Transferring From Holy Cross College

NDirish1989 · 02-13-2005, 08:45 PM

Does anyone know how hard it is to transfer from here? Does anyone know anyone who has done it (don't say Rudy lol)? If so, what was their GPA? From what it looks like, they accept a little under half of the applicants. But they don't post what the average grades were.

http://www.hcc-nd.edu/Admissions/Notre-Dame.htm

docmom · 02-14-2005, 08:41 AM

By your link it appears they tightened things up a little for last Fall's (2004) transfer admissions.

It does say you have to have at least a 3.0, but obviously the closer you are to 4.0 the better. Why don't you call HCC's admissions office and ask about the GPA average?

NDirish1989 · 02-14-2005, 01:04 PM

I'll do that, thanks.

mkates1008 · 02-15-2005, 04:36 PM

A Holy Cross rep came to my school and he transferred to Notre Dame. It got me really interested because I figured I could do that. My dad emailed the transfer counselor and asked if there were any advantages. You remind me of me how badly I want to go and you sound like you'd do anything to go there...I know the feeling!! Anyways, in a matter of words the transfer admissions counselor said that they kind of see Holy Cross as a junior college and that I would be much better off going to a respected school near home. She said to take Notre Dame freshman core classes wherever you go, it makes your transfer much easier and they look extremely favorably among students who already have all the necessary classes they need.

docmom · 02-15-2005, 04:47 PM

mkates, this is true. I know two kids who did not get in as freshmen and then transferred into ND - (Irish80122 is one of them and he posts here sometimes) and they did just as you said. From the get-go they worked with the transfer admissions counselor at Notre Dame in planning their schedules for freshman year with the intent to transfer. They also both averaged about a 3.6 at pretty reputable institutions (Creighton and Miami of Ohio). The Miami of Ohio guy actually transferred FIRST to Holy Cross, then a semester later to ND (long story). But he did have a 3.6 at MU, and continued to do extremely well at HC.

For those truly dedicated to getting a degree from Notre Dame, this is a viable path.

NDirish1989 · 02-15-2005, 05:27 PM

That's interesting. I didn't know that they thought of Holy Cross as a junior college. I emailed Mr. Duke at admissions and he sent me back this:

First of all, thanks for expressing interest in Holy Cross!

"As you can imagine, we get many inquiries from students who have applied as freshmen at Notre Dame, but who are interested in a backup plan just in case the "dreaded thin envelope" instead of the "thick packet" arrives in the
mail in April. For many, it is an effective approach. Holy Cross is not a
guarantee, but we are still the largest transfer feeder to Notre Dame and
have been for many years.

The past couple of years, ND has cut back on the number of transfers
primarily due to space limitations and competitiveness of applicants. The
vast majority of our students apply to the College of Arts and Letters. A
few to Science, Engineering or Architecture. The College of Business is
bursting at the seams, so they have indicated that they do not plan to admit
transfers Fall 2005. Arts and Letters should have the usual spots. That
may or may not change. It depends on factors hard to predict. For Spring
2005, 29 HCC students applied to transfer to ND, 10 were admitted, or just
over 30%. Some of those who were not selected have returned here and will
attempt again later.

As for grades, ND looks for at least a 3.80 (4 pt. scale) or higher GPA at
Holy Cross in order to consider a transfer applicant viable. Also, the
minimum number of credits needed to attempt to transfer is I believe 27
which is essentially the freshman year. In other words, mid-year freshmen
cannot apply to transfer. I recommend that you visit the College of Arts
and Letters Web site and carefully review transfer requirements as the four
Colleges and School of Architecture have slightly different course
requirements.

HCC transfer students who have the strongest high school records tend to be
the most viable ND transfer candidates.

I hope this is helpful. If you have additional questions, please let me
know. I encourage you to consider Holy Cross as your back up. Many of our
students have the goal and it is great fun being a part of the Notre
Dame/Saint Mary's/Holy Cross community. I'll hope to hear from you again
soon. Good luck!"

So, maybe if I get rejected, I should probably go somewhere like Texas because it doesn't seem like they give a lot of credit to HCC students. He says that they practically only want students with at least 3.8s. I have a feeling I'd have a better chance with a 3.6 somewhere else.

And yes, I would do ANYTHING to go there lol.

mkates1008 · 02-15-2005, 08:31 PM

I totally understand you..I always thought it was odd that I thought so much about college at a young age but now I'm glad that I did. I think I'm going to go to the University of Florida if I don't get in and then I'll try to transfer in. One of the transfer admissions counselors from Notre Dame said they would even help me pick out classes to take at UF and my chances would be much higher if they saw that I had followed through with their reccomendations. If you keep in contact with the transfer admissions counselor throughout your freshman year of college (this is assuming that you do not get in, God forbid!) they will recognize your name in the spring when they see your app..(there are only 2 transfer counselors, and not a tremendous amount of transfer apps, compared to freshman) and realize that you have worked extremely hard and I think that means something. That as opposed to an application with a name they've never seen before and know nothing about that person or how badly they want to go to Notre Dame. Both transfer admissions counselors have emailed me back and I get the impression that they are ready and willing to help out anyone who has a real desire to go to Notre Dame. (like us and everyone else on this board : ) I can't remember if you have posted stats before but if you work really hard, with a desire that you have, then there is no doubt in my mind that you will end up at Notre Dame.

NDirish1989 · 02-15-2005, 09:24 PM

Thanks, all this makes me feel better about tranferring if I need to. I always thought I would either go to ND or Holy Cross, but now I'm thinking more towards a Texas school and then transferring. Oh, and thanks for telling me there's only to transfer counselors. I will be sure to keep in tough with both of them a lot.

