Notre Dame 1L taking questions Forum

[Grizz]

How are parietals lololololol

[ndirish2010]

How are parietals lololololol

You're hilarious.

[spicymeatball111]

Is the exam software compatible with mac's, or do you have to be able to run windows?

[ndirish2010]

EBB is Mac compatible. A lot of people here have Macs and they have no problem with it.

[YourCaptain]

How do you like living in South Bend and how did it match your expectations?

I'm from a large city (think Chicago/NY/LA/Boston) and I find SB tolerable. Many go to Chicago for weekends if they need a big-city spree.

[ndirish2010]

Bump.

[jwmalone87]

Could you guesstimate how many students receive need-based or merit grants? I'm especially curious about the former, and how much $ it typically ranges from. I've read about ND being a little stingy, but perhaps you've heard otherwise.

[ndirish2010]

Could you guesstimate how many students receive need-based or merit grants? I'm especially curious about the former, and how much $ it typically ranges from. I've read about ND being a little stingy, but perhaps you've heard otherwise.

Apologize for the wait, I was out of town this weekend. I'm not really sure about need based aid, but quite a few students here are on at least some merit scholarship. I would say at least half got some money, with many receiving ~ half tuition.

[peacetrain89]

Hi,
Firstly, thanks so much for taking questions!

Right now, my decision is between Emory and Notre Dame. I'm from the Midwest, attend college in Chicago, and I think I'd like to work here eventually. All of that being said, I had some questions about diversity at Notre Dame. I'm not Catholic, Muslim in fact-- and I was wondering is there is a Muslim population at Notre Dame? Is there diversity in the student population, not just demographically, but also in terms of political ideology?

What I really like about Emory is how diverse the student body is, as well as their excellent international law courses. Of course, job placement in Chicago would be significantly more difficult if I choose Emory. And I genuinely like Notre Dame, so this is kind of difficult. Any advice would be appreciated

Thanks!

[bearsfan1]

Hi,
Firstly, thanks so much for taking questions!

Right now, my decision is between Emory and Notre Dame. I'm from the Midwest, attend college in Chicago, and I think I'd like to work here eventually. All of that being said, I had some questions about diversity at Notre Dame. I'm not Catholic, Muslim in fact-- and I was wondering is there is a Muslim population at Notre Dame? Is there diversity in the student population, not just demographically, but also in terms of political ideology?

What I really like about Emory is how diverse the student body is, as well as their excellent international law courses. Of course, job placement in Chicago would be significantly more difficult if I choose Emory. And I genuinely like Notre Dame, so this is kind of difficult. Any advice would be appreciated

Thanks!

I'm no expert, but ND is a Catholic university. You being Muslim wouldn't be a problem at all, but I'd assume that you'd definitely be in the minority. With regards to differences in political ideology, again you'll be on a college campus with thousands of other students. Not everyone is going to agree on politics, so there will definitely be diversity wiht regards to political ideology. I'm not trying to tell you how to make your decision, but I would base it on reasons other than finding out whether there is a "muslim population" or differences in terms of "political ideology" at ND or Emory from an online chat board. If I were in your shoes and I was making the decision, I would think to myself, do I want to spend my winters freezing my assoff or in relative confort? If I want to work in Chicago, shouldn't I go to ND since it's closer and probably morre represented throughout the city?

[peacetrain89]

Thanks for your input.
Neither of those matters are deciding factors for sure-- I really like both universities and am still trying to figure out which is best for me.

[ndirish2010]

Hi,
Firstly, thanks so much for taking questions!

Right now, my decision is between Emory and Notre Dame. I'm from the Midwest, attend college in Chicago, and I think I'd like to work here eventually. All of that being said, I had some questions about diversity at Notre Dame. I'm not Catholic, Muslim in fact-- and I was wondering is there is a Muslim population at Notre Dame? Is there diversity in the student population, not just demographically, but also in terms of political ideology?

What I really like about Emory is how diverse the student body is, as well as their excellent international law courses. Of course, job placement in Chicago would be significantly more difficult if I choose Emory. And I genuinely like Notre Dame, so this is kind of difficult. Any advice would be appreciated

Thanks!

There isn't much of a Muslim population (I am actually not sure if there is even one in the 1L class) but I don't think that fact should deter you from coming here. Politically, most students are more conservative than at our peer schools, but we are tolerant to diversity. I don't think we are quite as demographically diverse as peer schools either (that is certainly the case for the undergrad population) but I don't think you would feel uncomfortable either. I think you really need to visit and see what you think of the atmosphere here before you make your decision.

On another note, international law is not really a decision-maker, since the field pretty much doesn't exist unless you go to a really elite school. Do a TLS search on the topic and you'll see what I mean.

[Lou9]

ND is one of my top choices, however, I'm rather debt adverse and the merit scholarship I received won't cover half the cost of tuition. I have some significantly higher offers from IUB and Illinois and I'm hoping to get money from Vanderbilt later this week. Do I have any shot at negotiating more scholarship $?

