http://www.newsweek.com/americas-25-new-elite-ivies-108771

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3453027&forum_id=2#32086164)

South Bend, Ind.

It can't be the weather. "This is not God's paradise," says Dan Saracino,assistant provost for enrollment, of Notre Dame's northern Indiana location, where the temperature can sink well below freezing in winter. So why do so many alumni and students love the place? Many cite the unique spirit of this Catholic university. More than half of entering freshmen say Notre Dame is their first choice—an unusually large number. "When we survey students and ask the three things they think about when they think of Notre Dame, they'll say tradition, faith and academics," Saracino says. And, of course, football: the legendary Fighting Irish.

Notre Dame students are not slackers; 95 percent graduate in four years. (Only Harvard and Princeton have equivalent records.) Appropriately for a religious school, more than 80 percent of students are involved in community service—and more than half study abroad. Each year more than 10 percent of graduates go into community-service positions, such as the Peace Corps or AmeriCorps. Although 83 percent of the students are Catholic, religion doesn't play a role in the admissions process, says Saracino.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3453027&forum_id=2#32086209)