Notre Dame Pre-College Live Webinar: Building a Strong Pre-College Application

Good evening all. We're just going to wait a few more moments. There's still some people trickling in here, so.

I wish I could.

Why can't you do this?

OK. I think we can get going now. So hello everyone. Good evening. My name's Kevin McCabe, I'm associate director here in the office of Pre college programs and also a class of 2001 Notre Dame Keo Hall. Alright, so just wanted to briefly talk about what we're here for tonight. So the topic of this webinar is building a strong application. So that's what we are discussing tonight. We've already had a webinar where we've talked more about the programs themselves.

So now most of you we we expect you know are interested our planning on working on your applications and getting them submitted. So we are also graced to have a fellow pre college alum and current undergrad who also works in the office of Pre College programs. I'm sure many of you seen her on social media and everything else. I'd like to introduce Leah Bruco.

Hello.

Hi everyone, my name is Leah recall I'm a class of 2025 here at the University of Notre Dame and I'm so glad to be here tonight. Like heaven said, I work at the office of Pre College programs and here at the University of Dame. I'm majoring in science professional studies with minors and compassionate care and medicine and poverty studies. Definitely want to say pre College is a transformative experience. And yeah, I'm an alum of pre college so I did SSO so my scores online in 2020 on the global health track.

So feel free to ask me any questions you might have about pre-college when it's like as a student and also building this strong pre college application.

Great. Thank you so much Leah. And we'll be bringing her back for several other parts of this webinar here tonight. So I'd like to also start out here by briefly just talking about our programs, just kind of a brief overview. So we do have the Summer Scholars program which will be in two different sessions this year. There are unique courses for each session, so make sure to check the our website to see what you are specifically wanting to apply for. We also offer our leadership seminars which is a 10 day program.

That is really a a very strong recruiting portion of the university and is an all expense paid program but highly competitive. Lastly we offer four study abroad programs in addition to our summer scholars online programming which will also take place later in July, but we have four study abroad programs as well. So and those are Italy, Ireland, South Africa and the newest one will be in London this year. So that's that's kind of a brief overview we will sum up, I'll give a little more.

Retail with dates, some application deadlines and stuff. We'll talk about that as we get to the end of the seminar, but next I'd like to bring Leah back to talk about which program is right for you.

Yeah, so definitely I would love to advise all of you to look into the program descriptions on our website. A lot of the information that you can find about these programs list like what is the course that you're going to take or like what do we have to offer. So I personally did. I applied for the summer scholars residential program, but due to COVID removes the online program. So if you want to get a taste of what Notre Dame is like as a student and really live here on campus and summer, great time to familiarize yourself with.

The beauty that is Notre Dame's campus, but also work with our in-house faculty who are just amazing professors. Definitely look into our residential program so that summer scholars again like Kevin mentioned we have two sessions of that. Also look into the leadership seminars programs if those criteria for applying for you. If you want to study and learn about Notre Dame from the comfort of your home, look in this summer scholars online or global scholars and if you're more of the.

Just type and really want to step out of your comfort zone, explore the world definitely like in our study abroad programs.

Outstanding. Thank you so much. Yeah. So the next section that we're going to discuss here is selecting a course. So as many of you know, hopefully most of you have taken a look at the application have started that. If you haven't, I highly encourage you to do that right away just to get a feel for it. Like I said, you don't have to worry about hitting the submit button, you know, for a couple of months yet. So, but it is good to at least get a lay of the land and know what you need to put in. So and one of those things is when you get to choosing your course.

So everything else we're gonna talk about different sections of the application as we go through this, but choosing the course you get up to three selections and it's based on which program. So one of the things is we also there are competitive courses. So many of our STEM courses for instance are electrical engineering introduction, we have a life sciences marketing even some out some of our business courses are highly competitive. So and the way that applications are read they're based on what you're applying for, so it's not.

Just a general spot in the program you are applying your application is for the program that you want to take the class that you want to be in. So everyone's going to have the same experience or a similar experience for the things out of the classroom. But the main focus is academic at the beginning of this. So another thing that a lot of people will think is say astronomy. Many of you have not experienced astronomy, OK, we don't get that very often in high school classrooms, so you know, even if you don't have much experience in it.

We will talk about this a little more depth here shortly, but it's where you really want to show what something. That's your passion. So, and you'll want to make sure you express that when we get to the essay portion later on. Leah, how would you like to talk about how you chose your course and all that?

