Notre Dame Supplemental Essays
- What would you fight for?
I’d fight for compassion over indifference. Indifference turns humanity away from helping those who need it most. I believe we must get involved—we must fight for compassion. I lead with compassion on and off the field: mentoring a freshman hurdler who recently lost his father; as student body president: rebuilding our relationships with each other by balancing school technology use; as a basketball coach, working with special needs youth. An aspiring Political Science major, I’ll join NDBridge to learn how to serve the common good, growing as a leader committed to restoring compassion as the guiding virtue in our nation’s future. (100 words)
- What compliment are you most proud of receiving, and why does it mean so much to you?.
“Thank you, Mr. President.” Often said in a joking but endearing way, the phrase makes me incredibly proud and grateful. It’s come from different sources: wide-eyed freshmen at orientation, close friends, and teammates on the gridiron. To me, leadership isn’t about giving orders; it’s about listening, caring and helping others succeed—even when the role goes unnoticed. Whether it’s late-night drives with friends struggling with life, or simply spontaneous Chick-fil-A runs with underclassmen, I lead because I care. But when someone does say “thank you,” it’s a powerful reminder that those quiet, consistent acts of service do make a lasting impact.
Tips for writing/ getting started:
- Get started as early as possible! This goes for all college materials. It’s never too early once you are in the second half of junior year. You’ll think it’s done, but you want to edit and edit and then get other opinions
- Choose just a few trusted adults to edit or read over your materials. You want your authentic voice to shine through. At the end of the day, you want colleges to pick you for who you are, not your parents or grandparents or some company cookie cutter.
- Going along with the second point, you don’t want too many “cooks” in the kitchen. Everyone will have an opinion on your essays. Choose carefully who reads them but don’t take every opinion to heart, at the end of the day you wrote what you wrote because it matters to you.
- Your ultimate goal is to show your essence, traits, and values to the admissions team. They only look at your application for a very short period of time. You have to make a wow impression.