NDHopeful · 02-16-2005, 01:20 PM

Hey Docmom, I'm a freshman in college and want to transfer to ND. You seem to be very knowledgable about the process. Is there any way I can contact you to let you know my stats, and see if you have any advice on what I should do to increase my chances of transferring? Any help would be appreciated, thanks.

docmom · 02-16-2005, 03:39 PM

I'm not that informed about transfers except for knowing two guys who did so. Both were friends of my son's so I had good information on them.

Last time someone posted their email address on here we got in a little trouble with the mods, so I wouldn't do that, but are you against posting your stats here? What is your GPA? What kind of school are you currently attending?

Also, the number one piece of advice I'd give you is to call ND admissions and ask for an admissions counselor who is also the transfer counselor. Michael Gantt used to handle this stuff - he seems like a very kind, knowledgeable, and helpful guy. Have a list of questions in front of you so you sound prepared (be prepared!) and see where your situation fits into their admissions requirements. I understand the reticence to phone, but I think in your case it's expected (or email).

NDHopeful · 02-16-2005, 05:01 PM

I received a 4.0 at the University of Illinois. I did contact Michael Gannt about my courses, and with a little work on my spring semester, I have a schedule thats completely compatible with ND's first year of studies. My HS career was pretty good, top 6% out of 800 kids, a 29 on my ACT, an ok amount of ec's, 5 or 6 APs. I was just trying to gauge the chance I have of getting in, and what else should I do...

irish68178 · 02-18-2005, 03:44 PM

It looks like I am a bit late, but hopefully I can be of help. I am the irish80122 mentioned earlier (I changed my name on some forums to Irish68178 so I have some ND in my name and some Creighton, since Creighton got me to where I am today).

When I was rejected I talked a lot to admissions about where I should go (I was accepted at Holy Cross with scholarship and honors program) and they STRONGLY urged me to go to Creighton instead. That isn't to say that you can't get in from HC, I know several people who have, but it is far more difficult! ND only likes to accept a few students from Saint Mary's and Holy Cross, so because of this it usually takes a much higher GPA to transfer in to ND. A lot of the girls from Saint Mary's have also told me about problems they have had with their old friends who turned against them when they got into ND (since many of them got rejected as a transfer due to the competition). Just something to think about.

So my advice would be to go either to a good public school or another Catholic school and really get the most out of your time there. Take the courses you need to but also get involved and see if you aren't meant to be there. If you decide you aren't meant to be there, then hopefully you will have all your ducks in a row and will be able to transfer over to ND.

I know I can't post my email but please feel free to contact me via AIM if you have any questions about transferring as I can tell you my experience and those of my transfer friends. I also was accepted as a transfer to Boston College so if you are looking at BC I may be able to help a bit as well. My AIM is NDpsych2007, feel free to get in touch with me anytime.

Lastly, I do know the transfer from Miami of Ohio, we had theology together. He is a very nice guy.

Good luck to everyone!

irish68178 · 02-18-2005, 04:04 PM

Course Selection:
Just going off of another post (sorry, my responses are going to be a bit random) course selection is huge! Other than get good grades, course selection is probably the biggest factor of admissions. The work you do now can certainly help you get in to ND and it will truly pay dividends later (it resulted in almost every one of my credits transferring, whereas BC wanted to accept about half). What you do is before you register look at how your courses fit into the first year of studies plan (in other words make sure you are taking the classes like history and science that ND will be looking for). Then, once you think you have the right courses, email the transfer advisor who covers your college. They will do the legwork and get your courses pre-approved for you. That means that if you transfer in that class will transfer as long as you have a transferrable grade (I think C or higher). This really saved my butt because I didn't get the acceptance envelope, I got the dreaded acceptance phone call. The deans thought that my math class wasn't going to transfer so they called me saying that I was accepted pending successful completion of a summer school course. I had gotten all of my classes approved, however, so I just emailed Mr. Gantt and he made it so I didn't have to take the summer school course as it was already approved.

I really encourage anyone thinking of transferring to ND to do the legwork required and get all your classes approved. It is a pain and it requires a lot of excuses (for one math class I had to get a syllabus before registration. Have fun making up reasons on why you want to see their syllabus a semester ahead) but it is well worth it.

In addition, as someone who always have wanted to be here and someone who was rejected and then transferred I can tell you that this is well worth it. Being here is amazing and seeing that dome every day still takes my breath away. Really think about it, transferring is very difficult and you have to essentially start over (and to top it off there may not be on-campus housing for you first semester; there wasn't for me) but if it means enough to you and if this is where you are meant to be it will all be worth it and more. This place truly is amazing! Good luck everyone. Feel free to get in touch (my AIM is in the post above) if you want to talk about what you are doing, are just nervous and want to talk to someone who has been through it before, or you just want to find out more about ND. I love helping people who want to transfer here and I would love to talk to you if there is anything I can help you with. Good luck everyone!

irish68178 · 02-18-2005, 04:13 PM

DocMom, I can't seem to PM you but if anyone asks in the future please feel free to give them my ND email address. I am not afraid of people having that since it is all over the place (I have a lot of websites).

Another option is I do have it setup so that you can email me through college confidential so feel free to just email me that way (much like how you send a PM). Don't hesitate to get in touch though!

docmom · 02-18-2005, 09:27 PM

Irish, is it the same as my son's - first initial last name @nd.edu? And is it one or two of the last letter in your surname - I can't remember how to spell it but I think it's two?