Transfer questions

Hey everyone, I am a current transfer at ND. I am willing to answer questions you might have. I don’t go on this website too much, but if you’re patient, I will get back with you. I do ask that you don’t ask me to chance you because as much as you would like an answer, mine may not be the correct one.

Go Irish!

@confusedfrosh What were your stats in both college and high school? I had a fairly low GPA, barely over a 3.0 UW (3.3 ish W) in high school, taking all APs and Honors classes. This year, my freshman year of college, I find myself much more motivated, and I’m doing extremely well now. I’m worried though that my high school grades will come back to bite me.
Also, is it easy to change majors at ND? Currently I am an Econ major, and I plan to apply as a transfer Econ major student (so I mapped out my schedule to perfectly match ND’s required courses), however I am still considering switching to pre-med or engineering.

@NDtransfer299 I think my final high school GPA was a 3.43/4.0 and a 3.68 weighted (I had no desire to go to ND until I came to my first college and was then exposed to ND). I took about two honors and AP classes per year in HS. Although my GPA wasn’t super high, I was pretty involved in both my HS and college. My final GPA at my college was a 3.95. I came into ND as poly sci and then changed to ACMS/American Studies about midway through my first semester here, aka my second semester of sophomore year. ACMS is my supplementary major, so I’m still in the college of a & l. The issue is from changing from econ to pre-med/engineering because you would be changing colleges within the university, which have different core requirements than the college of arts and letters. Being honest, it may be hard for you to graduate on time. That being said, as long as you apply econ and you sell that you intend on being econ, that will help your admission chances. As far as graduating on time once you get here, that will be harder. I was going to do ACMS only, which would change from being the college of a & l to the college of science and the advisor told me that it would be hard for me to graduate on time because I would have to pick up all the core requirements for being in the college of science.

@confusedfrosh How has ND been so far (both socially and academic difference from your old school)?ND is by far my number one to transfer to, do you think it would help or hurt my application if I answered the essay question and have a sentence on it being my number one? Also do you think it makes my application stronger that I will have completely followed the course requirements? Thanks. I know the last two questions will be hard for you to answer.

@NDtransfer299 Academically, it has been harder. I am also more involved here than I was at my last school, which could add to my perceived challenge. But it is worth it to be here. Socially, it has been pretty hard. Especially transferring in the spring of sophomore year like I did, it is hard to find a group of friends to be included with. This is still an issue that I am working on. I mean I have friends and everyone is very friendly, but I’m trying to find a group and make more than surface level connections.
I think it makes your application stronger that you followed the course requirements. I mean think about it, as an admissions counselor who is looking to admit people who will succeed here, wouldn’t you pick the person on track to graduate in 4 years than the one that would need extra years? That being said, they do still admit people whose curriculums don’t exactly line up (so anyone else reading this, don’t freak out).
I would say in your app don’t say ND is your #1 per say, but say why Notre Dame is it. Say why you can’t be anywhere else but Notre Dame. What makes ND special to you? Explain what opportunities you would have at ND that you would not have anywhere else- do research for this. Use specifics. That’s what I did.

For anyone reading this who perhaps has not followed the course requirements and is worried you might not be able to graduate in 4 years – ND does offer some summer courses on-line. So you can go home for the summer and still take 1-2 classes if you want to to help catch up. Check the ND website for sure, but if memory serves me, they only “meet” twice a week for 2-3 hours, from I think early/mid June to end of July. Unfortunately, it does cost extra money on top of the regular semester costs, which I realize is not a negligible thing. But the option is available if it’s something that works for you.

@confusedfrosh Did you get housing at one of the dorms? How hard is it for transfers to get housing at a dorm?

@NDtransfer299 It depends on the year. Last year, pretty much all the fall transfers got housing. In the spring, all the transfers got housing. However, this fall very few transfers got housing.