Hi, parents and students, thought I would start this thread for those who were accepted into the Gateway Program. Our daughter was accepted last year. I’m happy to try and answer any questions. Go Irish!!
Thanks for starting this thread. I was deep diving last night. My daughter was admitted to this program last night. She first told me she was rejected. She is very disappointed and this will be a challenging decision. I have many questions! Do the kids feel odd like they are not ND students. And what is the percentage of kids from Gateway that make the grades to transfer? Just overall how does your child feel and what swayed their decision? Thanks so much. I’ll try not to inundate you.
Thanks for asking this question as your response is an answer to a question raised last night. My son was denied admission last night and it is a blow. I guess we were wondering about the Gateway option, but now I see through your question above that it would have been in the denial letter. I guess he is not being considered for this option either.
The Gateway seems like a good option for those wishing to attend ND as their first choice. I know my son would jump at it. Congratulations! It’s an honor.
Hi there. Do you have any insight on Holy Cross students successfully transferring to ND who are not in the Gateway program? I see that there is a joint ND-Holy Cross Scholars program with a 1 or 2 year option at Holy Cross before applying to transfer at ND. Just wondering acceptance rates for these kids. Any insight is appreciated. Thanks!
Hello, @jeanneewqlker just sent you a message
@shagenbarth I do not know much about that but @hpcsa was extremely helpful with all of my questions last year. Hoping he’ll be able to answer this for you.
@shagenbarth You are referring to the Driscoll Scholars Program?
https://www.hcc-nd.edu/driscoll/
“Holy Cross College and the University of Notre Dame have partnered to create a program that allows students the opportunity to earn an undergraduate degree in a STEM major from Notre Dame after completing a 2+3 curriculum. Students selected for this program will complete two years of study at Holy Cross College as Driscoll Scholars, and if minimum requirements are fulfilled, will transfer to Notre Dame to complete remaining coursework. This is a highly-selected, transfer-preparation program.”
"Students in the Driscoll Scholars Program will be able to indicate an intended major in one of the following programs prior to transferring to Notre Dame:
College of Engineering
Aerospace Engineering
Chemical Engineering
Civil Engineering
Computer Engineering
Computer Science
Electrical Engineering
Environmental Earth Sciences
Environmental Engineering
Mechanical Engineering
College of Arts and Letters
Economics
Neuroscience and Behavior
Pre-Health."
As mentioned, it is a 2 + 3 curriculum and the challenge and opportunity is to be admitted to this small class-size program:
“A committee comprised of members of Holy Cross Admissions, Notre Dame Admissions, and the Colleges of Engineering and Arts and Letters will select students based on a number of factors including classroom preparedness, academic and career goals, institutional fit, and enrollment goals. The program size is purposefully small (fewer than 20 students) to ensure personal attention in the classroom and one-on-one advising.”
Hope the information is of help! If you referred to another program, please advise. Thanks.
Thanks for your information about GW. I am proud of her. Did you find the information sessions helpful for your daughter? I do not know much about Holy Cross life And it will be good to met students like your daughter. I’m hoping to get my daughter in a chat with other students who were admitted into GW also . Is there a chat if anyone knows?
@jeanneewqlker we absolutely did. It was nice to hear from current GW students at that time. The ones we met were honest about the program and what their thoughts were. Typically a student starts the chat. Our D doesn’t have social media so she wasn’t ever on any threads but I do know they all communicated through the group chat. They would announce once they accepted the offer and chatted often about different things.
My daughter was accepted into the Gateway Program last night. When she opened her ND portal at 18:42, she immediately felt as if she was declined from the school. Huge disappointment, to say the least. This has led my husband and myself to investigate and learn about this Gateway Program.
The BIG question that nobody is discussing, is why was this program established in the first place?
@Hankcat that Idk but what I can tell you is that out of 20 something thousand apps these 70 something kids were selected and it is a privilege and honor for our family to be a part of this program! @hpcsa are you able to answer this question?
Former Gateway student here, currently at ND. The program started 7 years ago. My best understanding is it was established to admit the kids ND wanted but didn’t have enough space in the class for, to pre-vet and integrate about half of the transfer class before they enroll as sophomores. Lots of schools, like Cornell, USC, Tualne, etc are doing more and more spring admits or guaranteed transfer programs. Gateway is NDs version of that. The program was also started to help Holy Cross out financially. There’s a couple articles online of their financial struggles over this past decade. Gateway helps to bring in a steady stream of income and students to the school, while boosting the schools academic profile.
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My daughter got gateway last night and we consider this a win in our house! My son is a sophomore at ND and we know what a great school it is. We feel it’s worth taking a different path freshman year if she ends up being a part of the class of 2024! Incredibly talented and qualified kids, including valedictorians and kids with 1580 sat and 35 act were rejected from ND yesterday. Very glad my D was offered gateway and not rejected.
Thank you for the information. Our daughter was accepted into the Gateway program last night and couldn’t be happier. As someone who has been through it, would you mind providing a little more info to help put this mom’s mind at ease? I’m wondering if most of the gateway students maintain the average required to transfer. Do you know have many from your class didn’t make it to ND? And did you find the transition easy? Do you feel fully accepted by the ND students admitted freshman year? I have tons of questions but I’m trying hard to contain myself!
Reading through last year’s gateway thread was very helpful and answered a lot of my questions.
Yes, I found the thread very useful too. And thanks to any current students willing to help those selected for 2024 to better understand what a great privilege it is. Unlike deferred students these students know they will have a place already at ND via this program. I would be keen to know what criteria they used My daughter is an IB student who attends a very small school–anyone else similar?
I can only speak from our D’s experience. She and her fellow GW friends ALL scored in the top 1 to 2% on their ACTs and SATs, Valedictorians, extremely high GPA’s n so forth. Their stats are right up with and possibly even better than some direct admits. All GW students get a ND email as well as a ND ID. Our D feels just as much a part of the community as anyone else. It is all how we as parents take in all this information. If we act ashamed of the opportunity given or embarrassed on how our children will be a part of the GW program well they will act that way as well. If you have opportunity to meet any past/present cohorts I can guarantee none of them will be embarrassed or have a feeling of being less than.
My daughter goes to a large public high school outside of Houston. Top 2%. Lots of leadership, service, ECs. 1470 SAT. A sibling is not a legacy, but I assume having an older brother at ND helped. 2/3 of legacy applicants are rejected so I wonder how many are offered gateway.
I agree on the attitude—I am way more excited than my D is—we also live outside of Houston. It would be great if the girls decide to chat/meet at some point. I think we will go to the January info session.
My oldest daughter is Gateway 6.0, ND ‘22 and last night our youngest was offered Gateway 8.0, ND '24.
My oldest had many of the initial reservations that many of you are experiencing; I would highly encourage participating in the visitation days to see Holy Cross, meet the staff and learn about the program to determine if it is a fit for you. We will be attending the January session.
The 6.0 cohort was an amazing experience for my daughter, her friends and our family. I believe all but 1 of that cohort transferred and that was because the person decided on an alternative path. Gateways take 2 classes each semester on Notre Dame (Moreau and a class which fits with their major), have an ND ID, an ND email and are able to eat all meals at ND or at HCC. They participate fully in the tri-campus community. They have football season tickets and can participate in clubs at ND as well.