How to Write the University of Notre Dame Essays 2018-2019

The University of Notre Dame, located in South Bend, Indiana, is a private Catholic research University ranked #18 on the U.S. News and World Report’s Best National Universities List . Boasting a football team with 11 national championships, the nation’s top Italian program, world-renowned business and architecture schools, rich alumni connections, Notre Dame offers all the benefits of a small tight-knit college community in the context of a larger top-notch research institution. Over 80% of the university’s undergraduate students live on campus in one of the 31 single-sex residence halls, each with its own traditions, legacies, events, and sports teams. There is no greek life on campus, but the majority of students live in the same residence hall for all four years. The university is affiliated with the Congregation of Holy Cross, with over 47 chapels on campus, however, religious affiliation is not a criterion for admission. The university boasts over 120,000 alumni, including noteworthy graduates like Condoleezza Rice, Nicholas Sparks, and Joe Montana. Notre Dame’s acceptance rate for the class of 2022 was roughly 17.6% with applications up 4% over the previous year. With three 150 word short responses, Notre Dame’s writing supplement allows you to set yourself apart from the 20,000+ applications that vie for the coveted spots. To apply to Notre Dame, candidates may submit either the Common Application, or the Coalition Application. The college does not prefer one or the other. Candidates may apply through the Restrictive Early Action process (due November 1st), or the Regular Decision process (due January 1st). In addition to the required essay in the Common Application or Coalition Application, Notre Dame requires three supplemental essays: applicants are all required to complete the first prompt, but may choose from 4 different options for the second and third prompts. Read on to find out how to tackle them! Like other schools, Notre Dame has a â€Å"Why X School?† prompt to understand why the applicant is passionate about applying to Notre Dame. While this type of essay will rarely be the reason why an applicant is accepted to a certain school, it can demonstrate commitment and understanding of that school. Simply put, Notre Dame wants to understand why you want to attend their institution over all the other schools you are applying to — what makes them unique in your list. There are a few qualities that will make your essay stand out . Be as specific as possible — specificity is the key to writing a good, eye-catching essay. Try to include specific details about Notre Dame. Is it the non-existence of greek life, the religious dedication of the school, or the research-based curriculum that intrigues you? Is there a specific program that Notre Dame offers that other schools don’t or is it the rich alumni connections that provide you stronger internships and job prospects that you really care about? These are the type of details that Notre Dame wants to hear from you — how do the programs, opportunities, and curriculum that they offer fit into what you are looking for in your college experience? Generic statements like â€Å"Religion is important to me†, or â€Å"I enjoy the study abroad options available† are too broad and non-unique , they are cookie-cutter and can be used for many universities across the US (many colleges have a religious affiliation and most colleges offer opportunities to study abroad). Rather, turn this around to demonstrate how going to a strong Catholic institution will strengthen your spiritual roots or how a service trip that Notre Dame offers to Nicaragua can give you the chance to work with underserved communities and utilize your Spanish skills. The more specific, the better your essay will be and the more you will stand out. Don’t be afraid to refer to specific professors, labs, internships, study abroad opportunities, and even classes that you are excited to take. This shows that you have done the research for Notre Dame and aren’t simply using another school’s essay and replacing the school name to Notre Dame. A quick note about choosing prompts. Before immediately setting your mind on two prompts, try brainstorming ideas for each of the four options provided. Start to draft mini paragraphs and sense which prompts you may be more passionate about. There is no right of wrong prompt, but some prompts will allow you to unleash more of your personality or tell more of your story — which will frame your application in a more positive light. Here are a few questions to ask yourself before you choose your prompts, especially for Notre Dame: Estimating your chance of getting into a college is not easy in today’s competitive environment. Thankfully, with our state-of-the-art software and data, we can analyze your academic and extracurricular profile and estimate your chances. Our profile analysis tool can also help you identify the improvement you need to make to enter your dream school. Essentially, this prompt is asking, â€Å"How have you supported others?