Hey all, hopefully you can provide insight or advice for this.....My 11th grade daughter has UND as her dream school. I'm completely clueless as to whether she could actually be accepted. I've heard different pieces of advice, but over the last few years (mostly as a lurking stalker) I've learned many of you attended this great university. A little info regarding my daughter: she is and has been ranked number 1 in her class (small school in upstate NY, approx 75 per class), she is about to take her SAT, she is a very good athlete (basketball, not division 1 though), she has won many awards for leadership and academic honors, she participates in activities outside of school and in, not catholic or even very religious (not active churchgoers,but believers), absolute perfect behavior history. Not sure what else is pertinent. I have only attended a two year college and my wife does not have a college degree. We have three younger children. Maybe someone here could help ..... We have met with school advisors, but they seem a little intimidated and aren't sure of what to do either. They do believe she's as good of a candidate as they've had, but traditionally this isn't a school that sends many kids there...help!!
I graduated in '11, but I can still give some solid advice. She's got a great resume. So do about 16,000 other applicants.
1) According to the
admissions website, ND will take the best individual subject scores from the SAT and put them together. So if you daughter takes the test multiple times (which I would highly advise to do), they take the best Reading, Mathematics, and Language score from each to give a "superscore." They do not do that for the ACT. But no matter which one she decides to take (ACT includes a Science Reasoning section, which can be a killer to some students), I would advise her to get as much practice as possible. Find a tutor, take practice exams, read books about test-taking strategy, etc. I had a teacher in high school who used to DRILL us on the Science Reasoning section because it could straight murder scores if students didn't prep correctly for it. Basically, she should study and prep for either one she takes. It'll help her be less nervous and navigate through the test easier.
2) I'm with Lax. Write an essay that incorporates some of her big life accomplishments. Have it relate to how ND can continue to foster those goals. Not just "I really, really, really like the school."
3) Apply early. I believe that because fewer students apply early, you get more of a "solid look" from the admissions staff. They can view you more as a person. But talk to the admissions staff about the binding vs. non-binding applications. I'm not well-versed in the benefits and drawbacks there.
I cannot stress this point enough:
4) If ND is her dream school, have 1-2 back up options where she can transfer from. This is what I did and it worked out really well. She could stay in the NE or go to St. Mary's or there's a program at Holy Cross for prospective transfers. No matter where she goes, she should take classes just like she's going into X major at ND. Find the classes she would take as a freshman, and mirror those as closely as possible at the other school. The Transfer Admissions department is more than happy to help review course descriptions to steer students in the right direction. They helped me with this and I transferred in AHEAD of other math majors.
If she doesn't get into ND, make sure it's a place she will be happy for 4 years. Some students who want to transfer change their mind and some who want to transfer just struggle more in college and never get accepted. Sometimes it's tough to tell how an 18 year old will adapt.
I'm more than happy to help if ND doesn't work out for her at first. Transferring is an amazing option if she has her heart set on ND.
