Whats life like at Notre Dame?

NavyBlueNinja
Sun, 05 Aug 2012 23:12:05 +0000

Hello! I’m a current ND rising sophomore and I’d be glad to answer any questions you have.



Classes?

Classes are usually MWF for an hour or TR for an hour and a half. MWF classes pretty much all fall in time slots in a rigid schedule: 8:30-9:20, 9:35-10:25, 10:40-11:30, 11:45-12:35, and so on. Most classes will be during the morning and afternoon, but there are a few rare pain in the ass classes at awkward times (i.e. 7-10 PM lab, class from 4-7 on Fridays only). TR classes are more open. I had all my labs, tutorials, and seminars on TR. Labs are about 3 hours depending on the science. Tutorials are 1 hour and are MANDATORY, but only Calculus and Chemistry have tutorials.

Classes are TOUGH. You’re probably smart and could coast by in high school with minimal studying, but that’s just not going to fly at ND. But with that being said, they’re certainly not unmanageable. Do the work and get help if you need it (or just get it just because. There are all sorts of free tutoring resources and office hours with your professors, so why not use them?) and you’ll do fine.

The professors are great. I haven’t had a bad one yet. Most of them speak English (almost none of the math department does though).



Clubs?



There are all sorts of clubs and activities. Some are goofy, some are serious. I recommend some serious clubs (i.e. clubs for your major, clubs for your career goals) because upperclassmen will provide you with advice, connections, and resources for you. And do some fun stuff too, like interhall sports or a goofy club.



Dorms?



There are 29 dorms, 14 female and 15 male. All dorms are single-gender. Each dorm has anywhere from 100 to 350 people. They are a lot like the houses at Hogwarts, with each dorm having its own colors, mascot, special events, traditions, rivalries, brother/sister dorms, etc. I love the dorm life because you bond so much with the people in your dorm.

One important note is that the dorms are single-gender. Notre Dame has rules about parietals, which means no members of the opposite sex in your dorm room after 12 AM on weeknights, 2 AM on weekends. There are designated 24-hour spaces in your dorm where they can hang out, like TV lounges, but anywhere upstairs or in rooms is banned. It is fairly easy to break parietals if you have your mind set on it, but PROCEED WITH ABSOLUTE CAUTION – you’ll be in deep **** if you get caught and it’ll go on your record. Parietals are not a force to be reckoned with. One guy dorm had a dance one night and a lot of people brought girls back to their room and the dorm’s rector pulled the fire alarm that night, so everyone had to get outside and all the girls were busted, as well as the guys they were sleeping with. Also, on that note about the rector: the head of every dorm is their rector, a priest or a nun. They are usually pretty cool people. Every dorm also has a chapel where they hold dorm mass every Sunday night and a few extra nights per week.



Social life?



Notre Dame is a work-hard/party-hard school. Parties are rare on weeknights, but the campus comes alive on Friday and Saturday nights. There is no greek life, but most guy dorms are frat-like and throw parties. There are parties in guy dorms all the time and they NEVER get busted, so long as no one’s puking and there’s no alcohol in the hallway. Usually it’ll be a normal party cramped into someone’s room, with music, tons of people, and lots of alcohol. Girl dorms never have parties and will always get busted. Many dorms, clubs, and teams also have off-campus houses for regularly throwing parties that don’t end at 2 AM when parietals end, and can hold more people (i.e. Keenan Hall has Keenan House, Glee club has Glee house, the soccer team has Soccer House, etc.). Not everyone drinks, so don’t worry if you’re not into that, there’s still tons of stuff to do. Do NOT even CONSIDER any form of drugs on campus. They’re super-lax about alcohol but even a trace of weed could get you expelled.

Football is LIFE. Notre Dame football is insane. Even if you don’t like football now, you’ll learn to love it at school because of the energy and excitement around it. It brings the school together to get pumped and dress up in green for six Saturdays of the fall.

Feel free to ask if you have any more questions! GO IRISH!