Yeah of course. So I knew going into like junior senior year of high school that I really wanted to do something. Sciency. I loved my science courses, I took everything science based when I was in high school and I knew I wanted to be pre Med going into my undergrad career. So I chose out of the list the most sciency related ones. So I applied to global health as my first one and then life science says and then.

Psychology and the self. So everything related to my interest in global health is definitely something that resonated with me the most just because of like all of the complexities that go into the healthcare system then just medicine in general. So I can definitely attribute the.

Course descriptions. So what really fit with my interest. That's not to say, like if you're really experienced and like the sciences, but you're also like really interested in law, definitely look into the law track. Definitely step out of your comfort zone, seek discomfort when you're going through these courses, and choose something that really interests you and speak about it in your essays.

Thank you so much, Leah. So we're going to take a a quick thing before we dive into writing resumes etcetera is I did want to mention one thing about your recommendation letters. So part of part of your application will be a recommendation letter as well as we'll be getting a counselor report from your school when they submit your high school transcripts, school profiles, these are automated processes you don't have to worry about. A couple of pointers though is you really want, whenever possible, you want to find a letter of recommendation.

In the area that you are applying to. So it's not always possible you know the example I gave earlier astronomy, you're probably not going to be able to find that but you may have a you know a physics teacher maybe you've taken that or you know for life sciences you know your biology teacher is probably going to be able to speak to that portion of the the course you know more truly than say you know in English teacher. So whereas they would be very important in in in one of our other arts courses. So and then secondly it's it's it's really good.

Thing to get started on this, you want to have a conversation with whomever you choose to be your recommender. You really want to talk to them before you.

Put them as a recommender in the application, because the second you hit that button, even before you submit it will be sending them an e-mail asking for that. So make sure you have a conversation both with your counselor if possible, as well as whoever is writing your letter of recommendation you always want to. It's a common courtesy you'll want to do this. Also, you know for your college application to have that relationship with them, so OK, now on to resume building. So a resume is optional for your pre college application and there is a way you can.

List your activities. I believe you're actually limited only 10 activities that you've done throughout all of high school that you can list if you do not use a resume. However, we do highly recommend putting in a resume so it's a quick way. It's a good way to take a snapshot of who you are you know, and try to be as concise as possible so you really it's simple is better. You want it to be easy to read. You have to remember that there's going to be hundreds of applications, so there's going to be a single person you know that's reading these applications.

And you have, you know, 20 to 30 seconds to to really make an impression. And these are the things that help you when it comes to that. So the essay will be another thing we talk about further. But in the resume, good, clear, clear lettering and less is more. It's truly the way. So you want to list the things that are relevant. You don't need to list every last thing that you've done, you know, walking the dog, things like that. Now if you had a business, say you created your own neighborhood business or something, that's something that you're going to want to show, so. But.

You do want to uh you know keep it you know very easy read keep it organized so you want to keep it in order and you know almost all word processors you know Microsoft Word or whatever has a template a resume template and it's really good to just find a basic one. It doesn't need to be flashy maybe for for a photography course that would be great to have a you know a flashy a resume or one of our performance you know courses that that could work really well. So but other than that like I said the the biggest things is simple is better.

Resume can, you know, be a little more than you know a list of those things that you've done and you know make sure it looks good. And lastly make sure to check grammar. The simplest things This is why throughout your entire application process you complete a section. You get a part done, have mom or dad or brother or sister take a quick look or or a friend and not you know more. Just just a simple grammar check. There's there's things that get missed and those those stand out every single time, every year. Those little grammar mistakes will stand out.

And in separate students from from others who you know took the time to check that. So those are those are my recommendations with with the resume building now we would like to bring Leia back to talk more about the essay portion.

Thanks, Kevin. So definitely be yourself in these essays. What we really want to see from you when you're writing them and once you submit them is who you are and how do your interests align with your selected courses, as well as how do you and your interests align with the mission of Notre Dame? So, for example, we have some of those summer scholars questions here, like why do you want to participate in the academic tracks that you've listed as your first and second choice, so.

Personally for me, I was interested in global hub. I talked about my experience being from a family of a lot of healthcare workers and doctors, So what it was like growing up in that environment and also being able to speak to volunteering with like patient care experiences, as well as the several interests in science that I had. As for life sciences, talking about like my experience and the teaching labs I was in in high school and the fascination by looking at the various tubes of samples.

