Why do Notre Dame grads wear ND gear and tell everyone where they went to school?

The title says it all. No matter where I go in the country, I see people wearing Notre Dame gear. Many people that I have met act like it's a HYPSW and think it's a way to impress someone they just met (by bringing it up 5 minutes into a conversation). Maybe, it's my Midwest location but has anyone else had this experience.

I know it's a good school but Wall Street doesn't really recruit there for FO roles.

110 Comments
 

It's a cult - they're all drinking the Kool-Aid.

On a serious note, some schools have very high degrees of school spirit, and ND is certainly one of them!

 

Tbh there’s more to a school than it’s career placement. Maybe they just really have fun at that school or they’re proud of it. Nothing wrong with loving the school you went to. Especially considering the $$$ it can take to go there...

 
"Southern_cre" Asked a new guy where he went and he told me "Kelley" instead of Indiana or IU and it was the first thing I thought about everytime I saw him.

lol

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 
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Graduated about 10 years ago from ND. Definitely understand how it can be annoying to come across ND kids who are crazy about their school. I even grow tired of these people (and I'm one who wears a ton of school gear).

I won't pretend that it's the best / most prestigious school in the country, but I do think it's difficult to understand the feel of the school without having gone to the school. Sounds corny, but I think the school does a good job of combining athletics with academics and has a spiritual component (for those who are spiritual).

For whatever reason, I always dreamed of going to Harvard, Stanford or Notre Dame. Maybe it's because I went to a Catholic high school, maybe it was watching Rudy or a Saturday football game - I don't know. But I can say I loved my time there and really feel like it shaped me into the person I am today - I am still one of those annoying guys who wears ND stuff 24/7.

I was looking at a handful of other schools and I'm sure I would have loved my time there as well, but I think there's something to be said that most ND alumni are still caught up in the "cult."

 

Similar question: Why do Notre Dame grads think their team is good at football?

Commercial Real Estate Developer
 

They’re objectively an A-tier football team. Sure, they’re not Ohio State, Alabama, or Clemson, but ND is consistently in the top 15 teams in the country

 

But do they deserve to be ranked in the top 15 teams in the country? Or is their ranking consistently inflated because having them in bowl games makes money?

Commercial Real Estate Developer
 

It’s a fucking cult, and I’m saying that as a Catholic myself.

Quant (ˈkwänt) n: An expert, someone who knows more and more about less and less until they know everything about nothing.
 
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"pleasegivemeadayoff" Mendoza is top 3 undergrad business school

in the State?

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

The UVA ND crowd hits hard for me bro

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 
"Milton Friedchickenman" At least they are less likely to be a douche than that UVA kid.

at least the UVA guy knows he's a douche and acts like a douche, and literally looks like a douche (in pastel pink shorts with little whales stiched into them),

but loves to party and is hilarious - what's not to like?

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

I thought the b school pooped out some good kids. Never noticed this in a negative way thought it was cool if I ever did.

Sure might not be Harvard but mid tier schools are still great. Normal ppl don’t care too much about Harvard tbh because it’s full of ‘nerds’ and has so few people. Schools like ND are much more popular in the Midwest / south because people who are still relatable go there not just people who study 24/7 for 15 AP tests 2400 sats and being nationally recognized in something who were too busy to play a sport or be more popular among normal ppl etc (meaning focused on doing what they were doing more than making friends not in their own areas of interest aka dummies and regular non motivated people). Honestly I sometimes wonder if people/friends understand how hard it is to get into a target, into IB/PE, etc. because it exists in abstract and I might be the only one they know doing it. They are more likely to be in sales or WM, etc. They get it but idk if they really understood what it took for me to do it and not them (nothing behind this, just curious about what their perception is for better or worse and I don’t wanna bring it up ever). Also not trying to come off as superior or anything, just explaining why people don’t care about Harvard because it’s too ‘elite’ and unrelatable but do about ND, Duke too, UMich, UVA, etc. etc.

 
"NotSarcastic" Normal ppl don’t care too much about Harvard tbh because it’s full of ‘nerds’ and has so few people. Schools like ND are much more popular in the Midwest / south because people who are still relatable go there not just people who study 24/7 for 15 AP tests 2400 sats and being nationally recognized in something who were too busy to play a sport or be more popular among normal ppl etc (meaning focused on doing what they were doing more than making friends not in their own areas of interest aka dummies and regular non motivated people). Honestly I sometimes wonder if people/friends understand how hard it is to get into a target, into IB/PE, etc. because it exists in abstract and I might be the only one they know doing it.

Definitely agree with this, having grown up in a more rural area and then lived in Manhattan after college. I went to UG at a semi-target almost by accident, but in high school I had virtually no concept of the hierarchy of schools. I didn't care about grades much, barely studied for the SAT, and approached college applications in a very naive way.

Once I got to NYC I met all of these people who were obsessed with Ivy League credentials, which was something I had never encountered before. And I wasn't unusual in that respect. I would bet that less than 5% of Americans know that, say, Dartmouth is considered more elite than Notre Dame.

