University of Notre Dame Top Questions

What do you consider the worst thing about your school? Why?

Jennifer

Sometimes the rules can be much more strict than other universities, but it is worth it because I love ND.

Stefan

The cold weather brings a lot of snow and keeps you indoors.

Katie Rose

The worst thing about Notre Dame are Parietals- the strictly-enforced rules banning students from opposite-sex dorms after 2:00 am. In general, the punishments for relatively small offenses such as underage drinking can be overly strict and are aimed to make the student feel extremely guilty. These policies do not hinder the social life/ drinking scene but are very inconvenient/ overly harsh. Other complaints include the weather (sometimes it feels like winter never ends) and the location.

Mauricio

During winter there is a constant amount of snow. It snows just about everyday and it's cold for any one not used to below freezing temperatures.

Sarah

The worst part of this school is the winter weather. The area is frigid from November to April and sunny days are few and far between.

Ariana

The weather. It is nice at the beginning of the fall semester and at the very end of the spring semester, but that whole time inbetween is either freezing or windy or wet. The thing is that this school is so amazing, that it makes it worth the terrible weather.

Courtney

The worst thing about Notre Dame is the people. It is not very diverse. The students are either really intelligent and keep to themselves, or are wealthy and snobby. Many students came with friends from home, so it is very clique-ish, and unwelcoming.

Erik

Nothing

Lauren

The location.

Geoffrey

There is a lot of effort to prohibit alcohol, but the administration and faculty do not enforce it consistantly.

Pia

Really conservative, not very diverse. The same type of people seem to apply and go there.

Alexa

The lack of diversity is the worst thing about Notre Dame - politically, racially, economically, religiously, and just people's backgrounds in general are not as diverse as I would hope to find in an educational institution such as this.

Leeah

It is a bit conservative and as a Catholic university sometimes I feel that it is too conservative and not open-minded enough. For instance, while the Catholic Church does not say homosexuality itself is a sin, the attitude towards homosexuality on campus can be a bit unaccepting sometimes. Or the University did not want the Vagina Monologues to be performed on campus because it deals with issues such as pre-marital sex. Also, the weather is cold.

Emily

Most college students would hear the word "parietals" and think nothing of it, but at Notre Dame, every student on campus cringes when they hear it. The worst thing about Notre Dame is this rule, requiring all visitors of the opposite sex to be out of the dorm by midnight on weekdays and two A.M. on weekends. Because we have single-sex dorms, this rule is strongly enforced to keep men and women in their respective dorms. It also effectively breaks up study sessions, movie watches, and dance parties, and it doesn't help the already estranged gender relations.

Amanda

The worst thing about Notre Dame is how similar many of the students are. Many were raised in caucasian, Catholic, upper-middle class to wealthy households and do not keep an open mind when meeting people who are not like them. The lack of diversity and even some racism and sexism on campus bother me. The traditional, conservative mindset of many students is a hindrance to the advancement of the school and the continual education of the student body.

Nikolas

The cold weather

maureen

everyone is the same and it's hard to find people to fit in with if you're not from a typical wealthy suburban family

Josh

Parietals, the hockey rink, and the inability to drive on campus. Despite it being a Catholoic institution, parietals are outdated and need to be revised or abolished. The hockey rink along with some other sports facilities need to be modernized and re-built to compete with other major institutions. Construtcion is constantly being done and the campus is becoming more and more of a non-driving campus. You have to park in designated lots and walk everywhere.

Josh

The worst thing about this school is it's location and Catholic guidelines. As I am not affiliated with a religion it is especially frustrating. There are parietals every night and each dorm is single-sex, which bothers me. Indiana is not a good state in general and I feel this school would have been better off in a New England state or more populous one like Texas, Florida or California.

J

Sometimes it doesn't adhere to its proper identity. Sells out sometimes to secular or financial pressures.

Lisa

The cost.

Beau

The cost of tuition. If you can afford it, then there is no problem.

Jack

Notre Dame is somewhat lacking in diversity. Its location also hurts it, being in a very cold environment for most of the year.

Amy

Its lack of acceptance to alternative sexualities, diverse races, and religions etc.... Notre Dame is very white, wealthy, and Christian.

Marin

Notre Dame picks students who are very similar. They might come from different states, social economic status, and ethnic background. However, Notre Dame is definitely lacking in diversity.

Sean

Probably the overall student body. Although most of then have fun over the weekend, there are just too many not fun parties and school activities. You have to get lucky to find a group of kids that aren't really too far off from reality.

Esther

Catholic school

Michael

The lack of heterogeneity in terms of types of people at the school. There is a definately a recognizable schema for the typical Notre Dame student and almost everyone fits into it. Conservative, caucasian, financially well off, and usually some one else in there family has gone to Notre Dame. There really isn't too much that is controversial about our student body or all that interesting, which makes for good academics and overall "behavior" of students but makes for limited availability to interact with really creative, open minded, and interesting individuals.

Katherine

Not very diverse

Nicholas

1) The surrounding area of our school is unsafe and getting worse every year. The school is so focused on on-campus housing that it does little to support the 30{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of students who choose to move off-campus. Also not enough fun bars. And the weather sucks. 2) There are a limited number of students who like to party and have a good time. The school is big enough that socially-minded individuals can still find parties and make lots of friends, but at times it is possible to see the same people at parties and bars every night.

Kathryn

They don't provide for you when you mvoe off campus. It's expensive for the quality to stay on campus and off campus they don't care if you get kicked out because you have no money.

Mary

The worst thing is probably the conceitedness/arrogance of some of the students - some people think theyre smarter than everyone else and arent afraid to show it, and sometimes treat others like they are stupid.

Henry

How conservative the majority of the students are, how entitled many of them act.