We've collected so be very yourself. Like, be genuine. Talk to your experiences. Talk about how they align with your interest. And then for our second essay for summer scholars, it's talking about, like, Notre Dame's founder, Father Edward Soren. He wanted to create an institution, Notre Dame, to be a force of good in the world. So how do you plan to make the world a better place with that? Be genuine, be you. How do you want to change the world for the better?

And really, try to convey your interest with passion. And my biggest tip for writing any essay is Shao don't tell. Really. Take us through this slice of life that you have and.

Show us what you have.

Really. Share your life. Be genuine. Be vulnerable in these essays.

That tends to really be some of the most like jaw-dropping essays about I think I've ever read. And yeah, when you're writing these essays, definitely, like Kevin said, make sure to have someone look over your essays and proofread them. Have one of your teachers or mom and dad look over them and take your time with these essays. Don't write them the night before because we can probably tell if you did them last minute. So yeah.

Excellent, great. Great tips there, great tips and a couple other things. You know, just just with essays in general, make sure you don't type your essay in in the actual application app itself. You know, it's the Internet, it's a web page. At the end of the day, things can happen. You could lose power and lose it. So make sure you're doing it in a separate place and then you copy and paste when it gets to that, that time where you have your final revision complete, you know, in in any kind of processor that just it's going to save you a lot of heartache because we've seen it up.

Many times in the past. So and then just just like what Leah said about about you know showing is and it's really just remember that there's going to be 100 and 200 other students that are applying for the same course and answering these same essay questions for your course. So you really want to find that thing that is uniquely you. You know something that you bring to the table that's based on your personal experience and and not just you know something general. So and it's it's it's personalizing it and really just you know gripping it.

Working at the soul to write something great. So. So the next section that we're going to move on here is kind of wrapping things up. So dates and deadlines. So our Summer scholars program, we have a session one is going to run from June 10th to 24th. And like I said before, there's unique courses for both session one and session two. So there's only I think 1 maybe two courses that are in both sessions. So make sure to check that closely. I know availability is also a challenge.

Especially for some of our East Coast students just getting out of school is a challenge early in June sometimes. So June 10th, the 24th, the second program is July 1st to July 15th. This is summer scholars session two. So there's going to be some unique things. Obviously the you know July 4th is only on one throughout one of those sessions. So there there may be some things that are uniquely 1 program or the other. But we largely are going to leave the uniqueness to the classroom in much of these sort of things, applications for summer.

Scholars as well as summer scholars online. Summer Scholars online runs right after that from July 17th to 28th, online is only going to be Monday through Friday courses and those are going to be from 11:00 to 1:00 and 3:30 to 5:30. That's Eastern Time, are going to be the class sessions for that. So applications for all of those currently open, all of our applications are currently open. So make sure that like I said, get those applications started when you can, but in the applications for those three programs.

Close February 20th of 2023 so you've got plenty of time. Great thing to do over Christmas break is a is a really common thing, at least you know getting a good chunk of this if not most of it. Our leadership seminars that closes on January 23rd, so that's an earlier deadline decisions for that come out earlier, so usually in mid to late March, whereas our summer scholars and summer scholars online, those decisions will be late March to early April. It really depends on the number of applications you know.

Lots of complexities so that we don't give a hard date for those. So and then all of our study abroad programs, all of those applications also are deadline is January 23rd. So the same day those programs a study brought Italy is from June 3rd to June 17th, 2023, South Africa is from the 14th of June to June 30th, London is from July 8th to July 22nd and then lastly Ireland is from July 22nd.

August 5th. Our leadership seminar does run from July 22nd to August 2nd. All of our domestic programs have a $60.00 application fee and then all of our study abroad programs are a $75 application fee. So there are various, there are different fees. As far as the tuition, each study abroad program is a different amount. Our different programs do run at different rates as well. So, so that's that's what we have here like I said.

I wanna be a big things that we really just always want to drive home is why get those applications started early and it's much like everything that we've kind of gone back to every in every part of this application is this is it involves other people first and foremost. So waiting till the last minute is probably not going to give you the best letters and and best you know Marks and things like that where we get the feedback from others that are involved. But you know just as Leah said many times as well as myself.

Is, you know, you want this to be, you know polished because we can often tell when you read hundreds of these applications every year and we're actually into the thousands now across all programs. You can quickly determine ones people that put some time and thought into things versus those who just put it together at the last minute, so.

I believe that is all we have as far as that. So I'd like to open it up to questions and Leah you can come on back and.

