Notre Dame Acceptance Rate: What the Numbers Really Mean

Acceptance Rate: 9%

With Notre Dame's acceptance rate sitting at just 9% for the Class of 2029, you are entering one of the most selective undergraduate admissions processes in the country today. The university received a record-breaking 35,401 applications and admitted only 3,186 students, meaning roughly 91 out of every 100 qualified applicants received rejection letters. What makes this even more challenging is that Notre Dame has been consistently lowering its acceptance rate year after year, dropping from 19% just five years ago to this historic low. The sheer number of accomplished high school students competing for fewer than 1,300 spots in each class makes this a brutally competitive admissions environment where exceptional grades and test scores are simply the bare minimum to be considered.

With Notre Dame's acceptance rate sitting at just 9% for the Class of 2029, you are entering one of the most selective undergraduate admissions processes in the country today. The university received a record-breaking 35,401 applications and admitted only 3,186 students, meaning roughly 91 out of every 100 qualified applicants received rejection letters. What makes this even more challenging is that Notre Dame has been consistently lowering its acceptance rate year after year, dropping from 19% just five years ago to this historic low. The sheer number of accomplished high school students competing for fewer than 1,300 spots in each class makes this a brutally competitive admissions environment where exceptional grades and test scores are simply the bare minimum to be considered.

The Class of 2029 that enrolled at Notre Dame represents a carefully curated group of students from diverse geographic and socioeconomic backgrounds. Among the admitted students, 8% are international students who now represent 82 countries on campus, with notably the most economically diverse international cohort in Notre Dame's history thanks to the new need-blind admissions policy. The domestic class includes 31% of students who self-reported as Hispanic or Latino, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Black or African American, Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, or two or more races, reflecting Notre Dame's commitment to building a multiracial community. Additionally, 20% of admitted students are first-generation college students or Pell Grant recipients, representing students from lower-income backgrounds who now have access to Notre Dame's world-class education thanks to the university's expanded affordability initiatives announced in fall 2024.

Recruited athletes make up a significant portion of Notre Dame's incoming class, with these students enjoying substantially higher acceptance rates than the general applicant pool. The university fields 27 varsity sports teams across men and women's athletics, and coaches identify, support, and advocate for their recruits throughout the admissions process. While the exact percentage of recruited athletes in the Class of 2029 is not yet publicly available, historical data suggests that athletes comprise roughly 10 to 12 percent of the enrolled class. Legacy applicants (those with parents or relatives who attended Notre Dame) represent another meaningful portion of the admitted class, though the university lists legacy status under "considered" factors rather than "very important" factors, meaning it functions more as a modest preference than a major admissions advantage. Geographic diversity is another priority, with admitted students coming from all 50 states plus Washington D.C. and multiple U.S. territories, though roughly one-third of the class typically comes from the Midwest region where the university is located.

Your geographic location within the United States has tangible implications for how your application will be evaluated in the admissions review process. If you live in states like California, New York, Texas, or Illinois where Notre Dame attracts massive numbers of applications from highly qualified students, you will face significantly stiffer competition than applicants from states where the university receives fewer applications. The admissions office has already filled many spots in previous years from large population centers, which means they are not as hungry for additional strong candidates from these regions. By contrast, if you are from a smaller or less-represented state like Montana, Wyoming, Vermont, or parts of the Deep South, being a competitive applicant from your region can genuinely strengthen your candidacy. Notre Dame actively works to build geographic diversity and actively recruits in areas where they have lighter representation, which means a strong application from a geographically underrepresented region gets noticed.

Being an international student at Notre Dame presents both formidable challenges and exciting opportunities depending on your background and circumstances. International students represent only 8% of the Class of 2029 despite coming from 82 different countries, which means the international acceptance rate is substantially lower than the overall 9% rate. International applicants must demonstrate exceptional English proficiency, navigate complex visa and financial documentation, and often lack access to the same test preparation resources available to U.S. students. However, Notre Dame's landmark decision to extend need-blind admissions to international students and eliminate loans from financial aid packages has made a dramatic difference for students from around the world. The international class of 2029 is the most economically diverse in Notre Dame's history, meaning talented students from lower-income countries now have a genuine pathway to admission.