† The stronger essays will be more personal about a time you helped out a family member, friend, neighbor, or community in need. You want to show how you specifically had an impact on someone else and were there to support them through a rough time. Avoid talking about raising money for an organization or 5Ks (or 10Ks) that you did for a certain cause. While those activities may mean a lot to you, they don’t show the direct impact your actions had to support someone. Rather, something more powerful to write about would be the time your friend was really confused in math class and you sat down and helped him/her through the homework problems even though you had to skip tennis practice to do that. This shows your more humane, compassionate side — which is what Notre Dame wants to see. Really try to focus on the small gestures that had an impact on someone else. For example, you could write about the time you acted as a mentor to underclassmen, showing them around school on the first day when they were lost. While this may seem like a nonessential action that you took, it demonstrates how you supported freshmen and made them feel welcome in their new high school environment. The essay really wants you to show how you welcomed, supported, and helped a person (or group of people). Another thing to note is that your action doesn’t need to have an earth-shattering impact on someone else. However, the more reflective you are, the stronger the essay will be. Talk about how you felt helping someone else(were you worried? Confident? Nervous?) — add a more humanizing element to the essay to show that you are more than your GPA and test scores. Focus on a time you supported someone, be specific, provide details, and include how your actions impacted that person. This essay is straightforward, and with only 150 words, make sure to be concise, yet include specific details and reflections to make the essay stand out. This prompt is very open-ended , and allows you to be creative. You could write about anything from a pet, a lucky pencil, or even a stuffed animal that you will bring to college with you. The college admissions officers are not going to judge you for what you necessarily say as the one item (make sure to keep it appropriate of course), but what they care about is your explanation of why that certain item means a lot to you. For example, if you are bringing your favorite stuffed animal that is a pig, they want to know why this stuffed animal is so important to you. Have you had this stuffed animal since you were a small child or was this the stuffed animal that you always went to when you were down and made soaking wet with your tears? This type of detail and personal touch will make your essay stand out from the more generic ones. Adding specific elements that are personal and showcase the reasons why that object is important to you will help the college admissions officers understand you as an applicant better. You may also want to consider bringing something that is not tangible. Bringing certain emotions, memories, or ideas can be a spin on this essay. For example, bringing an inspiring phrase your grandmother always told you or your dedication to saving the environment, can take this essay in an interesting direction. Whatever one thing you choose, make sure to include personal details explaining why it means a lot to you. While this question may seem straightforward, it is definitely one of the harder of the 4 essay options. Rather than starting with how to answer this prompt, let’s start with how not to answer this question . Do not talk about the time that your parents didn’t say â€Å"good job† for your stellar grades, or how your teacher didn’t notice that you were the one that put together the entire presentation by yourself (even though it was a group presentation). Also, do not compare yourself with a sibling and comment how your sibling always gets praised and you don’t. These are all situations that come off as whiny, immature, and accusatory . Instead, the way to go about this essay is talking about the personal accomplishments you made over the past four years. Talk about your own personal goal to run a mile everyday for a year or your new resolution to eat dessert only once a week. These may all seem like trivial aspects of your life — but they give insight into who you really are. Running a mile everyday for a year shows college admissions officers that you have the drive and hard-work necessary to continue something for an entire year while eating dessert only once a week demonstrates your self-control and discipline. You may not have received recognition for these actions (as many may not even know that you are doing them), but they mean something to you . Another way to approach this essay is to talk about a personal challenge you had to overcome. Maybe it was a social problem you had to face in high school forcing you to stand up for a close friend, or a friend that passed away. These type of situations may not come off directly as proud accomplishments, but can be turned around to demonstrate how proud you are afterwards for sticking up for that friend or for being able to move on and be level-headed after that funeral. These type of situations show college admissions officers that you are able to turn lemons into lemonade. Your proudest accomplishment doesn’t have to be about the good times, it can also be about the bad— but if your choose this route, make sure to clearly explain why you it was a proud moment. This option allows you to be completely creative and take a bold risk . You could write about a community