Looks like we have a few, uh, a few questions here in the, in the in the queue here. So, so the first question we got here is acceptance rate. So acceptance rate is.

100% dependent on how many applications we get. So there's I I can tell you, you know, ballpark averages over the last several years, summer scholars are right around 50% acceptance rate leadership seminars. That number gets smaller every year because the applications go up and the number of students, you know, we only have 100 spots for regardless of number of applications. So last year we had almost 1300 applications for those same 100 spots. So what is that?

1.3 I've got them. Yeah, it's pretty low. So our study abroad programs are are a little different. They're, they're usually around that 50% or so, but everything's pretty competitive. Another thing to mention is we do not admit on a rolling basis. So we do not begin reading any of these applications until after the deadline. So once the deadline hits, that's when we begin reading all of these things. So it doesn't help to, you know, try to put this in.

Real fast. But it also helps you know, just as I had said earlier, is getting familiar with what you need to do and taking your time, you know, revising things and and really putting some thought in editing. So.

Let's see audio video.

OK, not sure on that one. What do we have here?

So percentage of students who attended leadership and later got accepted at Notre Dame. So this is always a hot tub of question and it's it varies every year. So out of those hundred spots we've had I think there are about 20 or so that got in last year. But it every year depends it there's there's just so many different factors in in every class is a little different so.

Here we go, Leo, does Notre Dame value like passions like Capstone projects?

Notre Dame definitely values passion. Capstone projects definitely put it in into your activity section. Speak about it in your essays. We wanna see you. And if this passion or Capstone project has taken a lot of your time, you devoted a lot of effort into it. It means a lot to you. We want to know about that, so definitely talk about it.

Excellent, excellent. And here's another great question from Heidi is do I need to include awards, diplomas, volunteer work, proof of volunteer work. I don't know if you necessarily need to go to all of the, you know, to get something that's not already in your possession. I would say however, these, these are all things that make you uniquely you, you know, showing the awards now you know awards for you know, perfect attendance and things like that. You know if that's among the long list of things you know, like.

That you know, shorter is better and things like that, but you don't want to omit things that that show what separates you from, you know, the other people applying for those courses. So Leo, what do we have here? So does being a participant in the Global Scholars program play a part in the acceptance into summer scholars? And how does participation in both play a part, if any, into becoming a Notre Dame student?

Well, I personally can't answer the direct correlation between global skies and summer skies, but what I can say is that you can definitely talk about your experience in global scholars for your summer scholars application, how it's affected you, how it's changed you, or it really helped you become a force of good for the world. And moving on for that, for like applying another day. And as an undergrad I can I will admit to telling you about my summer scholars experience in my undergrad essays when applying to Notre Dame.

And talking about just how important the community was while we were still like online, it was just amazing to me how much Notre Dame cared about their students and really fostering that welcoming environment through pre college.

Very good. And and from an emission side every program is a little different. So we can we can definitely see that you have participated in a in a separate program or maybe did global scholars and are now applying. But that really doesn't have any bearing on to what you're applying for this year with this group of applicants. So hopefully that helps.

Answer that and make that a little more clear. Another question we have is, is it possible we bumped into the other session in summer? Scholars you know, say one is full and the other one is not. Unfortunately there is no plan for that at this time because you are applying for specific classes that are not offered in the other session. For the most part that's that's the biggest reason. So you would basically be, you know, if if we did something like this you'd be taking a spot from someone who had already applied for that other one, so.

Leah, in what order are applications read and are there any advantages to submitting your application earlier?

So as Kevin said earlier, we read all of the applications as soon as that deadline closes. So you don't admit on a rolling basis. So if you choose to apply early, do it on your own like merit and basis. We won't read that application until that deadline closes. So definitely take your time with it and we encourage you to really craft a meaningful application that puts your best foot forward.

Yeah, as as far as you know, submitting earlier, no, it, it doesn't help. It doesn't put you above anyone or anything else. Applications are read somewhat randomly. They are read by course. So we will group all of the, you know, life science applications will be read at the same time just so they can be compared to each other. But those could be at any given time throughout the whole reading process. Next question we have is what specific subjects are being offered there? There are so many and.

And they are like as we said our program specific. Your best bet is to just go to ourprecollege.precollege.nd.edu website, click on the program at the very top that you're interested in and just take a look. There's there's buttons for each one that has BIOS, has abstract, kind of an overview of each course, talks about the professor, gives a little bit of a background for each professor and really that's it's.

