University of Notre Dame Top Questions

Academically challenging, great professors, great organization, great overall help by staff, but very expensive especially for international students.

The one thing that separates Notre Dame from other schools is that we all are obsessed with our school, as are all of our alumni which makes getting a job pretty easy. My dad went here and brainwashed me into thinking ND was the best school ever. I struggled to do well enough in high school to get in, which was rough at times. Part of me thought it would be impossible for the school to live up to my expectations, but it far exceeded them. I can't think of anything that I love more than this school. Personally, I want to change the world for the better, and I feel that almost everyone has that mentality, which is my favorite part of Notre Dame. Our mission statement spells it out, but living it is different. If you pay any money on campus besides tuition, it's going to charity. Every event is for charity. One example - my dorm has a mud volleyball tournament that raises over $10,000 for Habitat for Humanity. I'm pretty sure that happened in the same week that I ran a half marathon for charity and then shaved my head to raise money for cancer research. Our size is perfect. You don't know everyone, so you're never bored, but you know enough people that this is definitely home. Our dorm system is great at making a smaller family in a larger university. I feel that if we had more students, or if we were located in a larger city, our students wouldn't be so united or close-knit. You only do college once, you can live in a city later. We make fun of South Bend, but it has everything we need. All of the essential stores, an airport, right off of the toll road, bars, and places to volunteer. We spend a lot of time on campus though, probably because I could be here for 10 years not taking classes just trying to experience everything Notre Dame has to offer. The worst part of Notre Dame is how I cry about once a month about how I'll eventually have to leave. And I'm still an underclassman. And a guy. I think that sums it up pretty well.

Notre Dame is like a small and tight community. The campus is amazingly beautiful in the short summer. Winter is long and hard however students from the South may enjoy the snow at the very beginning. Strong school spirit, deep connection with alumi

The best things at Notre Dame are the friends you meet and the atmosphere in general. The school is not very large and you get to know most people on campus. It is not a college town but the town does come alive for football games. There is a lot of school pride and the alumni are great.

In the big picture, Notre Dame is a community of people who are serious about academics, athletics, school spirit and service (not necessarily in that order!). Because the school is so selective, you will find that almost everyone graduated near the top of their class in high school. You will be surrounded by people who are smart, motivated and genuinely passionately about succeeding in college. Fortunately, this doesn't seem to have led to an uber-competitive atmosphere on campus--students are more than willing to help one another. The school itself is also extremely supportive of its students. Professors are generally very accessible, tutoring programs are all around, and the administration will intervene early to help students who are struggling. It may be very hard to get in to Notre Dame, but it's also hard to fail once you're there. Athletics are obviously a big part of campus life, particulalry during football season. A home football game can consume an entire weekend's social activities (pep rallies, tailgating, game-watching, post-game partying, hanging out with visiting alums and family, etc., etc.). Most of the student body (although not me!) played sports in high school, and the intramural and interhall sports leagues are full of players who might have made the school's varsity program at a less athletically inclined college. In terms of school spirit, Notre Dame is unparalled. The majority of students live on campus in dorms that fill the sorority/fraternity role, which makes them more bonded to and invested in the school. Many come from "legacy" families, with relatives who previously graduated, and have grown up loving the school. The alumni network is ENORMOUS, very active, and very inclined to take care of its own when it comes to job searches or other needs after graduation. That passionate spirit for the university is equaled by a passionate spirit for service to the community. A very significant percentage of the student body is involved in service to some extent, ranging from volunteering at a local elementary school to building houses in Haiti. The university actively encourages and promotes these opportunities through academic programs aimed at service-oriented disciplines, dorm-sponsored service projects, and the sponsorship of lengthier service opportunities in South Bend and around the world.

Notre Dame has a really great atmosphere to it. It's a great size - about 8,000 undergrads. It's a very friendly atmosphere. If you're religious, either Catholic or not, you'll find a great college to express that. South Bend frankly sucks, but there's not much of a need to go off campus a whole lot. The campus itself is absolutely beautiful. Northern Indiana winters are awful, so if you're from the South, that may come as a shock. Sports here are really fun, as you might expect. Everyone gets really into football and basketball, and games in the student sections are pretty unique.

Notre Dame is a highly competative school with some of the happiest students I've have ever met. Every student who attends this school loves it which is shown in the high alumnae involvement. Students of the past and present care about this middle sized (10,000 student) school and are always looking to make it better. It definately has a work hard play hard mentality, but every student is extremely dedicated to making academics a priority.

The thing about Notre Dame I like a lot is the homey feeling. It is such a beautiful campus, which is contained - it's not in a city and cars don't drive through. I really enjoy the feeling of safety and comfort that it provides. The thing that sucks about it is the anal rules about girls and guys visiting each other late at night - it can't happen. There are a lot of rules, which honestly don't keep anybody from doing anything, it just means they have to do it quietly or behind closed doors.

I love Notre Dame for a viriety of reasons. The most important reason why I love Notre Dame is the people. Most students feel that they can be friends with just about anyone on campus. You really don't understand how special the student body is until your attending Notre Dame as a student and then visit other schools and realize that Notre Dame's student body is just special.

Notre Dame is a very unusual place in terms of college. The whole dorm community atmosphere is, as far as I know, unique to ND. The single sex dorms can be nice, as they function as welcoming sororities or fraturnities of sorts. The major drawback with the system, however, is that meeting people of the opposite sex on a friendly level is somewhat more difficult. Notre Dame doesn't really have a college town. If you want to go anywhere off campus you have to call a cab or borrow a friends car. I think there are plans in the works to build a little shopping district within walking distance which would be really nice. My biggest frustration with Notre Dame is its conservative policies. Due to the Catholic nature of the college the policies tend to be very conservative and old fashioned.

