My son was offered into the ND/HC Gateway program in lieu of EA to Notre Dame. We didn’t even know this program existed, as I imagine is the same for some of you. We plan to come out for one of the info sessions, but in the meantime I thought I’d start this thread hoping to touch base w/others offered this program, or to hear from students who have been through it. I have some concerns, but it is a solid option. (Will all come down to where he feels he’d be happiest!) Hope to hear from others soon…
there’s quite a bit of discussion and perspective on the Gateway program in the Notre Dame EA 2022 thread. You’ll find in that thread quite a few parents who’ve commented on their kids’ experiences in Gateway. All are uniformly positive and everyone who goes has been able to become sophomores at ND, other than one kid who chose not to.
I have a freshmen in Gateway right now. Please feel free to email me at jill@anzu.org if you have any questions.
My son is a transfer sophomore(not through gateway), his roommate and a few of his friends came through HC and they are all very thankful and appreciate last year. It is common for transfer kids to do well as they appreciate the opportunity to be at ND more than some other kids. I have certainly seen it in my own son! There were many complaints about the food at HC, but someone told me that foodservice is now through the same as ND, so they fixed it.
My son also was offered a spot in the Gateway program. We didn’t know anything about it until Wednesday when decisions were released. My son isn’t writing it off but isn’t really that excited about it at this time. He’s just waiting to hear from his other schools.
Does anyone know the number of students who are offered a spot in the program or why ND selects certain students for the program now rather than defer these students and then offer them a spot if they aren’t accepted in RD?
Any candid insight beyond what is on the ND website is greatly appreciated!
Mombham –
A lot of colleges these days have rolled out some kind of delayed admission program. You get admitted, but you can only start with the spring semester. Or you go abroad for the frosh fall semester. Or you can come after doing a gap year. I’d think of Gateway as ND’s version of this.
In terms of odds of eventually becoming an ND student, Gateway is close to a sure thing. Your kid, basically, has been accepted to ND, but he can’t start until later. It is a way more certain path into ND than being deferred to RD or the waitlist or trying to transfer in later.
If your kid is 100% set on ND, it is a very good way to get in there with many advantages as compared to attending another school first year and transferring in from there. If your kid isn’t that drunk on the green Kool-Aid, it might not be for him.
We know some kids who were offered the Gateway program – there are gpa requirements in the HC/ND classes, so admission to ND is still contingent. All in all, as @northwesty noted, is a far better situation than hoping to get off the waitlist or transferring after freshman year.