University of Notre Dame

Responses from the Student Interview

From a student  who identifies as Major: Business Analytics
Minor: Public Policy
Student Self Identifies as: Biracial: Half Latino and Half Black Straight Female

Summary

A lot of the activities I was involved in were centered around diversity. I [had a leadership role] in Shades of Ebony, which is a club for women of color on campus; I was involved in the Black Student Association; I helped the Vice President of Student Affairs with the Race and Ethnicity Committee; and I was a multicultural commissioner for my hall. I also held a few different jobs on campus including a role where I worked with admissions.

Background

Gender Identity: Female
Race/Ethnicity: Biracial: Half Latino and Half Black, since I’m a little darker I’ve felt more included in the larger Black community
Sexual Orientation: Straight

High School Experience: Public school in Fort Wayne, IN with a graduating class of about 500 students. Even though Indiana generally isn’t diverse, my high school was very diverse. There wasn’t a strong culture of going to college. For me to go from that high school to Notre Dame was a really big deal.
First-Generation College Student: Yes
Major: Business Analytics
Minor: Public Policy

Extracurricular Activities: A lot of the activities I was involved in were centered around diversity. I [had a leadership role] in Shades of Ebony, which is a club for women of color on campus; I was involved in the Black Student Association; I helped the Vice President of Student Affairs with the Race and Ethnicity Committee; and I was a multicultural commissioner for my hall. I also held a few different jobs on campus including a role where I worked with admissions.
Did any of your extracurricular activities have a particularly big impact on your experience?
The biggest one was my role in admissions. Notre Dame has [the Reilly Spring Visit Program] where we invite about 300 high school students, [many of which are first-generation and low income], who applied early action or early decision and were admitted. We invite them on campus for four days where they stay in the dorms with current students and we have a bunch of different events for them ranging from spiritual life, athletics, academics, and extracurriculars so they are able to view the entire school before making decisions. I went on that program when I was a high school senior and it’s great that they can all relate to me and I can talk to them about what Notre Dame is really like and the good, bad, and the ugly. They appreciate my honesty and they also have a greater appreciation for what Notre Dame really is, so that’s had a huge impact for me.

Academic Experience

Can you describe the weekly coursework for your major?
A better description of Business Analytics is it’s a combination of your core business courses, statistics, and coding. With that, we have problem sets for business classes and lots of studying various finance and accounting principles. With statistics, there’s going to be some math involved and some problem sets. With coding, we have different assignments on a weekly basis. There are also a lot of group projects within my major and also in the business school because Notre Dame believes in collaboration, especially in business.
Is there anything you feel the Business Analytics department does especially well or especially poorly?
One thing that I really appreciate but also turns people away from the major is that within the major you learn a lot of different programs. You’re going to learn R, Sequel, Tableau, the list goes on. However, you’re not getting a deep dive into any of those programs, so I pretty much am on a beginner to intermediate level with a bunch of different programs but am not advanced in any of them. Depending on who your employer is, if you need to use one of those programs you’ll gain a greater level of knowledge with it, so it is nice that Notre Dame is at least introducing you to each of those programs.
How would you describe the learning environment? Do you think it is particularly competitive or collaborative?
One of the reasons I chose Notre Dame is because of how collaborative it is. When you’re in the top of your class in high school, which most people at Notre Dame were, you’re in the position to be competitive, but I’ve never felt that here. People will go out of their way to help you out.
How accessible are your professors?
I would say they’re really accessible. Especially after graduating, I feel like I didn’t reach out enough. Every now and then I’ve had a professor reach out to me to ask who I’m doing in the class and if I like it, but, for the most part, you have to be the one to take that initial step. As a first-generation student, that was a little difficult because I’m not used to asking for help. Once you start asking for help, it becomes a lot easier to navigate the coursework. That is important for any college, not just Notre Dame.
How was transitioning academically as a first-generation student? Were there any systems in place that helped you adapt?
It was incredibly difficult because the high school I came from was not a great school. What helped in that transition was the tutoring services available for first-year students at Notre Dame. I went to tutoring on a weekly basis. I also went to office hours for professors and teaching assistants on a weekly basis and that was really helpful. Those different resources available were instrumental in my first year here.
Why did you choose your major? Are you happy with your choice?
Before I came to campus I applied to be a Chemistry major and then still before I stepped foot on campus I switched to a Political Science major, which is an odd switch. Then about midway through my sophomore year, the Mendoza College of Business had 20 spots left in my graduating class and I decided to apply and I got in. I went into Business Analytics because I felt I could use big data to answer the questions that I had. For example, questions about Black male incarceration rates can be answered with big data, so that drove me towards that major and I’m really happy that I made the switch.