The best thing about Notre Dame is your classmates. Only the most amazing kids get accepted here and your peers will become some of your biggest inspirations. I would change the number of Catholic professors on campus. The Catholic nature of Notre Dame is what makes this school so unique and special because it spreads to all the aspects of campus life; however, the number of Catholic faculty is quickly dropping and many kids worry that the one part about Notre Dame that is unlike all other schools - its Catholicism - may be dissapearing. The size of the school is perfect. You always know someone in the dining hall but can easily avoid anyone you want to. By the end of sophomore year, you generally have one friend in common with everyone in your class. For the most part no one leaves campus. There is no reason too. The upperclassmen stay in the dorms because the dorms are essentially like frats (without the bad parts). Also, Notre Dame offers tons of things for students to do on campus and drinking is allowed in the dorms. The most recent controversies all involve the Catholic nature of the university. Generally the faculty push for less religion while the students, alumni, and trustees wish to maintain the religion. This has manifested itself in hiring of faculty (i.e. should ND set a quota for what percent of faculty need to be Catholic or does this interfere with the goal of becoming a prime research institution) There is more school pride here than any other school I have encountered. This extends far beyond graduation too which can result in great connections and job oppertunities from a worldwide network of sucessful Notre Dame graduates. Notre Dame has parietals (opposite sex must be out of dorms after midnight on weekdays and 2am on weekends) this seems odd at first but for the most part students actually enjoy this although few admit it. I will remember every day as a great experience. Notre Dame is a fantastic place. The most common complaint involves parietals as you might expect.

We're a medium sized school. ND has a unique Catholic character and a strong tradition surrounding athletics and academics. ND is very well known in my area. It is however, very conservative. Most students live in the dorms for 3-4 years, which is very unusual.

I think the best thing about Notre Dame is that virtually everyone here loves it here. So many people chose this university as their first choice, even over institutions such as the Ivies. Since everyone lives in dorms for the first couple of years, there is a real sense of community here. The school is just the right size; it is large enough that you can never get to know everyone, but small enough so that you will not feel like just another number. I am constantly meeting new people, but I also run into people I know all the time, at events, parties, the dining hall, or just walking around campus. The dorms are single-sex, which can be a blessing and a curse; it makes it significantly harder to become good friends with members of the opposite sex, but it also creates a sort of fraternity/sorority atmosphere. Single-sex dorms and especially parietals are probably the most heard complaints. (Parietals are a set of rules that mandate when students of the opposite sex can be in each others' dorms - not after midnight on weeknights and 2 AM on weekends.) The biggest thing that differentiates Notre Dame from other schools is the Catholic vibe. You have infinite opportunities to deepen your religious faith if you go here. I don't think I would be nearly as close in my relationship with God right now if I had not come to this school. The Catholic atmosphere is another factor in creating a close-knit sense of community. Also, Notre Dame is one of the top schools academically in the country, so students here spend a lot of time studying. This, of course, varies with what they are majoring in - business majors probably only study a few hours a week, while engineering majors usually study a few hours a day. Sport on campus are a big deal; we have probably the most storied sports tradition of any college, and the most spirited fans, alumni, and student body. This is one more reason why there is a real sense of community at ND.

The best thing about Notre Dame for me is that it's a Catholic school. I grew up in Catholic schools and I love that my faith can be a component of my education. However, the fact that ND is Catholic doesn't mean that the faith will be forced upon you. Yes, it is constantly around (the Basilica, the Grotto, retreats and other campus ministry events) but I know plenty of people who aren't Catholic and/or don't agree with the Church on a lot of issues. Notre Dame is a great place to openly discuss the issues facing the Church and the world with all of the sides being presented. Sometimes there is controversy, like whether or not ND should allow the Vagina Monologues on campus, but I think that the controversies are good, because they force us to think about what we really belive in and what is right and wrong. ND is the perfect size: not so small that you know everyone, but small enough that it feels like a community, a family. There is a ton of school pride here, which stems from the small-ish size and the tons of traditions that we have. There are always students at all of the sporting events, cheering loudly even if we are losing terribly. Students are also constantly wearing ND apparel.

I love the sense of community at this school. Everyone is so genuine, friendly and polite. Also, the large role that faith plays is very appealing. Complaints usually include dislike of parietals and strictness of rules.

The best thing is that there is such a tight knit community fostered by the dorms. I would change the university's stance on how they treat homosexuals. The size is SO PERFECT! you can walk around and see tons of people you know but you are also meeting new people every day. It is pretty funny to see people's reactions to Notre Dame, some people love it and respect it and are very impressed that I go there while other people think of it as a conservative catholic football snob school. but there are many more positive reactions

A great name, a great reputation, awesome rivalries but everybody still respects the education and values that the Notre Dame community upholds.

God and Football basically dominate everything

The school size is perfect for me, I have never walked to a class and never seen someone I don't know. At the same time, it is big enough where I meet new people all the time. The college "town" is scarce. Basically we have a ton of restaurants and like three bars and that is it.

I really like the size of Notre Dame, its big enough that I still meet new people but it is small enough that I don't feel lost in a crowd of numbers. Notre Dame is a really great school because of the school spirit and sense of community on campus. However, the university's social policies on parietals (male/female visitation hours in dorms) is very strict and unreasonably enforced. I would change the parietals system. I like the administration at Notre Dame and agree with its catholic philosophy but i think there needs to be more openess and inter-religious dialogue.