Your specific country of origin and region matters significantly in the international admissions equation. If you are applying from a country that sends hundreds or thousands of applicants to Notre Dame annually, such as China, India, South Korea, or Canada, you face considerably more competition than applicants from underrepresented countries. These high-application-volume countries have such substantial pools of qualified students that even a selective acceptance rate still results in intense competition. Conversely, if you are from a nation that sends only a handful of applicants to Notre Dame each year, being a strong candidate from your country can genuinely work in your favor. The admissions office is intentional about building a truly global class with representatives from diverse parts of the world, which means applicants from underrepresented nations have a statistical advantage in the process.

If you are a recruited athlete at Notre Dame, your odds of admission improve significantly compared to the general applicant pool. While the exact acceptance rate for recruited athletes is not publicly disclosed, evidence suggests that recruited athletes benefit from roughly a 15 to 25 percent acceptance rate, substantially higher than the overall 9% acceptance rate. Coaches have meaningful input in the admissions process and actively champion their recruits, essentially reserving roster spots before applications even reach the regular admissions committee. However, even as a recruited athlete, you still must meet Notre Dame's academic standards and be a legitimate student-athlete capable of succeeding in the classroom. The university maintains rigorous graduation rates for student-athletes and will not compromise on academic qualifications simply because you excel on the field, court, or pitch.

Legacy status, while helpful, provides a more modest advantage than at some peer institutions. Having one or both parents as Notre Dame alumni increases your odds of admission compared to non-legacy applicants, but the boost is not as dramatic as at schools like Princeton or Harvard. The university considers legacy status as a factor to "consider" rather than listing it among the "very important" factors like academics and essays, which means it functions more as a tiebreaker between otherwise similarly qualified applicants than as a major advantage. Many legacy applicants still receive rejection letters because legacy status alone cannot overcome weak academics or a thin extracurricular profile. The advantage is real but modest, meaning legacy applicants need to be genuinely competitive on their own merits before the family connection provides meaningful help.

If you are from an underrepresented racial or ethnic background, Notre Dame has demonstrated a genuine institutional commitment to building and maintaining a diverse student body. Students from underrepresented racial and ethnic backgrounds benefit from this commitment in the admissions process, with historically higher acceptance rates compared to applicants from overrepresented groups. As a Catholic university, Notre Dame explicitly values diversity as essential to its educational mission and to creating a campus community where students learn from people with different perspectives and lived experiences. The admissions office carefully considers how your background and identity have shaped your worldview and the unique perspectives you bring to campus. While this does not guarantee admission, it does mean that if you are academically qualified, your underrepresented background is genuinely viewed as a positive asset in the holistic review process.

Without recruited athlete status, legacy connection, underrepresented background, or other meaningful hooks, your path to Notre Dame becomes noticeably more difficult and unpredictable. Unhooked regular decision applicants face an acceptance rate estimated around 4 to 5%, meaning roughly one in 20 non-hooked students receives an admission offer. You are competing directly against thousands of other academically exceptional students who also lack hook status, which makes every single element of your application absolutely critical. Your essays, extracurricular activities, letters of recommendation, and demonstrated passion for Notre Dame become the factors that separate accepted students from rejected ones. The stakes are high because there is virtually no margin for error when you cannot rely on special circumstances to differentiate your application.

For unhooked applicants, having an excellent GPA and strong test scores is completely necessary but nowhere near sufficient for admission. The middle 50% SAT range for admitted students is 1460 to 1540, and the middle 50% ACT range is 33 to 35, which means roughly 92% of admitted students graduated in the top 10% of their high school class. If your scores or class rank fall significantly below these ranges, your application faces substantial headwinds from the very start. However, meeting these benchmarks places you in the academic range of admitted students but tells the admissions committee nothing about who you are as a person or what you would contribute to Notre Dame. The brutal reality is that several thousand other applicants in the pool also have stellar grades and test scores, so academic qualifications simply allow you to be evaluated seriously rather than guaranteeing anything.

Without special hooks, your essays and extracurricular achievements become your primary vehicles for standing out in this extraordinarily competitive applicant pool. The difference between admitted and rejected students in the unhooked category often comes down to how compellingly and authentically they tell their story through their essays. Notre Dame wants to see essays that reveal something genuine about who you are and what drives you, not applications that feel like you are trying to guess what the admissions committee wants to hear. Your extracurricular activities should demonstrate sustained commitment and real impact rather than collecting a long list of club memberships. The admissions officers want to understand not just what you have accomplished, but why those accomplishments matter deeply to you personally and what they reveal about your character and values.

