Adrianne is a Senior Admissions Counselor and TV/film director, producer, writer, and actress currently based in LA. She uses her experience in multiple disciplines to help students achieve their personal and academic goals.
You’ve got four essays to write for the University of Notre Dame during the 2025-2026 college application season. Everyone must answer the first short essay question, which is Notre Dame’s take on the “Why This College?” prompt, and then you get to choose three prompts from a list of five for the short answer questions.
Short Essay (150 words max)
You need to show Notre Dame that you know a great deal about the school and have good reasons for applying there, but you also need to provide them with enough information about yourself and your achievements to show that you’re a good fit.
Your task here is to show Notre Dame that:
You know what you want to study (make a major up if you’re actually undecided—just choose what makes most sense based on your past experiences);
You can talk about some upper-level classes you’d like to take at Notre Dame (in line with your academic direction. Don’t mention anything that’s readily available at other universities—pick something interesting and unusual);
You can mention a few professors you’d be interested in working with (again, who teach in a subject related to your academic path. These should be tenured professors, or at least professors you suspect will be around for the next four years. Not sure how the vicious academic hierarchy works? Ask us.);
You have a sense of which extracurricular clubs and organizations you’d like to be a part of (do your research—the clubs you choose to discuss should be a logical extension of your past academic and extracurricular achievements);
You have identified any other academic or extracurricular opportunities that Notre Dame and the area will provide you with.
Again, this essay isn’t just about Notre Dame. It’s also about you. Make sure you’re relating what you want to do at Notre Dame to your past experiences—that the professors and courses that interest you will help you build on your most impressive achievements.
Short Answer
Please choose three questions from the options below. Your response to each short-answer question should be between 50-100 words.
- How does faith influence the decisions you make?
Since Notre Dame is a Catholic university (more specifically, it’s affiliated with the Congregation of the Holy Cross), it makes sense that faith is one of their core principles. However, that doesn’t mean that you have to Christian or even religious to apply, and if you aren’t, this is probably not the prompt you should select.
If you do practice a religion, this is a great place to expound upon the ways in which your faith has shaped your life. What are the ideas that have guided you in times of trouble, and how does your faith influence your approach to education? Maybe your faith guided you during a time of indecision—that would be great to describe in this short answer.
- Notre Dame’s undergraduate experience is characterized by a collective sense of care for every person. How do you foster service to others in your community?
Service and community are two very common themes in college essays as of late, and Notre Dame’s are no exception. This one is fairly straightforward—pick your most impressive service activity and describe your motivations, your role in it, and your impact. Remember, you don’t have long, so make sure you’re sticking to the prompt’s aim as much as possible!
Or you could describe service more broadly and elaborate on how you show up for friends, family, and other community members in times of need. Service can be a small action or an activity into which you’ve spent tons of hours, so feel free to be a little creative in your approach.
- What compliment are you most proud of receiving, and why does it mean so much to you?
This question is just begging to have a vivid opening image as a hook, i.e., describing that one time your little sister or brother said they want to be just like you when they grow up. And on that note, this could be a great chance to talk about the people in your life who matter most to you (although if you do that, make sure you’re using that as a way to describe yourself and not just the other person or people in question!).
While it does feel good to get praise for your achievements and successes, maybe take a more sentimental route here. Think of unexpected compliments that have stuck with you throughout the years and how they shaped how you thought about yourself. Maybe they even influenced your career choice or overall outlook on life. Just choose a compliment that reveals a new perspective on you that you have yet to discuss in this essay.
- What would you fight for?
This seems to be a very open-ended and somewhat vague question on purpose—they want to see what clever direction you might take this in. On the one hand, this is a curious way of asking you essentially what you might pursue after graduation, with particular focus on your impact. You don’t need to have a perfect idea of what career you’ll pursue. Still, for an effective response to this prompt, you will want a clear idea of the problem in the world that motivates you the most, whether it be homelessness, inequalities in healthcare, or something else entirely. Then, discuss your plan to tackle it through your college education and future as a leader of some sort in society. Or, you can think on a smaller scale and describe a family member or friend for whom you’d advocate in a tough situation.
Having a meaningful impact on others means understanding their perspectives. Showing you have a clear understanding of who you want to help and why will demonstrate your dedication to making a difference, and hopefully convince the admissions committee that they want Notre Dame to support you in that endeavor.
- What is distinctive about your personal experiences and development (eg, family support, culture, disability, personal background, community, etc)? Why are these experiences important to you, and how will you enrich the Notre Dame community?
When it comes to the second part of the question, “How will you enrich the Notre Dame community?”, get as specific as possible. Don’t just say that you want to join clubs or be a leader on campus; instead, describe how your experiences have shaped your mindset or how you show up for your community, and then envision yourself doing the same at Notre Dame. This would be a great time to look at Notre Dame’s mission statement and values so that you can find common ground between their ideals and yours. How can you achieve both your goals and Notre Dame’s, given your unique background?
As always, college admissions consultants are here to help. Don’t hesitate to reach out.