[YourCaptain]

ND is one of my top choices, however, I'm rather debt adverse and the merit scholarship I received won't cover half the cost of tuition. I have some significantly higher offers from IUB and Illinois and I'm hoping to get money from Vanderbilt later this week. Do I have any shot at negotiating more scholarship $?

That will be tough. ND definitely likes to be very 'set' with the # they offer.

Personally, I turned down huge amounts of money at IUB, for what that's worth.

[Lou9]

ND is one of my top choices, however, I'm rather debt adverse and the merit scholarship I received won't cover half the cost of tuition. I have some significantly higher offers from IUB and Illinois and I'm hoping to get money from Vanderbilt later this week. Do I have any shot at negotiating more scholarship $?

That will be tough. ND definitely likes to be very 'set' with the # they offer.

Personally, I turned down huge amounts of money at IUB, for what that's worth.

Yeah, my offer at IUB is double that from ND, so it's kinda painful to think about turning that amount of money down.

[ndirish2010]

How much more is your UIUC offer? I would tell ND about that offer (and maybe IU's offer). I got a slight increase from letting them know about my UIUC offer last cycle. If you don't get more, I would consider UIUC if it is that much more...I think I would choose ND over IU even with the differences.

[Lou9]

How much more is your UIUC offer? I would tell ND about that offer (and maybe IU's offer). I got a slight increase from letting them know about my UIUC offer last cycle. If you don't get more, I would consider UIUC if it is that much more...I think I would choose ND over IU even with the differences.

UIUC offer is 10k more per year. If I could get 5k more per year from ND I would be sold.

How did you go about asking for more money? I'm visiting on Monday, should I discuss this with the financial aid person while I'm there?

[spicymeatball111]

would you mind talking about the weather a bit? as a native southern californian, i'm pretty nervous hearing about the terrible winters in the mid-west. I understand that I really shouldnt be picking a law school based on weather, but I guess it does play a small role in the decision. thanks.

[thebookcollector]

would you mind talking about the weather a bit? as a native southern californian, i'm pretty nervous hearing about the terrible winters in the mid-west. I understand that I really shouldnt be picking a law school based on weather, but I guess it does play a small role in the decision. thanks.

I'm also at Notre Dame...

The weather isn't the greatest. August and September are quite warm, as is late April and May. The campus is BEAUTIFUL at this time of the year. The rest of their either borders on chilly (October, November, March, early April) or flat out cold (December, January, February).

It does snow quite a bit, but the maintenance people are great about removing snow, even in the Fischer O'Hara Grace Graduate Apartments. The bigger thing is the temperature.

That said, my understanding is that this winter has been exceptionally harsh. We got the blizzard in early February like the rest of the country, but more recently, the weather has been nice.

TL;DR Version: Weather is nice at the start and end of the year, but during the winter, it really sucks.

[ndirish2010]

Yeah, it's been a bit worse this year than the last few, but not that much. The weather sucks in the winter (we're just starting to come out of it now). It's always going to be very cold for about three months and you get the lake effect no matter if there are strong storm systems (basically any time there is a decent northwest wind).

Don't let it stop you from coming though.

[BushyPotter]

Thanx for answering questions! I'm a christian guy, and I was wondering if there's a lot of christians on campus...if not, not a big deal, just curious. I was also wondering if there is mandatory catholic gatherings or whatever that all students had to participate in...annnndd whats campus life like? I'm not really looking for a wild party school so is notre dame kind of laid back? where does notre dame place on the scale of uhhh Virginia--BYU?

[IamAskier]

Thanx for answering questions! I'm a christian guy, and I was wondering if there's a lot of christians on campus...if not, not a big deal, just curious. I was also wondering if there is mandatory catholic gatherings or whatever that all students had to participate in...annnndd whats campus life like? I'm not really looking for a wild party school so is notre dame kind of laid back? where does notre dame place on the scale of uhhh Virginia--BYU?

Catholics are christians...

[BushyPotter]

Thanx for answering questions! I'm a christian guy, and I was wondering if there's a lot of christians on campus...if not, not a big deal, just curious. I was also wondering if there is mandatory catholic gatherings or whatever that all students had to participate in...annnndd whats campus life like? I'm not really looking for a wild party school so is notre dame kind of laid back? where does notre dame place on the scale of uhhh Virginia--BYU?

Catholics are christians...

Actually, there are huge differences between catholics and christians, but I'm not here to argue that

[Burgstaller04]

By the way you are referring to christians, I'm assuming you mean to say protestants and if that is what you mean, then yes, they are around at ND. for clarification, catholics and protestants are both christians.

[IamAskier]

Thanx for answering questions! I'm a christian guy, and I was wondering if there's a lot of christians on campus...if not, not a big deal, just curious. I was also wondering if there is mandatory catholic gatherings or whatever that all students had to participate in...annnndd whats campus life like? I'm not really looking for a wild party school so is notre dame kind of laid back? where does notre dame place on the scale of uhhh Virginia--BYU?

Catholics are christians...

Actually, there are huge differences between catholics and christians, but I'm not here to argue that

If I'm understanding your comments correctly, your on a Notre Dame thread claiming Catholics are not christians. Maybe this isn't the school for you.