University of Notre Dame

Yes. Notre Dame is highly selective, admitting about 9.4% of applicants in its most recent cycle — roughly 3,320 offers out of more than 35,400 applications, with about 2,118 first-years enrolling. Admission is holistic, and nine factors including the rigor of your coursework, GPA, class rank, essays, and character are all weighed as very important.

Notre Dame's overall acceptance rate is about 9.4%, admitting roughly 3,320 of more than 35,400 applicants. Notre Dame offers a Restrictive Early Action (single-choice) plan alongside Regular Decision; because it is restrictive, you cannot apply to other schools' binding early programs, though the plan itself is non-binding.

No. Notre Dame is test-optional, so you may apply without submitting scores, and standardized test scores are weighed as only an important factor rather than a very important one. Among enrolled first-years who did submit, the middle 50% scored 1460–1540 on the SAT and 33–35 on the ACT.

A 1500 is competitive — it falls within the middle-50% SAT range of 1460–1540 for enrolled first-years, just above the 25th-percentile mark of 1460. Because Notre Dame is test-optional and reviews applications holistically, your GPA, course rigor, essays, and recommendations carry as much or more weight than the score itself.

Notre Dame does not publish an average GPA in its Common Data Set, but admitted students are typically at the top of their high school classes. Academic GPA, class rank, and the rigor of your high school record are each weighed as very important factors in Notre Dame's holistic review, so a strong, rigorous transcript matters more than any single cutoff.

No. Notre Dame is a Catholic university and lists religious affiliation/commitment as an important factor in admissions — one of three factors at that level, alongside first-generation status and standardized test scores — but it is not a requirement and ranks below the academic and personal factors marked very important. Character and personal qualities, essays, and extracurricular and volunteer involvement are all weighed as very important.

Yes — Notre Dame rates the application essay as a very important factor in its holistic review, on par with grades, course rigor, and recommendations. Notre Dame does not consider interviews at all, so the essays are one of the main ways the committee gets to know you, making a specific, well-revised essay one of the best ways to stand out in a pool admitting under 10%.

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Tuition and required fees come to about $69,794 per year, before housing and food. Notre Dame is need-blind for both domestic and international applicants and meets 100% of demonstrated financial need, and its aid offers no longer include loans for the entering class. About 54% of students receive aid, with an average aid package of roughly $67,264.