and Colleges - they are not exclusively African-American, but their tradition is in educating Black Americans. So, a greater proportion of the applicants are Black, leading to a predominantly African-American student body.

bpayne1

The coolest kids are Protestants

notre dame AL

Notre Dame does look for diversity-in more ways than one. That being said, one has to wonder if being Protestant in an overwhelmingly Catholic admissions pool is a plus so to speak. But, who knows, one also has to wonder if the makeup of the admissions class differs widely from year to year. This being based on the assumption that ND (as well as other colleges) are always looking for someone different each year: the swimmer, the applicant from Alaska, the protestant. You never know what admissions is looking for!

indiejimmy

it's the same god...i don't think it matters too much

CCG

^^^ lol I was thinking the same thing. Kinda like saying I am Mexican, or I am Cuban ect. You are still hispanic in the end.

shellzie2006

I don't think it makes a difference. On the one hand, Notre Dame wants to maintain its Catholic identity. On the other, they want diversity. The applicant pool is very self-selecting, with most applicants being Catholic (or lapsed Catholics...), followed by protestants. If Notre Dame were to actively seek out protestants, it might undermine the Catholic character of the school. It is possible though, that being Jewish or Muslim could help a person's application, since those are groups that are very underrepresented on campus.

I do have a friend at ND who wrote his application essay about being Lutheran, so if you have particularly strong ties to your religion (Catholic, protestant, or otherwise) that makes you a more interesting applicant, by all means draw attention to it, but in general, I don't think being protestant vs. Catholic will make a difference in the admissions process.

InOhio

I agree that ND's largely self-selective applicant pool permits ND to maintain its Catholic identity, without the need to consider religious affiliation. The thread brings another point to mind as to whether the ad com leans toward admitting parochial school students, e.g., through relationships built over the years with the feeder schools. No data to support it, but it appears im my area that ND accepts far more Catholics who attend parochial school than Catholics who attend public school.

Mombot

That's interesting Ohio--I had the sense D. had an advantage coming from a public high school. Her experience dealing with all kinds of students, including many who were new immigrants, made her look a little bit different than the typical catholic prep school kid.

jasonpham

Certain schools have established a strong relationship with Notre Dame by producing students who are admitted and have a tendency to do well at the University. Thus, for every graduate from a certain school who does well at Notre Dame, the liklihood that Notre Dame admitting deeper into the pool of applicants from that school increases. And as many parochial schools have established such a relationship, a larger portion of the student body apply to and are accepted to Notre Dame than one might find elsewhere.