University of Notre Dame Top Questions

The best thing about Notre Dame is the community of people who make up the student body and staff. Everyone is so welcoming and friendly and it makes Notre Dame a really fun place to be. People want to be here and they want to learn and grow and have fun and it shows! I think our campus is just the right size because it's not too big where you feel overwhelmed and alone, but not too small where you know everyone else's business and feel like you are constantly seeing the same people. Being from California, most people don't even know where Notre Dame is and don't understand why I would want to go to a school where there is snow and bad weather. People on the west coast or people who haven't heard of or visited Notre Dame in general just don't get it. They don't understand what an amazing place this school is and they don't understand how happy I am to be here. It would be nice if Notre Dame had a town to go with it, but South Bend is not really the nicest place and that is what makes the campus community even better. The campus is closed to the surrounding and there are no cars or streets running through it which makes you feel secure and safe. It is also nice because everything is easy to get to and all of the people you want to be with are within a reasonable distance. The farthest walk to any building on campus is probably 10-12 minutes which is really convenient. Notre Dame has more school pride than any place I have ever seen or heard of. I love the fact that by just going here you automatically belong and are part of a group that loves you and respects you. Tradition is a very important part of Notre Dame and it shows in many campus wide activities and sports. The dorms at Notre Dame are amazing, they are old and full of character, but still really nice to live in and each dorm has its own activities, dances and traditions which make everyone's dorm experience unique. The most frequent student complaints probably have to do with our rules, because Notre Dame is a Catholic University and has strict rules regarding members of the opposite sex in dorms and alcohol policies but in the bigger picture these are really only minor issues that students get over pretty quickly.

Notre Dame is full of ultra-conservative, close-minded, and sometimes downright mean people. But since the university prides itself on its Catholic nature, everyone feels ok about themselves because, you know, God loves us.

I love the size. It's perfect. It's big enough, but small enough to know a lot of people, and be able to say hello to people as you go to class. I'd change the strictness...sometimes I feel like I go to a high school boarding school instead of college due to things like parietals. When I tell people I go to Notre Dame, usually they say something along the lines of "wow." I spend most time in my dorm or at work when im on campus. What college town? There's always controversy about being able to perform the vagina monologues on a catholic campus. The school is pretty conservative. TONS of school pride. In fact, I would say it is THE school for school pride, esp. with football.

The people at ND are awesome, they have their heads on straight but still know how to have fun. I think it's the right size, because you can still meet new people senior year. Most people freak out when I tell them i'm a ND grad. it's looked upon very highly. "What college town?" Tons of school pride.

Notre Dame's administration don't consider the students wishes enough and should listen more to what we have to say and spend money on important things rather than renovating the campus constantly.

The best thing about Notre Dame is it's Irish tradition of the Golden Dome. The whole idea behind it's Catholic tradition and idenity. There is not one Catholic school in the nation that has HailMary on their roof. The other best thing about Notre Dame is it's strong tradition of having a good football program and a great stadium. I also like the college experience the people their are very loyal, very kind. It's a difference between Harvard University and Notre Dame. The one thing I would change about Notre Dame is that it's a gated university and a private university. It is only open to the public in certain areas. The full campus they do not allow cars onto it. You have to park far away to access the university and many parking spots are not marked for students. It is not a public university meaning the scholarships are limited. The teachings allow Christian teachings and the books are full of crap sometimes. Most of the stuff you read is so conservative and it doesn't relate to normal life. People react and ask me if I am rich if I go to Notre Dame. I tell them no I recieved a heavy amount of scholarship money because my grades were very good. I also tell them they should consider sending there families to Notre Dame because it's the only campus where you can spend time with people you might actually like. I spend most of my time in LA-FORTUNE Dinner Area. It is nice to have like 5 restraunts available till late at night. It also has starbucks. It's a nice place to sit and relax and read. They also have 18 flat screen TV's so people can watch the games and stuff if they want to. Notre Dame is not a college town school because it does not have frat houses and it does not allow drinking. The only college town thing about it is football weekends when the public comes in and brings in the parties. The big thing is tailgating on football game days where you can cheat and get free booze for minors. The Administration at Notre Dame is a pain in the ass. When I first came to Notre Dame they only accepted 10 percent of freshman applicants. The Adminstration also made it hard on Holy Cross College Students. Many student's follow the RUDY TRADITION. They want to start early at a smaller school. They made the requirements tougher by making students take higher math classes and etc. The Adminstration is also most of the time Priests unless your visiting the financial offices. The Adminstration feel is that there ripping off students to attend their university by charging no where close to what other schools do for tuition and books. There were three controversies on campus. One was the recent Pro-life movement, laying of the crosses. Notre Dame claims to be a Catholic school and many people are not simply pro-life. There are many pro-choice Catholics they believe what there doing is not polite. So there were recent riots and most of the time its been peaceful. The student Observer has had many attack ads out. They secondly suspended a player last year on the men's basketball team for drinking at an off-campus party. It cost the Notre Dame team the season because he was an all-america athlete. Lastly, Vigina Monaloges is played on campus for a play. Their has been many protest including articles in the student newspaper. There is lots of Notre Dame student pride but most people are together by Faith. The most unusual thing about Notre Dame is it's policy called Brital's. The adminstration makes it manditory for all student's to leave there dormitory doors open if students are having actvities with people of opposite sex. Meaning if your having sex with a female or with another student. There is not privacy unless you go somewhere where your not noticed. Notre Dame has a no tollerence policy.

