University of Notre Dame Top Questions

The best thing about Notre Dame is the residence hall life. If you do not fit in or like where you live, I can see that being at Notre Dame would be an awful student experience.

the size is absolutely perfect. big enough to meet tons of new people, but small enough to recognize people and not feel like a number. i spend a lot of time in my dorm, outside as much as possible, the library adn the student center. people are usually really impressed when i tell them i go to nd, and react saying wow you must be smart, or talking to me about football. south bend isnt exactly a college town, but its getting better. eddy street commons and other things are helping making it feel more like a college town. but south bend does provide lots of opportunity for service and other ways to reach out. nd's administration seem good. i havent had alot of personal experience with many of them, but the hall staff are great. not over disciplinarian but fair and helpful. biggest recent contraversy was the delivery of the vagina monologues on the campus since its catholic. they had it followed by panel discussion. there is a ton of school pride in everything, not just sports. tradition isnt just a word, its the law at nd. nd has lots of little oddity tradition, such as not walking up the steps of the main buildings. ill always remember winning the interhall football championship inside the nd stadium. students complain about parietals- curfews in boys/girls dorms

i'd change how catholic and conservative it is

Notre Dame is all about community and athletics. I remember hearing it described as the school where all the smart varsity athletes end up, which becomes evident in interhall sporting events. Nearly everyone lives in the all-single-sex dorms on campus - there are no frats or sororities, but the dorms essentially fill the need for that type of social network. Dorms host dances, participate in tons of community service projects, host fundraising events, and, as I mentioned before, compete in a range of interhall sports from table tennis to football (flag for women, full contact/pads for men). The dorms do have a major downside in the enforcement of a policy known as 'parietals': people of the opposite sex cannot be in a dorm during specified evening hours. For example, guys cannot be in a girls dorm from 12-9 a.m. Sunday through Thursday and 2-9 a.m. Friday and Saturday (and vice versa). The school is the perfect size for someone looking to move up from a small town or away from a big one - the surrounding metro area is about 150,000 but the school itself is a tight community of 10,000 or so including graduate students. Chicago is only a train-ride away, making it easy to go to big concerts and shows. People react favorably when you tell them that you go to Notre Dame, unless, of course, they don't like the football team.

The best thing about Notre Dame is the community. You have a feeling of being welcome immediately upon stepping on campus. Wherever you go, if you find Notre Dame alumni, they will buy dinner for you, assist you in finding a job, or even just ask you to watch the ND football game with them.

Notre Dame is a great size, big enough so its always interesting, but not so big that it's overwhelming. The school spirit here is always high, and the students often five their all to everything that they do. The surrounding area of South Bend is not much to talk about, but has some fun bars (once you're 21). Going to Notre Dame opens a lot of doors outside of the classroom, and nearly everyone who hears "Notre Dame" is immediately impressed. The weather in the winter is probably the most common student complaint.

There is no college town here. South Bend consists of an old studebaker factor, shit, and then the University of Notre Dame. The weather sucks for about 8 out of the 9 months school is in session. It is a great place tho.

Tons of school pride, football season is insane. There are plenty of people who drink and go out so if you wnat to do that you're golden and there's a pretty big population who doesn't so if you're not into that you're still fine. Overall great place.

The best thing about Notre Dame is the people, there are a lot of great people here. I'd add muffins in the dining hall. People are always impressed to hear I go to Notre Dame. It's got small classes, depending on your major. I spend most of my time working...

Notre Dame is a mid-sized private school that is known for being pretty prestigious when it comes to getting an education. Classes are all pretty challenging and the teachers challenge students as well. Notre Dame has a very vibrant on-campus life to its student population. School spirit is very big, and the friendships you make at ND are really special. Unforgettable experiences at ND probably range from the football games, to certain classes and professors, to a friday night spent in good company. Some things that I wouldn't mind changed about ND would be the parietals system and the Catholic shroud covering the University. Otherwise, it's pretty awesome here.

Parietals are a big deal, and end a lot of parties too early, but there are ways around them.