Just something that you can take your time to find on that way. So um Leah, here's a great question that I think you're going to know based on your own experience. Is the pre college application similar to the real College Notre Dame College application?

Yeah, so I can say that going through this application for pre college was definitely helpful for applying to undergrad here at Notre Dame. It really tries to mimic using your essays as a means of conveying why it's a good fit and also providing that resume. Building that resume, and the whole process of reaching out to the teachers that you're getting recommendations from definitely useful and prepared me for the actual application process when applying.

Do college. So yeah. And we try to mimic it as much as possible and it's definitely useful going through this. And you're better prepared once you reach senior year and applying to college.

Yeah. And honestly one of the biggest differences is you know a full transcript you know, four years of high school versus, you know, two to three years is, is is one of the biggest things I've, I've seen the Notre Dame application you know especially on our side and there it, I mean we mimic theirs as much as possible to provide that experience. Here's something else, Leo, what fun things did you do in the program when you weren't in class? I'll just I'll let you answer this one.

Yeah, so when I did the online program, we had a lot of community building events that were that took place during the evening. So that was like playing jackbox or like Pictionary or like like useless PowerPoints. And that was a really great way to meet people from around the world via zoom. But now, since the COVID era, now that we're back on campus, I've had the fortunate opportunity to work as a resident counselor or see this past summer. And definitely we work really hard to provide these fun.

And so I remember we had a volleyball tournament bookstore. Basketball is a huge thing here at the university and so we try to bring that into our summer session for our summer scholars. You get to go ice skating at Compton, which is where our hockey team plays. And this past summer, 4th of July festivities were just so amazing, being able to celebrate the holiday with you, amazing summer scholars and high school students from around the world.

Excellent, excellent. And then that's just honestly that's just tip of the iceberg. So every year's different when it comes to events. We, we try to just showcase everything that Notre Dame is, you know, outside of the classroom in addition to service. You know, big piece that we didn't talk about here today is every student that participates in our residential programs, participates in service as well. You know, we spend 1/2 day at various local places, you know, giving back to the community and really showing a big part of what.

But you know being a part of this Notre Dame community is about next question we have here is our ACT or SAT scores required to apply great question. No we are currently test optional. So is the university's undergrad is test optional and they've continued that I believe through 25 I believe is what it is right now but for this year they're these are test optional so and I already know someone's going to ask the question well at what point do we submit our test so and.

I have to tell you that you submit your test if you want to, if you feel confident that it's going to help your application. So if it shows you know you have a strength, you know, especially if you have a high test score, be proud of it. Absolutely. If you have a test score that you know, you don't think is that high, then then hold on to it. You know, we don't need to see it. That's that's the best part. So if you have the other parts of your application, you only want to, you know, add those test scores if it's going to help your application. That's the best way to think about it.

OK, OK Leo, what is usually or what are usually the most popular programs? I'm assuming this is a, you know, for classes.

Yeah, so for the summer scholars program, residential life sciences tends to be a huge class. They do a lot of cool stuff with like cancer, biology and also ecological succession. Another really popular course is the law. So this one's really cool. You're with one of our law professors, Professor Venter, and they do like a moot court at the end of it. So those are probably two of the more popular ones I want to shamelessly plug, also like.

Mobile health, astronomies of who and literature, as well as our artsy ones. So there's film they put on a production each year and it just gets better and better. Musical theater and acting. Those are also so cool to see because you perform at dpac, which is our Performing Arts Center here on campus.

So really, take advantage of all of the beauty and resources that Notre Dame has to offer when it comes to academic curiosity.

Uh, definitely someone who's in the upper quartile of their class, someone who has challenged themselves academically, and also someone who succeeds only classroom. That's not to say if you have like a C or beyond your transcript, there's no way you're going to get in. Definitely we want to see growth in your academic transcript, what you've had so far, and as long as you're like a student who really dives into their passion and curiosity, we can see that through your essays and your recommendation.

Matters. So average GPA. There's so many different scales and it's hard to like, combine them all into one. So we definitely want to see success, but also being able to talk about those you know didn't do as well as you had hoped, but you still learn something from.

Thank you so much, Leah. We have an international student question here. How many international students are accepted into our leadership seminars? That's a pretty loaded question. It it varies significantly every year. I would say that there were quite a number less this year I think due to just travel restrictions that we had several students that were accepted that had to decline because they couldn't get a student visas in time and things like that. So as far as like a specific number, there really is, I mean it's based on a pool and.

