Hang on...we might be comparing apples and oranges here.
When McKnight applied the SAT topped out at 1600. It has been changed since then I believe.
So when the TOP score was a 1600, the football team averaged 960.
If your sister and her friend applied about that time or earlier...than yeah, you are right.
The football team's average SAT is pretty abysmal.
The current SAT tops out at 2400, with the addition of a third test which is basically the old English Achievement Test or SAT II. However, since this addition is relatively new most schools still list the average SAT for the two original Math & English SAT's (which still max out at 1600) as an indicator as to how high you need to score in order to qualify for a given school.
For ND23's sister to have been accepted at ND, she would have had to have had a 1480 (out of 1600) on the two original tests. Notre Dame supplies a average SAT number, again out of 1600, to High School Guidance Counselors around the country to post for their students to consider whether they are qualified (based on SAT scores only) to apply to ND. For the current High School Junior Class that guideline is 1369, which is the average scores of incoming freshman to ND for the last 2 years. The important thing to remember is that is the average number. Legacies and athletes get preferential treatment in the admissions process, and ND admits close to 20% legacies each year in addition to athletes. Therefore, if you are not an athlete or a legacy, your SAT is most likely going to have to be closer to a 1450 on the 1600 scale in order to be accepted to ND. This number is increasing every year because of the ever increasing academic popularity of Notre Dame.
However, there are a lot of other variables involved in the admission process, including HS curriculum, community service resume, religious affiliation, HS athletics & leadership background, and because ND pulls students from all over the country geographic location is also a key element at times. So in some cases, a 1450 might not be needed for a non-legacy, non-athlete, and in other cases 1450 is not enough. ND is unique in that when you apply there, you are competing with kids from all over the country, as well as those in your own school. As an example, a non-legacy, non-athlete HS student in the Chicago suburbs who has the same SAT scores and a similar resume as a HS student in rural South Carolina is actually going to have a more difficult time getting accepted to ND than the South Carolina student because the competition for ND slots in the Chicago suburbs is much more intense, and because Notre Dame is committed to having admitted students from all over the country.
Sometimes you are a victim of how many kids apply at your local high school. I know of one example where 3 female students applied from the same school, 1 Catholic legacy with an SAT of 1200, 1 Catholic non-legacy with an SAT of 1490 and a class standing in the top 10%, and 1 non-Catholic, non-legacy with an SAT of 1520 and a class standing in the Top 5%. The first two were accepted, the third one was not, even though she had the best academic qualifications. The third girl was not accepted because the school in question usually does not get more than 2 ND acceptances a year, and the differences between her and the second girl were not significant enough to overcome the favorable element of the second girl being Catholic.
The bottom line for any High School student seriously considering ND is to apply as long as your SAT is at least 1200, you are passionate about the idea of attending ND, and you have a well rounded background both in and out of school. I know for a fact that the admissions process is a very personal task for the ND admissions staff, a computer never decides the final answer, and it is a group process at the end to see who makes the cut.