 

ND might be the only one like that on your list. Every kid from UVA Duke or Michigan would have gone to Stanford if they had the chance, and probably Harvard too. People might have different values, but they're not THAT blind to huge prestige differences.

 

LOL...this is a joke right?

Obviously Stanford and Harvard are both top schools but to think that every student at UVA, Duke, or Michigan (at least two of which I know have a pretty sizable % of their class from early decision) dreams of upgrading a few slots on the US News list is absurdly off base.

I'm sure at each of those schools you have groups of one track minded students (10-20%?) that fall in this bucket but hardly every single person...And I feel sorry for those individuals because they are probably terrible.

 

For starters, Notre Dame is a sort of feeder school from the US Catholic school system.

I grew up in a very pro ND family and region largely. Prestige was ND or Ivy or Stanford.

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

For my Catholic high school, BC was the safety school for those aiming to go to Notre Dame and Georgetown. No one really differentiated between ND and Georgetown, but I think a lot of us less hardo/religious/school-spirity kids saw Georgetown as more appealing for various reasons. Every year we sent a decent amount of kids to these three schools + Villanova.

 

Went to a catholic, military school. Everyone and their mother were obsessed with ND and BC. Most kids went Ivy or top public, but the ND kids turned out alright. Although, I went to a football camp there once and don't think I would have enjoyed my time if I went.

 

Yeah they are good too. But, Georgetown is more of a secular school than religious school.

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

For the religious devout, they usually go to places like Franciscan University at Steubenville. Scott Hahn teaches there.

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

As someone who attended years ago -- just to clarify, Notre Dame is absolutely a semi-target and all the BB (and some EB) come to campus. Place extremely strong into Chicago and place 100+ kids into NYC IB every year.

Feel free to hate us (we are definitely over-the-top with our love for the school) but get your facts straight aka 'plz fix.'

 

Most on the forum agree that it's good to have school spirit, and that ND does offer good opportunities to motivated students. However, OP was pointing out the "cult" mentality that is extremely over the top from certain ND grads.

 

ND is a good school that also seems like fun to attend. So what if they have school spirit. They are nowhere near as annoying as Duke kids in my opinion.

Dayman?
 
"equityresearch99" Um? Notre Dame sends close to 180 kids a year to FO roles. Every middle market recruits heavily on campus, many BBs (BAML, CS, DB) do as well. Many to IB each year and in lots in S&T, ER, and even some doing PE right out of undergrad. Not sure why the hate.

I think the hate is due to the "ND-cult" they mentioned - you named mostly lower-tier BBs but I know for a fact that JPM, GS, and others come too! And as you mentioned, has placed undergrads directly into Blackstone PE multiple times in recent years as well

Not to say that we're at the level of Wharton/Harvard/Princeton (we're not..) but we're a respectable semi-target (ala UVA / Duke / Emory etc.)

 

One correction here. I am in UMM PE post my MBA and Duke is a top target. Way ahead of all those schools you mentioned here. Outside of Harvard/Wharton/Princeton, Duke is really well respected in PE/HF/VC circles and has done consistently well at all IBs whether it be BB/MM/EB recently. We tend to prefer Duke grads outside of the top ivies if they have the right credentials and background. Duke definitely not a semi target and certainly a target for a lot of top PE firms.

 
"equityresearch99" Um? Notre Dame sends close to 180 kids a year to FO roles. Every middle market recruits heavily on campus, many BBs (BAML, CS, DB) do as well. Many to IB each year and in lots in S&T, ER, and even some doing PE right out of undergrad. Not sure why the hate.

Yeah its a good/prestigious school.

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

"And I'm Catholic. It is the most un-Christian environment in the world" - A slightly inebriated/concussed Bernie Kozar on "The U"

Few players recall big pots they have won, strange as it seems, but every player can remember with remarkable accuracy the outstanding tough beats of his career.
 

I'll bite... Between a large alumni base and a recognizable historic D1 FBS program, it's not hard to want to show off school spirit. Plus, if you look where the fanbase congregates, it's not hard to see large continguents of ND fans in a given area. Now, as to why show off school spirit, If you go to a school with a D1 FBS program, you have something you can talk about with other D1 FBS alumni. You want to break the ice with a kid who went to Stanford and you went to ND? Talk college football. Talk the Stanford/Notre Dame rivalry. It's an easy way to build rapport. When you have something in common, building a relationship is easier to do.

 

I went to a catholic high school and everyone there was obsessed with Notre Dame. The school got mentioned before any Ivy. We had kids in my grade go to HYP, Vanderbilt, Amherst/Williams, etc. and Notre Dame gets more clout by miles than all of those schools. I think it's a typical catholic thing to love Notre Dame and think it's the best school ever. Also, my experience was that all the people in catholic school thought that the catholic school system was also the best educational. Where I was from, it was very good, but there were several private, non-religious schools that were miles ahead academically. Yet kids at the catholic schools still felt like they were geniuses and went to the best school ever. Never really understood it haha

 

ND is a cult - my friend got into two of HYPSW but his dad refused to pay for his tuition if he didn't go to ND, just because he went there

 

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