So my son is hoping to get into Newhouse but we know it’s probably a long shot for him. He applied RD back in October and put Newhouse as his first choice within Syracuse, and Arts & Sciences as his second choice. Now his college guidance counselor is telling him that maybe he should call Admissions and switch his first choice to A&S (and change his major) because she’s worried that if he doesn’t get into Newhouse, if Admissions sees A&S as his second choice, he might not get into A&S either. This doesn’t make much sense to me since Newhouse is so competitive and selective that I’m sure plenty of kids put down Newhouse first and A&S second, especially if they’d like to transfer into Newhouse later on. Am I crazy in thinking that he should just leave things where they stand at this point? Seems so last minute to change now and I wouldn’t want him to hurt his chance, even if it’s slim, of getting into Newhouse. I should mention that while Syracuse is his first choice, we are totally realistic about the fact that the cost may be outside of what we can afford, so I guess I kinda feel like we should leave it alone and let the chips fall where they will. Thoughts?
When I applied last year as a senior in high school, I put down Newhouse as my first choice and CAS as my second. And right now I’m sitting at my desk in Sadler Hall studying for COM 117 soooo. The guidance counselor sounds paranoid. A LOT of people apply that way. Most of my peers at Newhouse did the same exact thing. You’re totally right.
Thanks! It did seem a little paranoid. But I’m wondering that if you all got into Newhouse, what about the kids that didn’t? Did they end up getting into CAS?
@littlegrrrl yes, most people who do not get into Newhouse are accepted into CAS. Which isn’t a death sentence. Majority of the required credits for graduating from Newhouse come from CAS so your son won’t be behind if he ends up there. There are of course required courses–COM 117, COM 101, COM 107–for freshmen in Newhouse, but they will allow him to take COM 107 in the Spring of his freshman year if he has not been accepted into Newhouse and can take the other two later. So it’s not a huge setback by any means.
Thanks!
No problem! In addition to this, Newhouse likes for students to double major. This most commonly happens with CAS so if your son ends up in CAS, it could just be a head start towards another major that he would’ve taken on anyways!
Don’t switch it if he wants Newhouse. Like said before by others a lot of people who want Newhouse get accepted into CAS. Since CAS and Newhouse both have the liberal arts core it won’t hurt him much anyways because they end up taking a lot of the same classes. Once in SU it’s still hard to get into Newhouse but it’s slightly different than outside admission. Internal transfer is pure gpa based which may be good or bad depending on the student. I did Newhouse as my first choice and CAS as my second. I was rejected from Newhouse and waitlisted for CAS but accepted off the waitlist a few days before May 1st and here I sit in my dorm at SU. Also, with worrying about costs when you get your financial aid package and if it’s not enough email the financial aid office saying how much you love the school and to see if they can help anymore. I mentioned aid being a factor in my decision when I replied to my acceptance off the waitlist and they gave me an extra $5000. The worst thing is that can happen is they say they can’t give you anymore aid.
The issue your GC is worried about probably has to do with what happens when schools try to protect their yield. Some students would prefer to go to a different school than be at the school they want but not have access to the training/education they want. So key may be to make it clear that SU is your first choice even if you don’t get into Newhouse. I would expect that the applicants who are denied Newhouse are still probably stronger than those who apply to CAS so I doubt they would want to reject them.
@Ashdee218 Thanks! That’s actually great to know, especially since the cost seems so incredibly high!
@lostaccount Good point. Luckily, he did think about that when submitting his essay–spoke to both Newhouse specifically and Syracuse University more generally so hopefully, that will help! Thanks!