Reasons to Attend

1) The school itself will treat you very well, especially after you graduate and become an alum.
2) The alumni network is huge and will always have your back. As soon as an alum knows you went to Notre Dame, they will try hard to help you.
3) It’s a very collaborative place, especially when compared to other top tier schools in the country.
4) How committed to service everyone is. Most students have done a significant service-oriented thing. I’ve been in classes where we had to do service as part of the curriculum. It’s a huge part of Notre Dame. [Nearly 90% of students participate in some form of service learning.]
5) If you want to grow in your faith or feel connected to your spiritual life in any form. It’s unique in that we have great academics, great football, great social life, and also a great spiritual life.

Reasons Not to Attend

1) Depending on your cultural background, it may be very difficult to adjust to Notre Dame.
2) If you love a big city atmosphere, don’t come here because you won’t get that unless you want to travel to Chicago all the time.
3) I know people who both identify as LGBTQ+ and Muslim who have had great experiences here, but I also think that those two groups can have difficult times here because of the Catholic identity. Those groups are treated fine, but I think it’s difficult because you’re always going to be othered. I also think transgender and non-binary students would have a difficult time here because our dorms are so gendered.

Around Campus

Where have you lived on campus?
Freshman: Pangborn Hall with one roommate, but at the end semester we were told we had to move because there were going to be renovations done to it.
Sophomore & Junior: Flaherty Hall with one roommate
Senior: Off-campus apartment with one roommate. The apartments are very close to campus so I still feel a strong pull to campus and not necessarily the South Bend community.

Social Opportunities

What kind of weekend activities or nightlife do you participate in at Notre Dame?
I personally like to go to house parties with my friends and then we go out to bars. Bars are a big deal here, especially your senior year. Freshman year is very heavy on dorm parties, sophomore and junior year are more heavy off-campus parties, and then partially junior year and senior year is your bar life. In the fall, football pretty much takes up your life, but in the spring, there is not a lot going on so the school tries to make different events for every weekend like conferences, small little festivals, and things like that.
What nights of the week do you like to go out?
Thursday night I work a lot, so Thursday night I might go to a bar every now and then. Friday nights I tend to go out a little more, I might go to a friend’s apartment or go to a bar. Saturday nights are kind of the same as Friday.
What is an alternative to going to a party or a bar that you like for a night out?
We have the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center and there is always a play or a movie going on. People also like to go bowling and skating. I tend to go watch my friends in their plays and other different performances.
How happy are you with the weekend options? Is there anything you would change?
I’m not particularly thrilled about them. For example, after I started exploring South Bend more I started seeing posters about salsa nights and wine nights in South Bend. Because the Notre Dame and South Bend communities are so far removed and Notre Dame is such a bubble, it’s really hard to know about that kind of stuff. It made me sad because I’m graduating and there are so many cool things going on in South Bend that I had no idea about. Sometimes it feels like there are the same things to do every weekend on campus and I wanted to do something different. I’ve been taking trips to Chicago which is super close to do something different or go to a concert because there’s not a lot of unique things going on.