service project you are part of, why you think McDonalds is better than the West Coast In-N-Out, or your passion for figure skating (even though you always fall). The best essays will be ones where you unleash your inner personality and give insight into who you really are. You can take this in two ways. If you are funny, take a jab and write a humorous piece about the life of a high school AP Chemistry student. If you are very serious, maybe take time to reflect on how being serious your entire life has helped, or even hurt, you. Notre Dame wants you to take that risk with this essay and really express who you are (keep in mind you only have 150 words to do this though). If you have taken a creative writing class, or done some personal writing that is on the more creative side, this is the prompt for you. Explore with different forms of writing — poetry, satire, comedy, or even an extremely short 150 word story. This will be sure to stand out from the other applicants. If you feel uncomfortable with creative writing, you can go the more traditional route and talk freely about something you are passionate about. This more traditional essay pairs well if you have dedicated your past four years towards something you are really passionate about whether that be a certain political movement, club that you started, an organization you are on the board for, or research that you have done every summer. If you have something like that, this essay gives you the opportunity to expand on why those personal projects mean so much to you.    This essay could go incredibly well, or easily come off the wrong way to someone who doesn’t know you. So be sure to have other people read your essay (especially someone who might not know you well!). Taking this option, while it may have a high risk, also has high rewards. Want help on your Notre Dame application or essays? Learn about our College Apps Program . Want us to quickly edit your college essay? Submit it to our Rapid Review program , and we’ll get it back to you quickly with comments from our expert team. We'll send you information to help you throughout the college admissions process. Joyce Ivy Foundation Scholars-A Summer Opportunity for Women from the Midwest If you’ve ever received emails or correspondence from various organizations that claim you can be a part of an elite group of individuals, you are probably not alone. Many times, the opportunities offered sound too good to be true, and when you delve a little deeper, you learn that you can be this scholar or that scholar for an exorbitant fee. If you receive an email from the Joyce Ivy Foundation   making similar claims, don’t toss out the mail or delete the email. The Joyce Ivy Foundation is an organization that offers young women from across the Midwest the opportunity to become a Joyce Ivy Foundation Scholar, a position which includes myriad benefits, but without any hidden fees! If you are a woman from the Midwest and have aspirations of attending a highly selective university, read on to learn about how the Joyce Ivy Foundation can help you achieve your dreams. The Joyce Ivy Foundation was started in 2006 after a group of Midwest natives who had attended colleges such as Princeton, Harvard, Dartmouth, and Brown, came together with the goal of providing other young women from the Midwest the same educational opportunities they had. The founders realized that students from the Midwest were under-represented on the campuses of these highly selective universities due to lack of awareness about the opportunities and scholarships that were available to them. They also recognized that many students in the Midwest were unable to recognize their own talent or felt that they couldn’t compete with students from other parts of the country, and the foundation wanted to encourage young women to pursue various opportunities outside of their comfort zone. The Joyce Ivy Foundation created the Summer Scholars Program , which gives young women from the Midwest the opportunity to venture away from home during the summer to attend some of the most highly selective universities in the country. The foundation provides critical information about admissions, the financial aid process, the interview process, and connects scholars with peers and mentors to boost their confidence. Each year, the Joyce Ivy Foundation (JIF), names young women from Michigan, Ohio, Nebraska, Missouri, South Dakota, and North Dakota Joyce Ivy Foundation Scholars. In 2016, 78 Scholars were named from 70 different schools. Once selected as a JIF Scholar, students are offered the opportunity to attend summer programs at schools such as Yale, Harvard, MIT, Johns Hopkins, and more. The programs at these institutions vary in length, but most range from two to seven weeks. In some cases, students may be eligible to receive college credit for the coursework. Once on the campus of your selected university, you will be immersed in college classes, studying alongside university students. You will be taught by university professors, live in the college dorms, and experience life in a city. This experience allows you to have a college experience during your summer vacation that may prove to be life-changing. There are many highly qualified individuals that apply, and the selection process is very competitive. Selection criteria are based on academic record, intellectual qualities, involvement in extracurricular activities, and leadership in school and your community. You are more likely to be named a Joyce Ivy Scholar as a rising junior or senior, although there have been instances when an exceptional rising sophomore is selected. If you choose to apply as a rising sophomore, please understand that you will be competing against some of the top students in your state. The application is available in December for female students in their sophomore or junior year of high school.   