Roughly 2,100 newly enrolled members of Notre Dame’s class of 2029 and 208 transfer students, including those who have completed the Gateway guarantee transfer program at Holy Cross College, have begun to move into their new homes under the Dome.
64% of the prospective students who cleared the University's record-low 9% acceptance rate chose to matriculate to the University, marking the University’s highest since the introduction of the Common App, vice president for undergraduate enrollment Micki Kidder said. The yield rate is up 2% from last year’s 62%.
“The University is excited by the growing yield rate, and grateful for the opportunity to admit and welcome undergraduate students who understand, respect and embody its distinct mission. Students are finding a home at Notre Dame and we cannot wait to see all that they will accomplish,” Kidder said in an emailed statement.
86% of the 1,450 prospective students who attended The Rally admitted students’ days confirmed their enrollment.
82% of the class of 2029 identifies as Catholic and Kidder added that “all students beautifully articulated their understanding, respect and enthusiasm of the University’s distinct mission.”
Approximately 70% of the incoming class submitted an SAT or ACT score. The middle 50% score ranges were 1460-1540 for the SAT and 33-35 for the ACT, Kidder said.
Kidder said that the class of 2029 includes members who call each region of the United States and 82 countries home. Domestic 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 make up 31% of the incoming class, a slight increase from 30% last year. International students make up another 8% of the class.
At the beginning of his term, University President Fr. Robert Dowd announced the Pathways to Notre Dame initiative, promising that Notre Dame would fully meet demonstrated need without loans for all undergraduate students and would expand its need-blind admissions to apply to international students.
Kidder noted the impact of this decision on the class of 2029, writing, “A growing number of families, particularly low and middle-income, now find Notre Dame more affordable. We have seen an increase in the socioeconomic diversity of the Class of 2029 compared to the prior year, directly related to the University’s commitment to ensuring that a Notre Dame education is affordable to all.”
Kidder added that the class’s international student population is the most economically diverse in Notre Dame’s history.
52% of the class of 2029 is receiving need-based financial aid.
Kidder expressed gratitude for the “faculty, staff, programs and teams that walk the journey with admitted students before they confirm enrollment.” She noted that alongside The Rally, Rallies on the Road and personal outreach from students, alumni and faculty help prospective students see themselves at Notre Dame and ultimately boost the yield rate.
She explained that the class of 2029 is “particularly other-centered.”
“Of course, each member demonstrated tremendous academic preparation, but their zeal for Notre Dame’s mission and commitment to advancing the common good were particularly inspiring,” she wrote.
Savannah Gurnsey, an incoming Welsh Family Hall freshman from Petersburg, Illinois, shared in an email that she is “looking forward to just about everything.”
Gurnsey, who is undecided in the College of Arts and Letters, said she has wanted to go to Notre Dame her whole life. She said she chose Notre Dame for its community and Catholic identity, noting that after she toured, “there was nowhere else (she) wanted to go.”
She hopes Welcome Weekend will bring “a sense of what (her) life will be like in the next four years” and hopes to later get involved in undergraduate research and interhall sports.
Bailey McBride, an incoming freshman in Lewis Hall, said she is most excited for the community in her residence hall. McBride is studying computer engineering and said that she is looking forward to helping out with Lewis’s signature event, Lewis Hall of Pancakes.
McBride attended a Summer Scholars engineering program in 2024 that allowed her to live in a dorm. She said she fell in love with Notre Dame’s College of Engineering during the program and that she appreciates how freshmen are able to try out each engineering discipline before deciding on one as their major.
The 208 Notre Dame transfer students come from 30 states and 7 countries, Kidder shared.
Emily Orsini, program director for new student engagement and formation, said in a statement to The Observer that while most transfer students received residence hall placement, 15 female students were unable to receive a placement. These students have been invited to participate in residence hall programming through a Hall Connections program.
Last year, over 50 transfer students did not immediately receive housing assignments.
Sara Saad, a junior who transferred from Boston College last year, was one of these students.
Saad decided to transfer because she felt Boston College “lacked a sense of strong belonging and school spirit.”
On her experience as a transfer student, Saad said, “It started off a bit difficult because there weren’t enough spots in the dorms for me, so I had to be off campus the first semester. It was difficult to see everyone making connections in their dorm when I didn’t live in one.”
Ultimately, Saad said she found community through the drumline and moved into Lyons Hall in the spring, where she has enjoyed the community she felt she was lacking before and goes to dorm Mass regularly.
“For anyone who is a new transfer to Notre Dame, even though you’re not a freshman anymore, it still takes time to adjust to a new place with new people so have some grace for yourself and enjoy every minute of being under the Dome,” Saad said.
Gracie Keough, a sophomore who completed the Gateway program at Holy Cross College last year, will live in Breen-Phillips Hall this year. She plans to major in medieval studies with minors in French and theology.
Keough reflected positively upon her time split between Notre Dame and Holy Cross, saying in an email, “Being a gateway was super nerve wracking going into it but by the second week I had gotten into the swing of things and I had embraced both my Holy Cross and Notre Dame student identity. Gateway is such a one of a kind experience and I wouldn’t change it for anything, the friendships made and the community you join into — it’s the perfect freshman year experience.”
She mentioned that she’s not concerned about the transition to life as a Notre Dame student and is excited for her classes this year along with getting involved in her hall community.
