Thanks @irish2022 .
i understand that there is no Greek life. How would you describe the party scene?
@EPallazzo Hi! Iâm happy to answer this question, but would ask that you send me a Private Message so I donât share too much about myself online. I apparently do not have enough posts to send a PM myself (sighs)
@irish2022 Hey! Iâm deciding between a few schools and partying is something I am looking forward to in my college experience. It wonât let me PM you, but if you want to message me on Instagram @ dannyeross thatâd be awesome
if you can pm me thatâd be great too
@Der242 apparently my recent work has been noticed! I can now send PMâs. Iâll send you one!
@irish2022 Hi could you pm me too, much appreciated.
@EPallazzo and @der242 - as with most schools, if you want to party, they can be found.
My advice is donât take on educational debt if you donât have to. If you have to, go to the school that fulfills your needs while providing the best FA package. ND is great. Youngest graduating this year and has loved it. Oldest graduated Harvard 4 years ago and loved it. Weâve been fortunate and tuition wasnât a problem. Honestly, spouse and I both entranced by rankings, history, tradition, and (perceived) opportunity differentials at both schools. Both kids are bright and have simultaneously come to conclusion that their experiences, although very positive, werenât worth the more than 200K (each!) that their education cost vs the total cost ( with merit aid) of the excellent state schools they considered. They have great friends, they have great jobs ,but neither would spend the money to send their kids to their alma maters. School has changed. Learning has changed. The job market has changed. There are amazing students, professors and opportunities at your state school. If youâre smart enough to get into ND, youâre probably smart enough to find them. This is just one perspective, not necessarily the right answer for you. Hope it helps. Stay well.
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I wouldnât do Notre Dame. The economy is in the tank right now, and any layoff from a parent can make an exotic school like that unaffordable VERY quickly. Ignore the bad advice. What you need is something you can afford as self-sufficiently as you can. An extra $150k, even if itâs affordable, is poor value for a bachelors degree, bordering on utter insanityâŠwhen you have a scholarship! This should be a no-brainer! Itâs like someone handing you the keys to a brand new house, but you turn it down to go in the hole for a mansion you canât afford!
I must say that I personally find absolute statements of this kind, without any information about the student/family personal and financial circumstances, quite suspect. At Notre Dame 48 percent of full-time undergraduate students receive some type of need-based financial aid. This suggests that a noticeable part of NDâs student population are full pay, quite a few of them despite merit aid offers from public and other private universities during the admission process.
The point is that a decision in this respect will always be considered in the context of student interest and specific family circumstances and there is no absolute right or wrong, as the personal opinion expressed in the above posting seems to suggest. In the absence of additional information from the OP, there isnât much that can be added, beyond the good advice which has been offered already by many folks on this thread.
@hpcsa Thanks for putting these comments in context. There is absolutely no single answer, though there are many opinions. And it is very complex - with different majors and career aspirations potentially playing out quite differently at a school like Notre Dame vs. a large state school. Some of the best comments on this issue have come from parents on this site (and others) who have kids at both Notre Dame and a large state school - and are able to provide a real time perspective on how different the experiences can be.
I think this not only depends on the familyâs financials but the studentâs intended major and what the other state school is. For an engineering or CS major, there are a host of better state publics than ND. There will be no lack of highly intelligent peers at a state flagship.