The University requires the completion of the following high school courses in order to be considered for admission. A unit is equivalent to the credit for a year of satisfactory work in an accredited secondary school. The two language units must be in the same language and a language offered by the University of Notre Dame.
Students are required to take 16 units during their high school career. This distribution will differ slightly based on the student's intended area of study, but must include the following:
*For students with an intended major within the College of Science, the College of Engineering, the School of Architecture, or certain majors within the College of Arts & Letters (Neuroscience and Behavior, Arts & Letters Pre-Health), 4 units of Mathematics are required, which must include an advanced Mathematics course (Pre-Calculus or Calculus).
**Students with an intended major within the College of Science or the College of Engineering must take a unit of Chemistry. Additionally, the following majors require a unit of Physics:
It is also strongly recommended that students with the following intended majors take a unit of Physics:
Although we require at least 16 academic units for admission, our most competitive applicants will have four units in each major academic area and in the most rigorous level their high school offers. We do include algebra and/or foreign language courses completed during eighth grade in our count of admissions requirements. For example, if you earned credit for one full-year introductory French course as an 8th grader, then completed French II in 9th grade, both credits will be counted.