They're part of the same pool that we're always working on. Excuse me. Another question here is, Leah, can you use a recommendation from a teacher that's outside of your school, or even not a teacher necessarily?

So on our website, we have a list of all of the necessary items for applications. So one of them is your guidance counselor at your guidance Counselor rack and then a teacher rack. So we do want that teacher recommendation. However, if you feel that there's an outside perspective that your teachers like, don't have or haven't said already, and you feel that it would really elevate your application, I would say feel free to add that to it. I know there are opportunities to add a second recommended.

Recommender for the leadership seminars application, so that might come in handy. For example, if you did like research with a professor who hasn't really taught you but you know has seen you do lab work or seen you in your element, definitely I would include that because it speaks to who you are and your passions.

Thank you so much going through. There's a lot of repeat questions here, so sorry for my delay here. Here's here's an interesting question. So if my application is good enough, is it possibly offered another choice if you're top three or four? The simple answer to that is no. That is one of the reasons for that is we do have kind of a catch all, be all third option that you can choose. So instead of choosing a specific third course which you're totally entitled to, you can pick like any stem or any fine art.

Something like that, which, which pretty much, I mean it casts a wider net. It's something that I would recommend unless your heart was really set on 1/3 option. So I would say that we do take great pride in really those students who get accepted 995% of the time, get their first one of their first two, their top two selections. So that third choice is kind of just, you know, kind of you're a great student, you know, it's just not quite this is not for this course but we still wanted to provide, you know.

The experience and saw something in your application that kind of, you know, really just felt like a fit for it for a different course. So here's a great question at Leah. I don't know, you may know this, if not, I can explain this. Is there financial aid for our summer programs?

From what I know, there is a limited amount of financial aid available. There's an application that you do have to fill out, which is very similar to the actual college application like FAFSA applying for financial aid. Kevin probably knows much more about this than I do.

No, that's that's pretty much it. So anyone is, I mean is free to apply for financial aid and in some extreme cases there are fee waivers for the application fee as well. So you'll find those links are on our website under under the the fax section. It talks about how there's a specific link for the financial aid form. One thing to know though is the deadline for financial aid does close a few weeks earlier than your.

Actual application deadline. So if financial aid is something that you are really trying trying to get, make sure you tend to that here as soon as possible because those are reviewed. As Leah said, there is very limited financial aid. However, there is one thing we do have a new initiative for Indiana schools. So for unfortunately it is currently just for Indiana schools. But this will be something you're going to talk to your counselor with if you are going to high school in the state of Indiana.

Right now, because there are many, many schools that we just received some funding to provide some more extended period number of scholarships for in some students from Indiana, yes. So let's see our summer programs, here we go, Leah, our summer programs only for high school seniors or can juniors also join?

So our leadership seminars program is designed specifically for rising high school seniors. So that means you're an engineer of high school right now. But our Summer Scholars program is open to rising juniors and seniors. So if you're currently a sophomore who's looking into it, definitely looking to applying and I know studying abroad there is there for rising high school seniors, correct me if I'm wrong, Kevin and our global scholars is actually available to I think people who just finished.

Freshman year, right? And that also applies to our summer scholars, online students.

Outstanding, yes. So as you see there's if you're a current freshman there isn't much right now. However, everything else, so there are our online programs are are for sophomores, all of our residential programs in addition to the grade requirement that Leah said so perfectly is that we also have an age requirement. So to do any of our programs you have to be 16 years of age by August 1st of 2023. This is a very hard deadline. I'm sorry if August.

2nd is your birthday. You're not eligible unless it's your 17th birthday or or possibly 18th. So this is a it's a university policy that we have to abide by. So another great question and Leo I think you could speak to this is art the Community service opportunities that we provide in pre college are these you know acceptable is is community service for applying to Notre Dame.

So definitely talk about it and you're in Notre Dames is like being able to immerse yourself with the community and the surrounding community of Notre Dame and volunteering. I would say since it's only three hours out, three to five hours of your time here while you're on campus, it's not substantial amount. But if you did really find it as a transformative experience, which we hope you do, definitely talk about it in your application, I know in some instances.

There have been like cases where we've allowed it to be accepted at your high school, but that's something that our program directors will have to work with you on. So yeah, Kevin, if you want to add to that.

Note that the US said that quite well. And actually just to build off that, we had another question about volunteering hours and should that be included in the application at all or how, how should that be displayed? So kind of like on your application, what what would you say, Leo?

