What is Notre Dame University like overall?

Answer 1

wtfuq's answer largely seems based on the fact that he couldn't hack it at Notre Dame. Just because you go to a Catholic high school and get such and such GPA and SAT doesn’t mean anything. In fact, once you’re in college, high school no longer means anything. I came to Notre Dame from a small, worthless public school in the middle of northern Minnesota. We’re talking less than 100 kids in my graduating class, nobody goes out of state for college, no AP, no Honors, nothing. I was painfully aware of the fact that my high school education had in no way prepared me for the rigors of a top-tier university, so I studied my butt off freshman year and ended up with a higher GPA than I had in high school. The one good thing wtfuq did say is true though: the curriculum is VERY rigorous.

As far as the non-academic portion goes, I came in really nervous, not knowing what to expect. However, upon arriving, I, like the vast majority of students there, had a completely positive experience. On the whole, people there are very relaxed, easygoing, and friendly. At the same time, it’s one of the most hypercompetitive places I’ve ever been, which makes for a very interesting enjoyable, and fast-paced social atmosphere. As the saying goes “work hard, party hard”. While many people have a notion of Notre Dame as being a bunch of rich, white kids (and I guess this is technically true as ~60% of the kids come from families with six-digit incomes), you’d be hard-pressed to figure that out otherwise as the standard daily attire tends to consist of sweats and t-shirts. Not quite what you expect from a bunch of “pretentious snobs”.

As far as South Bend goes, I’m from a town of less than a thousand people, so I guess all things are relative. Notre Dame really is a self-contained community, and given how much of student life is centered around the dorms, there’s really very little reason to go off-campus in the first place. Besides, there’s always something happening on-campus. It really is disappointing that wtfuq couldn’t be more open-minded to the fact that people in northern Indiana might have different cultural values and upbringings than those from western Maryland, and appreciate these differences, but I guess that’s what you call being close-minded. I personally think this diversity is what makes America America, but that’s just me. As far as politics go, South Bend is actually a heavily Democratic city, and Notre Dame is pretty evenly balanced between left and right, making for plenty of ongoing political dialogue that you’d be hard pressed to find at schools like Harvard, Princeton, or Bob Jones.

I also gave some Notre Dame love here: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AkuZVs994JxFq7oEDGwSh9rsy6IX?qid=20060801123421AA8F3Jb
If you have any more questions, just ask!

Answer 2

I know people at ND, so any info I can give is second-hand. It's a Catholic, largely white University in podunk Indiana. Its student body is FIERCELY loyal to the school. It is an "elite" university that most would rank in the top 25-30 universities in the US.

Expect tough school work. Also expect good alumni contacts for jobs. It's tough to get in but it's a good school. If you can take a white, rich, Catholic student body, well it could be for you!

Answer 3

It's filled with pretentious snobs. It was nothing like the Catholic high school I attended. After one year at UND, I decided to transfer to a state school closer to home (UMD - College Park). The curriculum is also very rigorous. I had a 95 average in high school and scored a 1400 on my SAT (this was before the scoring system changed), yet my GPA after my freshman year at ND was a lousy 2.0. At UMD, I earned a 3.5 GPA.

The city of South Bend also has some of the most backwards, closed-minded people that you will ever encounter. And I grew up in a city considered by many to be a "hick town" (Frederick, MD).