University of Notre Dame

Unparalled Experience

It would be hard to imagine a better a better undergraduate experience, all things considered.

Controlled but Reasonable

Notre Dame strikes a perfect balance between enforcing regulations and letting students have fun. While there is supposedly zero tolerance for drugs and parietals are strictly enforced, most students (myself included) don't mind. Most of us frown upon drug use anyway and like how parietals quiet down the dorms to allow everyone to sleep. (This is especially important in men's dorms where all of the parties are.) The alcohol policy, however, is quite lenient. The consequences of breaking the rules are fairly minor and are not always enforced. Parties can be held in men's dorms as long as they aren't out of control and no one is in danger of being hurt. In summary, be safe and relatively discreet and you should be fine. One final thing to note is that the RAs are more like friends/mentors than authority figures. While they do what is necessary to keep the students safe, they are considered friends by almost all of the students.

Well It Is a Catholic School

There are plenty of different races, poltiical beliefs, religions, and a suprising amount of diversity in sexual orientation. However, for the most part, the university is made up of rich white kids. There is very little economic diversity. There is, however, an overall attitude of acceptance of differences.