Definitely talk about it in your application. If you go consistently to like say the Senior Center and volunteer for at least like 2 hours or even one hour a week, and you've been doing it for a long time, it definitely shows that you are interested in your dedicated to that volunteer position. So put it in your application. It does mean a lot to us because we see that a you're engaging with development of the heart and also the mind, learning from the people that you're surrounding yourself with when you do go to volunteer.

Thank you so much. Next question we have here is from Gabby and it's about how many students are enrolled in the summer session. Well this number has changed a lot over the years. I've been in this in pre college since 2016 where we had 300 students for summer scholars for the first time ever. You know, it was breaking breaking ground and everything. This past summer we had 450 students in a single summer scholar session. We had three dorms filled to the brim.

Over our two weeks here this summer, we I think we have after all of our experience we have found the happy middle which is going to be right around that 300 Max per program. So we're going to be at 300 this year for both our summer scholars residential programs. Our summer scholars online doesn't really have a hard upper limit. We've been around 250 to 300 of that the last last year and when when we were fully virtual that that number was very large and our leadership seminars as I mentioned earlier.

Is hard capped at 100 students you know plus our undergrad, our our resident counselors as well but there's 100 enrollees for that. Each of our study abroad programs capped out at 18 that's one eight students per program that's the Max. The plane tickets are bought months ahead of time for these for these events and all the excursions I mean we have that stuff booked well ahead of time and it's there's no wiggle room to to add 1. So that's that's what that is.

Here, so let's see, can you only submit one letter of recommendation Leah.

Uh, yes, so you can submit your teacher recommendation. Um, there's a whole form in the portal that you will send out to your recommender, like I said before.

Yeah. So one thing to think about when considering submitting more than one letter of recommendation. OK, yes you are 100% no one is going to tell you no if you want to submit 1275 letters of recommendation, you know. However, remember as as we've talked about numerous times in in this, in this webinar here is, you know, you're you got that 15 to 20 seconds to impress your reader, OK, and if you're doing that in a reader comes in and says, oh, I have 17 letters to read.

You know that that's one thing. And then most importantly is I would highly encourage you having more than one letter of recommendation if you have someone who's going to bring something different to you. So say you have, you know, your teacher who's talking about the course you're applying for. But then you're very involved, you know, in your community and you have a really good relationship with, you know, the, the director of the homeless shelter that you volunteer at all the time. So they see a side of you that's not the classroom but is every much, every bit is part of you.

As the classroom so and in those situations absolutely you you should because they are bringing something uniquely to the table that's explaining more of the holistic view. So we have let's see let's move on next question here acceptance rate for entrepreneur Oregon. So entrepreneurship last year like I said it's it's always based on the number of applications. So there was 120 hundred 26 applications for the 25 spots last year. So that that's here that's here.

Math for the night, uh, let's see. Is there? Yes. So as I mentioned about your global scholars, there is feedback from anyone that's in the past that that feedback is is submitted when you get to the admission stage. So while we have that stuff on file, it doesn't go anywhere, you know, unless you, you applied Notre Dame, and even then only if it's you know, you know, asked for it to do that. So.

Do virtual classes cost money?

Leah, you wanna answer this?

Yes. So there is a program fee when you do complete summer scholars online or global scholars, and that information can be found on our website.

Perfect, yes. Would you need a lot of background knowledge to complete a course you might not be familiar with? So Allie, I know you mentioned a little bit about this previously, I wanna talk a little more about.

Yeah. So for example, if you were really interested in, say, modern art, but you go to a really tactical high school and there aren't a lot of art opportunities. But you've got some museums you've been fascinated by, like the artwork and like you watch these videos and really immerse yourself into it and really are interested into it. Talk about that in your essay. And really like you might not be as familiar as say, like someone who goes to like a really artsy high school, but.

You can convey your interest and passion for it. That definitely helps your application to you, those programs. So yeah, try something new. That's one of my biggest pieces of advice for summer scholars and looking at these different courses.

Excellent, excellent. Next question we have here is from Keegan and has asked how many students and chaperones are in a study abroad session. So as I as I mentioned previously, there's a maximum of 18 students in a study abroad program. We also have our Director of International programs attends with the students, flies from Chicago, everyone meets in O'Hare flies to the destination, participates you know is with them in their housing the whole time. In addition, we have two undergraduate resident counselors, so we have.