One of the best things about ND is that you get the feel of a big Division 1 school without feeling like a tiny fish in a huge pond. Classes are still small, you still recognize a lot of faces as you walk around campus, but you have the resources, school spirit, and facilities of a huge school. South Bend is definitely lacking in any kind of college town atmosphere but there are still some student friendly areas and the ever popular Club Fever.

The best thing about ND is the sense of community not only among students but also among alumni and people all ver the country who are Irish fans or just respect the school. We never lock our doors here (i have no ideas where my keys even are) and i can leave my laptop out in the middle of the social space all night without being worried in the least that something will happen to it. People just respect one another for the most part. If I could change one thing I'd make people less scial akward (apparently that's what single sex schools do to you) and make moreof a party scene. 8000 undergrads is a perfect size; big enough that you always meet new people, but small enough that you can usually find someone to sit with in the dining hall if you go over alone. Most common reactions when people hear I go to ND: 1) "You must be really smart" or 2) "What's wrong with your football team this year?" Definately "what college town"! South Bend is pretty gross all around. Houses near campus get broken into fairly often, and there's seriously nothing to do in "the Bend". In all honesty, the administration has a large stick up its ass. They need to remember that just because we're Catholic doesn't mean that we're living in the Middle Ages. They compromise a lot of the college experience trying to make the school as holy as humanly possible. The biggest recent contrversy for literally the past three years has been if "The Vagina Monologues" shuld be allowed to be perfrmed on campus. A lot of people think it goes aginst Catholic values and think it will sully the pristine little minds of students with horrific references to female anatomy. There's a ton of school pride!!! Especially during football season. There's A LOT of unusual things about ND....one of them sits next to me in Italian. One experience I'll always remember will be the Michigan State game my freshman year. We went up to MSU for it, and people were so rude all day (there's not an ounce of class on that campus). We were losing really badly for the first half and it was freezing cold and pouring rain, but in the fourth quarter we made one of the biggest comebacks in college football history and beat them in their own stadium. All the ND fans were jumping up and down, screaming, and higging people we didn't even know and we were all soaking wet. It was one of the most fun nights I've had here.

The best thing about ND is by far the people. I know that I've made better friends here than I thought was ever possible. The worst part? The weather. But if you're considering even applying here I hope you're smart enough to know it's in Northwest Indiana... it gets REALLY cold here.

Notre Dame's size is perfect. Its small enough that you can walk anywhere on campus and recognize classmates or friends as you walk, but big enough that you can avoid people if you want. Notre Dame's location, however, is all wrong. It is located in South Bend, Indiana, a city that could use some financial and moral help. However, students don't often need to venture off of campus, and rarely do, except for the occasional "Meijer" run. What's worse is when "the gray" sets in around mid-November. The gray is a term endearingly used by students to describe the perpetual cloudiness one grows accustomed to until March. When winter hits, it hits Notre Dame hard, and students are often forced to walk on ice, through snow, against the wind to class, causing students to wonder "Why did Father Sorin have to choose this location? Couldn't he have gone west to California?!" When I tell people I go to Notre Dame, they usually respond with excitement. Notre Dame has such close-knit networks, and there are lifelong fans throughout the nation. Everyone has heard of Notre Dame, known someone who went here, or at least seen "Rudy." The best thing about Notre Dame is its intense sense of tradition. You know when you come here and sing the Alma Mater after your first home football game that you have just embarked on a truly unique college-experience, one which will unite you with thousands of people throughout the world. If you don't go here, it is hard to understand just how important the traditions are, and how significantly they will impact your life. Contributing to this sense of tradition is that a large percentage of students here have parents, siblings or grandparents who were students here. Students without any legacy refer to themselves proudly as "first-generation Domers," as another ND stereotype is that it is more difficult to be accepted if you do not have any legacy.