Admissions Factors
What Notre Dame Looks For
Notre Dame rates 9 factors as very important: rigor of high school courses, academic GPA, class rank, application essay, recommendations, extracurricular activities, talent or ability, character and personal qualities and volunteer work.
How Notre Dame rates each factor
Each college sorts 18 factors into four levels on its Common Data Set.
Very important
The numbers behind the class
Overall admit rate
9.4%
3,320 of 35,401 applicants
Early decision admit rate
No early decision
Admitted from the waitlist
3.7%
54 of 1,475 who stayed on it
92% of those who reported a class rank were in the top tenth of their class.
Frequently asked questions
What does Notre Dame look for in applicants?
Notre Dame rates 9 factors as very important: rigor of high school courses, academic GPA, class rank, application essay, recommendations, extracurricular activities, talent or ability, character and personal qualities and volunteer work.
Does Notre Dame consider legacy status?
Notre Dame rates alumni relation as "considered" in its 2025-26 Common Data Set.
What is Notre Dame's waitlist acceptance rate?
1,475 students stayed on the waitlist and 54 were admitted, a rate of 3.7%. The number changes a lot from year to year because it depends on how many admitted students enroll.
Source: Notre Dame’s own Common Data Set 2025-26, Section C. Last checked 2026-10-08. The ratings are the college’s own description of its process. Counts are for one entering class.
