Low GPA, extremely competitive high school?

rmldad
Mon, 17 Dec 2012 23:15:40 +0000

90% of enrolled freshmen at ND have a GPA over 3.8 and are in the top 10% of their class. This would put you in a distinct minority. Since your high school is nationally ranked, your GC should be able to tell you how competitive your school has been with applicants outside the top 10% at highly competitive colleges.

An adcom at ND told me that most applicants have 5-7 AP classes, so you should be on target there although dropping rigorous classes like AP Physics does not help.

ND’s 25/75% for SAT is 1990/2260. Since your GPA is lower, you should hope for the higher end of this range.

Your ECs sound like you come from a family of means and thus more is expected of you. Based on this premise, your ECs are probably a bit light. I would encourage you to focus on your accomplishments in your activities instead of simply listing hours (although I realize that hours are a convenient short-hand representation on a limited board like this).

My experience with summer programs like ND’s is that they do not help in admissions at all, although there is considerable disagreement on this topic. A quick search would identify some lively discussions.

Unless your SAT scores are impressive, (or your high school has unusual sway with Admissions), your chances are likely lower than the typical applicant - ND admits roughly 20%.

Good luck at Notre Dame, BlueDevil18.