On occasion, exceptional students may be chosen as rising sophomores. The application is very similar to the Common Application .   You  will be required to fill out similar forms and write essays from past and present Common Application prompts, which allows you to get a better understanding of the college application process. If you are applying for need-based financial aid, you will need to submit your parent’s tax documents to verify financial need. Our Early Advising Program helps students in 9th and 10th grade discover their passions and build strong academic and extracurricular profiles to succeed in high school. The Joyce Ivy Foundation has three levels of funding available for summer study. Funding levels are $6,000, $3,000 and $1,000. The funding is based on demonstrated financial need and is calculated estimating the full cost of attendance which includes tuition, room, board, travel, and spending money. The $1,000 award is merit-based, and although the application is the same, you will not be required to submit tax documents for this level of funding. Students will typically receive a partner scholarship from the university, and scholarship amounts will be determined by the cost of the specific summer program the student chooses to attend. In order to receive funding from the University and the Joyce Ivy Foundation, you must complete separate applications for the summer program as well as the Scholar program, and you must identify yourself as a Joyce Ivy applicant.   The Foundation encourages students to complete both applications early as funding is limited. Being named a JIF Scholar is not a prerequisite to attend a summer program. All programs that partner with JIF are open to any student, but being named a JIF Scholar confers additional financial and networking advantages. Once you are named a JIF Scholar, you will attain access to peer mentoring and support from the foundation regardless of whether or not you can attend a summer program. However, the funding you may receive can only be used for a summer program prior to graduating from high school and cannot be used for undergraduate study. The foundation has created geo-circles where students from across the Midwest are connected to each other and mentors from the organization to share information, concerns, questions, victories and defeats. The Scholars often find themselves connected for years to come and many form life-long friendships. â€Å"Receiving the opportunity to attend a summer program at Brown University stretched my comfort zone, and it provided me a first-hand experience of connecting with peers in a college environment. It opened my perspective and perception of others as I ventured outside of North Dakota, which I learned to thrive independently in a vibrant metropolitan city. Engaging in a high level academic environment allowed me to see how passionate other students were in their fields of study. The Joyce Ivy foundation served as my foundation to pursue my passion for education, as it fulfilled my desire for knowledge and learning to allow me to get into my dream school.† – Lynna, North Dakota JIF Scholar 2016 â€Å"My summer program at WashU was a life-changing experience. I came back home feeling more independent and confident than ever. Before that, I didn’t know if I had what it took to make it in to a prestigious university, but now I know that I can do anything I set my mind to. Without the generosity of the Joyce Ivy Foundation, I never would have had the amazing opportunity to travel, study, and meet people from all over the world!† – Megan, Michigan JIF Scholar 2016 Fun Facts about the 2016 JIF Scholars: The Joyce Ivy Foundation serves as a resource for young women throughout the Midwest. They believe in the transformative power of educational experiences that challenge students and raise aspirations. Each year, JIF also hosts a College Admission Symposium , where young women and their families are given the opportunity to connect with admission counselors from selective universities to learn more about the application process, financial aid and interviewing techniques. The symposium is held in May and pre-registration is required. The symposium is open to young women and their families regardless of if they are named a JIF Scholar. Each year, the foundation also hosts a gala for Joyce Ivy Scholars where they are recognized for their accomplishments. Scholars have the opportunity to visit with their peers throughout the evening, which provides an opportunity to make life-long connections with other young women that have similar dreams and aspirations. At , we work with students to help them develop a compelling admissions profile. This includes advising on summer opportunities. Learn more about our Mentorship program and how we can help you establish a competitive profile.