Both male and female counselor who lives with them. So that's three adults with that, 18 students at all times. In addition, we have the faculty that are from the global gateways who are teaching the courses and everything. They are with the students for a good chunk of all days and many evenings. They often have dinner together and things like that as well. So next question here, Leah, you want to talk about our wait list? Do we have a wait list for any of our emissions?

As far as I know, for some spellers it's you're either accepted or denied. But I do know that for our leadership seminars there is a wait list available and I don't believe it's a tiered weightless like a ranked one. So yeah, definitely if you get waitlisted from leadership seminars, don't be discouraged. It's still an opportunity that they will still like they're considering you. It's just unfortunately don't have all too many spots.

Thank you so much. And actually to build on that, we actually now do have a wait list for our popular summer scholars courses in addition. So when we have say 200 applications for 25 spots, you can, you can be guaranteed that there's a lot more than 25 students who you know should be in that you know, course. So often we run into those problems with just space. You know, we only have so many beds at the end of the day. So we do have a wait list for all the majority of our courses. We, we have a wait list.

Starting out and there's we every year we do pull from the wait list in multiple courses, multiple areas. So it really depends on what happens. As I said, excuse me, like with several international students this past year with the visa troubles.

So they had to you know withdraw and then at that point you know they had to cancel because they couldn't get the paperwork and you know circumstances be out of everyone's control except you know whatever government that they're in so getting into the embassy so that's it's it's something not to be discouraged though we do have it's there's three different decisions you have you know you get accepted there is a non select and then there is also the wait list on you would get notified once the wait list gets picked and then then we you know close it out for good so.

Um, is there any cap to the number of students who are accepted from the same state or region in the US? No, not at all. So everything is red blind. So when it comes to that, we're reading bike course, reading the content, looking at that holistic application for that individual, regardless of where they're from, male, female, any, any of that kind of stuff. So it's it's all about what what your transcript says, what your letters of recommendation is said and, and honestly, most importantly is what your essay says you know is.

That's that's that's really what you control and is also one of the most important things. I mean you have to be a strong student, you know all of those things. But what separates you from the pack is is really a great way to kind of look at this. So last question we have here is will my application for summer scholars be looked at again when you apply for undergrad? I would say no. So it's a different time you apply for summer scholars. We we go into this fully knowing that you're only a rising junior or senior.

You still have another year, possibly two years of high school before you get to that undergrad application. So yeah, those are, we don't look at that. They are taken in a different light. Obviously the, the end of the transcript is the biggest difference as well. It's just you know you're writing style. Everything that you bring to the table is going to change significantly especially in that last year to two years of high school, so.

OK, we got one more question here. I know it's been asked a couple of times. So for summer scholars it's 50% accepted for all applicants for every course or 50% accepted to each individual class. Leah, you want to explain that?

Yeah, so if I am understanding the question correctly, 50% accepted for all the applicants in every course or 50% accepted for each individual summer scholars class. So each track can take up to 25 students. So however many applications we get per track, that is what the acceptance rate for that track is going to be. But overall for the general program itself, it's across all classes, it tends to be about 50%.

Of the students who apply to a summer scholars program will get it, if that makes sense.

Yes.

Yes, that that's hit it right on the head. So and like I said that that 50% it it all depends on how many applications we get in a given year. So we had 1200 last year for 450 spots. So it was actually a little less than 50% overall. But some you know some classes are very, very competitive whereas others are are even higher than 50%. So it it really depends on those applications and what the interests are every year so.

Um, grade level currently and considered ohh. So I think this would be a question is, is there a difference if you're currently a sophomore versus a junior and and applying and the answer is no, if you're eligible. Like I said every single application is read individually. So now you are in the same pool with people who are you know juniors and whatnot. So but we don't look to see if you know you know your sophomore or junior or you know rising senior when we're reading that application so.

Last question, we got I how many applications from study abroad last year? I I think in total for our three programs was about 120, but I I can't really tell you too much more about that one right now so.

Umm, no, we can't do that. Get you a list of that. So I think that's going to be, that's going to be everything we have here tonight. I just like to thank everyone for you spending your evenings here with us and talking about the application process. Most definitely excited to see many of your applications, if not all you know, here by January or February. So Leah, thank you so much. Thank you. Shout out to our people.

Uh yeah so definitely. If you have any more questions, feel free to e-mail us at pre call at md.edu. If you have any more like information like basics, definitely reference our website and check us out on social media. You'll probably see me there a lot with like videos and takeovers. And yeah, we'd love to connect with you guys on social media. So look for empty pre college and.