To distinguish yourself in Notre Dame's remarkably selective applicant pool, understand that strong academics are simply a prerequisite and not a competitive advantage in themselves. The entire pool is filled with students who have near-perfect transcripts and stellar test scores, yet most still get rejected because their applications fail to reveal why they are special or what makes them genuinely curious about learning. Instead, focus on developing authentic intellectual passions that extend far beyond the classroom and demonstrate real depth of knowledge and engagement. Read widely in areas that genuinely excite you, pursue independent projects, conduct research, start organizations, or engage in meaningful work that shows you care deeply about something beyond resume-building. Notre Dame particularly values students who have gone genuinely deep in one or two areas rather than spreading themselves thin across a dozen different clubs and activities. The goal is to show the admissions committee that you are genuinely curious about the world and passionate about learning, not just that you are good at school.

Your essays are absolutely critical and deserve enormous time, thought, and revision before submission. Notre Dame requires five supplemental essays, and each one is an opportunity to help admissions officers understand who you really are beneath the test scores and transcripts. Do not write what you think Notre Dame wants to hear or try to manufacture a narrative you think will impress them. Instead, be authentically yourself and let your real voice shine through your writing. For the "Why Notre Dame" essay, do serious research about specific courses, professors, research centers, or programs that genuinely excite you and explain exactly why they appeal to you personally. For the other essays, tell stories that illustrate your character, describe a time you overcame a genuine challenge, reveal how you engage with different perspectives, or explain how you would contribute meaningfully to the Notre Dame community. Use these prompts to create a vivid and honest picture of who you are and what matters to you.

Your extracurricular activities should demonstrate both genuine commitment and meaningful impact on your community or the world around you. Whether you founded an organization, led a meaningful project, organized community service work, competed at a high level in athletics or the arts, or pursued some other passion, show the admissions committee how you have made a tangible difference. One deep involvement with demonstrated leadership and real impact is far more compelling to admissions officers than membership in twelve different clubs. Additionally, look for ways to pursue activities or interests that are unique to your background or circumstances. If you have engaged in something distinctive that sets you apart from most other applicants or reflects your individual identity and passions, that becomes a powerful differentiator in an applicant pool of academically exceptional students. The goal is to convince Notre Dame that you are the kind of person who will make meaningful contributions to campus life and to the broader world.

You should check out the how to write the Notre Dame supplemental essays article to see details on how to write the Notre Dame essays.

With Notre Dame's 9% acceptance rate, you need to approach your application with clear-eyed realism about your actual chances of admission. If you are an unhooked applicant, your realistic odds of admission are closer to 4 to 5% rather than the overall 9%, which means Notre Dame should be solidly in your "reach" school category rather than a "target". This does not mean you should not apply if Notre Dame is your dream school, but it does mean you need to build a balanced college list that includes several schools where you have meaningfully higher odds of admission based on their acceptance rates and academic profiles. The statistical reality is that even extraordinarily accomplished unhooked applicants do not get into Notre Dame, and that is simply a function of how selective the institution has become. You need to identify schools at multiple selectivity levels where you can envision yourself thriving and being happy, not just schools where admission is nearly impossible.

To meaningfully improve your chances of admission, consider applying through Notre Dame's Restrictive Early Action program if Notre Dame is genuinely your first choice. The REA acceptance rate for the Class of 2029 was 12.9%, roughly double the Regular Decision rate of 6.7%, which represents a genuine and meaningful advantage. However, only apply REA if you are absolutely certain that Notre Dame is where you want to attend, because the program is restrictive in that it prevents you from applying through any other binding early decision program. If you apply REA and get admitted, you are expected to withdraw applications from other schools and enroll at Notre Dame (though technically it is non-binding). Beyond choosing the right application timeline, strengthen every element of your application. Have mentors and teachers you trust thoroughly review your essays multiple times. Select teachers for recommendations who know you deeply and can speak authentically to your intellectual curiosity, work ethic, and character. Polish your activities list to showcase your most meaningful accomplishments rather than providing a long list of minimal involvements. Push yourself academically by taking the most rigorous courses your high school offers and earning excellent grades. In the end, your application needs to make a compelling case that you are exactly the kind of student who will thrive intellectually at Notre Dame and who will contribute meaningfully to the campus community in ways that go beyond classroom achievement.