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The University of Notre Dame’s Class of 2019 arrives on campus this week impressively equipped with intellectual promise, creativity, leadership and commitment to service of others.
The 2,015 new students were drawn from a record pool of 18,157 applicants. The average incoming first-year Notre Dame student is in the top 1 percent of the nation in academic high school performance and/or national testing. More globally representative and diverse than any previous incoming classes, 33 percent of the Class of 2019 are students of color or international citizens, and more than 8 percent of them are the first in their family to attend college. They are graduates of 1,316 different high schools and have made an average journey of 750 miles to start their first year on campus. According to Don Bishop, associate vice president of undergraduate enrollment, “Notre Dame is arguably the most nationally representative university in the United States.”
Eighty-one percent of Notre Dame’s first-year students are Catholic, and 23 percent are children of Notre Dame alumni. While they were in high school, 35 percent headed a student organization, 45 percent were captains of a varsity sport, 50 percent were involved in music, drama, fine arts or dance, and more than 90 percent participated in community service.
“This year’s ‘yield rate,’ the number of students who enroll after being admitted to Notre Dame, was 56 percent, which places Notre Dame among the top 10 private national research universities for yield success,” Bishop said. “Notre Dame continues to be an extremely popular choice. Our students truly want to be here.”
According to Bishop, “we continue to search for the most dedicated and creative students who desire to make an impact in their eventual field of expertise, in their community and on the world. We believe the best students for Notre Dame are highly intelligent but also possess a deeper capacity for reflection and ultimately the potential to develop a greater sense of perspective and wisdom. Our graduates crave more than just successful careers. They want to feel they are passionately living their lives with a strong sense of purpose and fulfillment.”