Campus Culture

How did you meet your closest friends?
One of my closest friends I met in class and a couple of my other closest friends I met in dorms. Dorm life is pretty huge at Notre Dame. Because we don’t have fraternities or sororities, people say that it serves as our fraternities and sororities, but I would just say it’s a big cultural aspect of the school.
How would you describe the social scene?
I have two almost contrary ideas for this. The first is that the social scene is sort of what you make of it. What I mean by that is if you’re reaching out to different groups of people and getting to know them, especially at different events during freshman year, then the social scene is what you make of it. At the same time, I think it can be very gendered and racialized and almost very grouped into socioeconomic status. Everyone has a good group of people who they are friends with or associate with, but your closest friends at Notre Dame tend to be like you. My closest friends have some sort of similarity with my ethnic background and my socioeconomic background, and I’ve noticed that with a lot of groups of friends.
To what extent do people of different races and sexual orientations mix socially?
I, of course, am friends with other White people, but my closest friends whom I tell everything to do not happen to be White. So, I hang out with people who identify differently than me in all aspects, but my closest friends are similar to me. And, that is not something that is unique to me, I’ve noticed that with multiple groups of friends.
What is the social impact of the Catholic affiliation of Notre Dame? How has it impacted your experience?
I think it has a really positive impact. I personally identify as non-denominational Christian, so I’m not Catholic. At first, I was really nervous about [the Catholic affiliation] but I actually really like it. We have to take two Theology classes at Notre Dame and I think they’ve helped me reflect more on my religious background and I’ve gotten to be closer to God in that aspect. But, I’ve also known people who haven’t gotten closer to God or became atheists, so I think it helps you reflects on your spiritual life more and I’m really thankful for that. One of the things that I’ve done with my faith is I’ve gone on a pilgrimage to France through the university and that helped me grow closer to God.
How do you like the size of Notre Dame in terms of undergraduate enrollment? How has that impacted your experience? [There are about 8,500 undergraduates.]
I love it because I can get closer to a lot of people if I want to but I can also avoid some people if I want to. There are certain aspects where it is a little small and you can’t avoid everyone, but I really like the medium size of it. Some people are shocked when I say that we only have about 8,500 undergraduates because they think it’s much bigger. The name is big, but I appreciate the actual size isn’t. One thing the size has done is impact my relationship status here. I’ve been in a long-term relationship, but there was a time when I was single and I didn’t really like the size then because I felt like there was such a small pool of guys to choose from. In terms of dating, I wouldn’t like the size, but because I’m in a relationship I like it.
Do you think people are generally happy with their choice of Notre Dame by senior year? Do you think people leave loving Notre Dame?
Yes, absolutely. From seeing my friends, I would say people are generally happy with their choice and, if not happy, they’re grateful for their choice because of how many opportunities you receive just by saying you went to Notre Dame. The alumni network treat you like you’re family, and I don’t mean to sound cheesy, it’s really true.

Careers

Has the alumni network helped you find internships or jobs?
Yes. The summer after my freshman year I did a Summer Service Learning Program where I helped new arrival refugees learn basic English, basic math, and social skills of living in America. I ended up staying with three different Notre Dame families who signed up to host students and treated me as if I were family. The next summer I had an internship in Indianapolis and didn’t know where I was going to live three days before the internship started because I thought I secured a house and there were issues with it. I was super anxious but then a Notre Dame family took me in for 10-weeks to stay with them for free. I don’t think any other school could have something like that happen.
To what extent have you used the career office? How helpful were they?
The career office has been instrumental too, especially later on in my Notre Dame career. I’ve had the career office look over my resume, I’ve had a career person do mock interviews with me for the position I have now. The office has also helped me with funding. Since I’m a first-generation low-income student, it was hard for me to find the means to start an internship because you have to have money down for an apartment, etc. before you start making money, so they helped me with housing last summer in Chicago by giving me some money to help with those starting costs. I found the office very helpful.

Financial Aid

Have you used financial aid? If so, how easy is the office to work with and how responsive are they?
If it were not for financial aid, I would not have graduated from Notre Dame. They helped me with scholarships to cover everything and they even helped me with other costs that I never knew they would have. For example, for Junior Parents Weekend there are a bunch of things going on and different dinners and other fancy things. My mom wasn’t going to come because she’s an hourly worker and couldn’t take the weekend off, but she took the weekend off because Notre Dame helped pay for all the dinners, helped with housing, and all kinds of things. They’ve shown time and time again that they actually care about us and our experience here. Granted, they do this because of my low-income status.