University of Notre Dame

In and out of the classroom, you are guaranteed to learn...A LOT. From going to conferences and listening to lectures by distinguished professors at many different universities to the actual learning in the classroom (and the fabulous & intelligent professors), you will realize how much you truly don't know about the world and how much you truly *will* learn here at Notre Dame. And this is coming from someone who graduated within the top 2% of her high school class of 720 and got top AP, SAT and ACT scores.

The classes here are almost all taught by professors who are experts on the subjects they teach, and usually know how to make things interesting. Most professors here make an effort to make themselves available to students outside of class, and there are many resources to help anyone having trouble. Depending on your major, class sizes, especially freshman year, are pretty mixed, but freshmen are required to take a seminar which gives everyone an opportunity to have an intimate, small class about something that interests them.

The University of Notre Dame is a privately funded, Catholic, liberal arts university. It is most well-known for athletics, especially football, ethics and social justice studies, and the Mendoza School of Business. Notre Dame also boasts a beautiful campus and a deeply involved alumni network.

The amount you learn at Notre Dame depends on you. As a first year student, there may be a couple of classes that have 200 people in them. If you go to lecture, take notes, and keep up with your reading, then you'll learn a lot. If not, then you're SOL. There's also those really small, intimate classes that you'll build close relationships with your professors and classmates in. Notre Dame is an academically prestigious school, so nothing comes easily.

I absolutely love my school. I've always felt that there is just such a welcoming environment and everyone is always very helpful and friendly. The only downside is the weather.

In my first semester here, I feel like I learned more than I did in my last two years of high school. Classes really challenge you and they don't just teach you the material, they teach you how to think, as in how to approach an intellectual issue properly. It is very important to the professors not that they teach you what to think, but rather how to think. This intellectual atmosphere produces graduates who don't just repeat the ideas of their professors like parrots, but rather ones who can think independently and come to their own conclusions, which is much more valuable.

Part of Notre Dame's mission is to educate the mind and heart. I am learning a lot academically from our many wonderful professors, many of whom are renowned experts in their fields. For example, my professor for a course in Hebrew Scriptures actually worked with the Dead Sea Scrolls, translating and publishing them, for many years. In addition, my time at Notre Dame has truly helped to educate my heart and to grow in my spiritual life. Because of so many opportunities for community service (through the Center for Social Concerns and through the dorms), deepening in faith (through Campus Ministry, other religious groups, and many opportunities for Mass and the sacrament of reconciliation), and experiencing true friendship, it is an excellent environment in which to acquire virtue. In other words, Notre Dame students' minds are educated in the classroom, and their hearts are educated through invaluable experiences outside the classroom. Notre Dame provides students with the opportunity to receive a well-rounded education.

Once a Notre Dame student, always a Notre Dame alumni. This school has a huge following and very active alumni. If you are accepted into ND and decide to attend, welcome to the community and family!

The professors know and fully understand you are not there to become a slave towards textbooks, they realize each individual has passions outside of academia. With that in mind, the professors do a great job challenging each individual, not by overwhelming them with work, but by giving them opportunities to succeed. I found that the level of compassion the professors embody has helped me tremendously in learning not to be a great student, but a successful individual.

Students feel like they are immediately a part of the tradition and history of a school that so many people love.