<p>hello everyone. i am an international student from asia. last year when i applied for universities, i decided that notre dame would be one of my choices as i was attracted to its high academic standards and catholic background. however, when the decisions came out at the end of march, i found that i had been waitlisted at nd, as well as at my other choices of universities. slightly disheartened, i decided to accept my offer from the university of toronto instead.</p>
<p>imagine my surprise when i checked my email yesterday and found one that told me that i had been admitted - it is after all, much harder for internationals to get into the higher ranked universities in the usa.</p>
<p>my problem is, in the meanwhile, i have fallen in love with toronto. not only does it afford me more diversity in terms of the people encountered, i also have family living 30km away from campus. this is to say nothing of the choice of majors that i will be offered. i hope to do journalism after i graduate. to give me a good grounding in this wise, i have decided to follow my high school passions to aim for a double major in asia-pacific studies, east-asian studies or sociology. i am not afraid of being lost in a big city campus. i have also applied for residence which has a catholic background.</p>
<p>notre dame will not allow me this much flexibility, nor does it offer the first two majors mentioned. however, the reasons for which it first attracted me still remain - the wonderful and more personalised learning environment, the strong catholic tradition, and it’s academics. financially, my family can just afford to pay for going to notre dame. i do not qualify for aid, but my siblings are set to head for college within the next 5 years, and i do not wish to burden my parents in this manner.</p>
<p>i hope some of you out there will be able to give me some advice to help me make an informed decision. thank you!</p>
<p>I would like to make a suggestion to help you decide. Toronto is a great city, and if you are looking to be near a vibrant city, then South Bend, Indiana cannot compete. (Chicago is great, but it is 90 miles away). However, Notre Dame has an active Asian Alumni Association. They also have a contact for Asian applicants in the Admissions Office. I’m sure they would be happy to talk to you about your decision. You could also ask the Admissions office for someone to contact in the Asian Alumni Association from your area. They could give you a first hand account of their experience at Notre Dame.</p>
<p>For the past several years, ND has actively been recruiting Asian, African American and Hispanic students to increase the diversity of the student body. I am confident that you would find the atmosphere friendly and supportive. I don’t know much at all about the University of Toronto, so I can’t make direct comparisons. But you mentioned the fact that you are attracted to the Catholic tradition. If that is important to you, then Notre Dame will have an advantage over just about any other school.</p>
<p>Although ND does not have a “journalism” major, there are a number of very successful journalists who are ND alum. There are journalism courses, and Majors such as American Studies, history, government, etc. are popular for people going into that field. There is a DAILY student newspaper, student radio station and the new performing arts center has a TV production facility.</p>
<p>I hope this is helpful. Good luck.</p>
<p>On this board, you will definitely get a bias… ND is an amazing school and I love it… but in your situation I would say that Toronto sounds amazing for you. I will be at ND next year, so no this is not just an attempt to open a spot for me from the waitlist, haha… whatever you do Im sure you will be happy, so best of luck to you.</p>
<p>I would not worry about the major or location problems with nd…I am sure that you will come to love it…although I will not be an official student till next fall I have been wanting all my life to attend, and there are many others like me…There are not many other schools that people can say that about…as for the money issue, that is going to be a very tough decsion, I would still recommend nd but as mhawk said, I am biased…good luck</p>