Notre Dame is a small town with classes. It's different from the average university where at the end of 4 years you graduate with a degree, some good memories, and some great friends. At ND, you get all of that (along with a little chunk of debt if you're like me) one of the most prolific alumni networks in the country, and the stigma and prestige of the name Notre Dame. It's really interesting how people react to the name. It's a school you either love or hate, and rarely will you meet someone who is lukewarm. The bottom line about ND: The classes are hard, every other student has a varisty letter and a 3.5 GPA. You're held accountable for your actions in the world, but babied a bit for your actions on campus. You're stuck in a bubble, but only if you let yourself be so. "From the outside looking in you can't understand it and from the inside looking out you can't explain it."

I love ND and everything about it, but if we want to talk about something unusual, it would have to be the gender relations...so many students come from same sex religious high schools, and have no experience interacting with the other gender - it makes it hard to make friends with the other sex, especially if there is dating or more involved.

I really love Notre Dame. I love the size of the school: it´s not too big that you feel completely lost in the crowd, but it´s not too small either. I love the feeling of belonging to the University, of feeling that you´re really at some place special. It´s the "Notre Dame family", as cheesy as that sounds. When I tell people I go to Notre Dame, the reactions are generally pretty strong. It´s either, "Wow, that´s a really tough school, isn´t it?" or conversely you get people who hate Notre Dame. A lot of times people just know about Notre Dame because of the football and bring that up. To be honest, the city of South Bend, IN isn´t much to write home about, but you find things to do. I wish it were more of a college town, but that´s okay that it´s not. There is a lot of school pride at Notre Dame. Almost everyone loves it and I have friends that even cry when we talk about Notre Dame because they love it so much. There´s a lot of stuff unusual about Notre Dame! Dorm life is a big deal; at most other schools people only live on campus freshman year. At Notre Dame, almost everyone lives on campus three years if not all four. There are no fraternities or sororities at Notre Dame, and dorms then become sort of like your frat or sorority although on a lesser level. Each dorm has it´s own mascot and colors and cheers. You generally live in the same dorm each year and go to the pep rallies singing your cheers. Each dorm has signature dorm events, like the Fischer Regatta where each dorm builds a boat (usually out of crazy materials) and then they race them across the lake on campus. We are a strange unique school with many quirks but I love most all of them. Some things I don´t like are rules like parietals. Parietals stipulate that you cannot be in the dorm of the opposite sex (because all the dorms are same sex) between midnight and 9 am on weekdays and between 2 am and 9 am on weekends, unless you´re in the designated 24 hour common space. Sometimes parietals are nice because if your roommate is with their significant other in your room, then you know that at least they´ll leave at parietals. I´ll always remember the football games, especially the USC game my freshman year. I´ll always remember the campus wide snowball fights the first snowfall. I´ll always remember so many things from my time at Notre Dame because it´s just so amazing.

great community, balance between academics and social

The school is the perfect size. If you walk into a big room filled with a random assortment of people, you'll know two or three well. So you'll always meet new people, but it's not so big that you'll be lost in it. The best thing about ND is the camaraderie and the close spirit. I didn't think it was such a big deal when applying for colleges, but I got here and realized it truly does make all the difference in the college when the people teaching you and the people you study with are actualy passionate about this place. I spend most of my time on campus

The best thing about Notre Dame is the Catholic atmosphere. It's so nice to be in an environment where I can be comfortable practicing my faith. However, I don't feel that students who are not Catholic feel out of the loop or anything. For Catholics, a wonderful atmosphere of faith is provided and for non-Catholics, they are in a place where they feel supported and loved and able to be believe in any faith freely. My school is just the right size! I don't feel lost in the crowd, but there's always new people to meet! People are normally fairly impressed when they hear I go to Notre Dame-- it is known for strong academically.

the best thing about notre dame is its unique residence life. its the perfect size - less than 10k. if i could change one thing it would be parietals (single sex segregation hours). there is a lot of school pride, but a lot of unrest at the same time because of the conservative nature of the school and the administration. there are always a lot of complaints, but generally the majority of the student body loves being a part of the school. south bend is not a college town - although parts of it are geared to university students, its not a particularly safe or welcoming place.

TRADITION, SPIRIT, GOD, FRIENDS, GOD, HOMESICKNESS, LOVE

One of the best things about Notre Dame is the division between the week and the weekend. Notre Dame students "Work Hard, Play Hard." The main emphasis of a Notre Dame education may be placed on academics, but Notre Dame educates the entire person: "Mind, Body, and Soul." Students are encouraged to balance their academic, athletic, social, and spiritual lives.