<p>My older sibling is a student at Notre dame and did not have the credentials I have. It still worries me. I am a junior and have not yet taken the ACT or SAT. I have a great deal of test anxiety, however.
I am first in my class of 370. My GPA is 5.2 on a 4.0 scale. I have never had anything but a A." All courses are honors and AP’s:
AP Bio - 5
AP Human Geography - 5
AP Calculus AB - 5
AP Environmental Science - 5
AP World History - 4</p>
<p>Now taking:
AP Computer Science
AP US History
AP Physics
AP CAlculus BC
AP English
among honors course.</p>
<p>Senior year i will be taking :
AP Chemistry
AP Prob and Stats
AP English Lit
AP European History
among other courses.</p>
<p>I am in the marching, jazz, and symphonic bands, a very inolved musician who has made all county band. I have been on the varsity swim team for three years. I am also in Honor Society, Varsity Club, Scholar Bowl, Math Club in which I have won several competitions, Envirothon (won an award), Junior State Congress participant, Spanish Honor Society - Vice-President, Key Club - Vice-president, among other things. I have also perfromed a great deal of community service. I AM STILL WORRIED!</p>
<p>Will my sibling help at all? I know they say it doesn’t, but Notre Dame is all I care about!</p>
<p>Irishguard, I am perplexed that you’d have anxiety right now as a junior, given your qualifications. I wonder if you are serious here. If you are, I think it’s a sorry statement on just how much anxiety has been interjected into the college admissions process. </p>
<p>You kids all need to lighten up! Really! </p>
<p>The reality is that life gets more stressful as the stakes get higher. The college entrance process is just the beginning of the journey, not the end of it. You are obviously doing well in school–which is what I think you want all of us to verify for you, as if you do not know it yourself. High school kids across America take the ACT and SAT every year, and pretty much every one of them has been documented to have survived the process.</p>
<p>Isn’t high school supposed to be when you have some fun? </p>
<p>Are we adults the ones that turned a generation of high school students into hyper-anxious over-achievers? If we are, then shame on us!</p>
<p>Seriously, irishguard. Lighten up. Go scream your lungs out at a sporting event. Watch a movie with friends and laugh until you cry. Flirt like your life depends on it. Dance like a fool.</p>
<p>Either there is going to be a generation of adults that go through second adolescence to have all the fun they missed while pushing themselves relentlessly through high school as if it were a full-blow career; or there is going to be a generation of adults that missed out on what it’s like to be carefree and have fun.</p>
<p>Believe me, I wasn’t kidding and I am normal! My high school is highly competitive, and I’ve seen lots of kids get rejected from their dream schools. The latest EA admissions at Notre Dame would have anyone worried! Yes, it is competitive and unfortunately, it is what it is. Yes, I work hard, but I still have time for some socializing and fun activities. Maybe what affected me the most is a friend who recently applied EA to Notre Dame and was rejected. Most people thought he was a shoe in. His grades and test scores were good and he has some leadership roles. When you see something like that happen, you realize that there are no guarantees. Getting into Notre Dame is an honor and it’s gotten tougher this year. So maybe it will be that much tougher next year. As a junior, I don’t think it’s wrong to have dreams and vision. If I were to apply EA, it’s only months away. ddjones007, don’t worry, I’m having fun; however, we are all under pressure. Maybe the pressures are different today than they were for my parents.
bqweo4, Harvard? No full ride there. From what I understand, they don’t do merit based scholarships anyway. Last year I witnessed the top students in the county get rejected from the Ivys. Maybe that’s what makes so many of us so nervous.
I’m also one of those kids that’s been to Notre Dame for football games and other events because of a sibling that goes there. I’m hooked. I love the place. I really love the place.</p>
<p>May I suggest the mindset my daughter adopted, once she’d grown tired of taking the ACT and decided it was “31 or bust!”. Simply put, she had settled upon the philosophy that “if they don’t take me, they’re idiots and I don’t need to be there.” She did get in EA, despite the math score that revealed her not to be the mathematical genius she already knew herself not to be. The rest of her app, including her other scores, was stellar. </p>
<p>I was more worried than she was. She was right. And a lot more like I was at her age, when I took my typewriter composition essay and application–replete with typos–to my horrified guidance counselor, who insisted I get a new app and re-do it. I assured her I wanted it sent in as in, because I had no interest in attending any university that would judge my typing skills, rather than the content of my thoughts. She assured me ND would never take anyone who submitted such a messy application.</p>
<p>She was wrong. I was right. A generation later, I’m the neurotic middle-aged mom, and she’s the sassy adolescent.</p>
<p>If they don’t take you with your stats, irishguard, it’s their loss.</p>
<p>Let the middle-aged people be neurotic. We’re experts at it! :)</p>
<p>By the way, in those days, there was a reverse quota on women—only 300 in my freshman class of 1800+. I hit the lotto and lived to tell the story. If I hadn’t, I’d be telling a different one, but it would still be mine.</p>
<p>Maybe the student who got rejected EA was wrongfully denied. Maybe not. In either case, he will either get in RD or end up on another path. And it will be God’s will being done.</p>
<p>We are, in the end, amazingly resilient creatures.</p>
<p>ddjones007, your story would make a good essay! Thanks for your encouragement. My mom is neurotic too! lol</p>
<p>The rest of you who are in the same shoes I’m in, you know how it feels. For those of you who are students at Notre Dame, you’re very fortunate. There are so many of us out there who would love to be in your shoes.</p>
<p>Irishguard - I have a daughter who was just admitted to Notre Dame EA (not a legacy, not a Catholic, and not a recruited athlete!). She also has test, performance, and competition anxiety, but has qualified for the state orchestra 3 X (not allowed to audition as a freshman), state tennis 2 X, had a 33 ACT, and a 2200 SAT. What we had her do and you might want to try is to take the ACT “just for fun”. Don’t put your school code on the form when registering or when taking it, so the only one who knows how it turns out it you. We told her to “play” with the test, look for patterns, see how long it took her to take certain sections, etc. Basically we told it won’t count for anything, it was just a practice and we truly looked at it that way. Having taken it once relieved a lot of anxiety about taking it “for real” the second time and she did great! She follows the same line with musical performing - takes every chances she gets to perform in front of people (nursing homes, relatives, etc.), even though it makes her uncomfortable. It has really seemed to help come time for a performance that really counts for something.</p>
<p>midwestParent, wow - qualified for state orchestra! I was allowed to audition but didn’t make it!
You are right about the ACT. I plan to take it several times, the first time just for practice. I have done some of the practices tests in the official ACT guide book and have done okay. It’s the real thing that scares me.
I have a tendency to bomb tests like that though. I just hope admissions look tat the whole picture rather thn just an isolated test score.</p>
<p>Irishguard - That is the beauty of the ACT - colleges and your high school for that matter, only see the score you want to submit. The SAT is a different story - every single SAT test or SAT II you take is sent to colleges you request. You can’t just send the one you want.</p>
<p>Irishguard, honestly you are set. All you need to do is perform relatively well on your ACT or SAT’s/SAT II’s and you’ll be in. ND weights your high school record more heavily than test scores. 3 years of hard work is much more important than 4 hours of multiple choice questions (and that stupid essay). I got in EA this year and i was ranked 13 out of 311 had good EC’s and had a 1490 on my SAT’s. With your gpa and rank, you will have breathing room in the test department. No worries man, all you’ve gotta do is write a decent essay and you’re in!</p>
<p>i wouldn’t even take a practice one. just take it remembering that you can take it again and colleges don’t see it so if you do bad it doesnt really matter. i was lucky and got a high score the first time i took it, maybe that could happen to you. just predict a score conservatively or you could be disappointed.</p>