@heyneighbor My understanding is that Gateway Engineering intends will take the 2 semesters of Intro to Engineering as Sophomores, following their transfer to Notre Dame and the College of Engineering. For this to work credit wise, the Gateway recommendations are to double up on Chemistry and Physics, both with labs, which is a challenging course schedule for any First-Year student. It is therefore very important for your student to discuss and review her ND Engineering major plans early on with her Gateway advisor in detail and to understand the recommended course schedule. If she has a specific Engineering major in mind, the best would be for her to print the 4-year plan for that major and to use it as a reference point in her conversations with her Gateway advisor. Finally, I would also recommend to set up an appointment with an Advisor at the College of Engineering, to ensure that her Gateway year will be a managable pathway into COE for her sophomore, junior and senior years. Our daughter is a higher class COE student, so please feel free to ask any follow-up questions you or your student might have. Best of luck and success!
Thank you so much @HM0527 and @hpcsa for your replies. @hpcsa: Looking over the typical first year course maps, it seems somewhat uniform for all of the engineering majors, although we are most interested in Computer Science specifically. Just to clarify @hpcsa, is the GW recommendation to take Chemistry and Physics I the first semester? And then second semester might be Physics II doubled up with which class, for example? Also, which two classes are recommended or typically taken at ND freshman year? Just trying to get a general idea, I realize course schedules can get complicated when AP credit is thrown into the mix etc…
@heyneighbor You are very welcome! Are you the student or the parent, this make it easier to address you on this thread. Thanks.
ND Engineering interest requires careful planning and detailed information from prospective Gateway students, due to high credit and Engineering course requirements/sequence from ABET accredition. You mentioned the 4-year plan for Computer Science posted by the Notre Dame Department of Computer Science and Engineering, which translates those requirements into a course sequence with the ability to graduate in 4 years:
https://cse.nd.edu/undergraduates/computer-science
Gateway freshmen take four classes at Holy Cross, and one class at Notre Dame each semester, normally the one-credit/semester Moreau First Year Experience courses over two semesters. As mentioned above, this Gateway sequence automatically results in a change to the proposed COE course sequence, in that EG 10111 and EG 10112, Intro to Engineering I/II need to be taken after COE transfer during Sophomore Year.
For the informed decision on which Engineering required courses to replace the two 3 credit EG courses with during the Gateway year, it is therefore very important to understand in detail how many high school credits from AP and Dual-Enrollment etc. Notre Dame will ultimately recognize and which, if any, mandatory courses in the 4-year Engineering curriculum those would fulfill. This decision will differ by Notre Dame College and it therefore is important to both have a detailed conversation with your Gateway Advisor, who is extremely knowledgeable, and to cross-check the proposed individual plan based on recognized transfer credits with a Notre Dame College of Engineering First-Year advisor. Ultimately both your HCC and your High School College Credits will have to transfer to Notre Dame and onto the ND Graduation Progress System (GPS).
Good morning! My apologies for being vague @hpcsa, I am a parent of a prospective COE computer science student. From GW FAQ’s: “Students will enroll in one course each semester at Notre Dame based on their future academic track after transferring. Gateway students will also enroll in the Moreau First Year Experience course both semesters.” You had mentioned doubling up on science for the first year to make room for the two semesters of Intro to Eng. in sophomore year. From what I see, in the case where there is no previously earned college credit for math or science subjects, Chem I and Physics I could be doubled up for the first semester. But which classes are doubled up on during the Spring semester of freshman year? Physics II and an advanced math or engineering class normally taken in sophomore year?? …plus Calc II… Yikes! Also, which classes (other than Moreau) are generally taken at ND’s campus. Are they from the math/science/engineering major subjects or a humanities/theology/elective requirement? Based on the small size of HCC, I’m thinking that the course offerings are limited.
I would email Emily David. She is the Gateway Program Director and she will answer all of your questions. She is very nice and so helpful!
edavid@hcc-nd.edu
@heyneighbor Yes, I agree, if there is no applicable college transfer credit, the Gateway Advisor will most likely propose to double up on the equivalent to CHEM 10171 Intro to Chemical Principles and PHYS 10310 General Physics I at HCC, which both are 4 credit courses with respective labs during the first Gateway Fall 2020 Semester. Together with the other two HCC 3 credit courses this will get your student to 14 HCC credits and in reality will leave room for just one other credit course at Notre Dame, the above-mentioned one-credit/semester Moreau First Year Experience course. For the Gateway Spring Semester the decison will depend on which other HCC Math course she/he has taken in Fall, however given the 2 Science + Lab courses, it would probably not be advisable to try and squeeze another high level Math class in there, so that would leave Calculus I and another required Science course for the Spring Semester.
As mentioned above, it will be important to arrange on early meeting and conversation with the Gateway Advisor during your Gateway visit days. She has a lot of experience with Gateway Engineering Intends and will be able to identify both opportunities and potential challenges for your student. As you also will be meeting with current/previous Gateway students, make sure to have conversations with COE transfers, who will be able to share their first-hand experience. At the end of the day, as you know, it is very important for Gateway students to have a successful first year in college and be able to transfer over to Notre Dame in line with defined requirements.
@HM0527 I believe that is why my DD is having a difficult time deciding on the Gateway Program. She is worried that she is not up to the standards of ND Freshman admitted students.
Do you happen to know the stats on how many Gateway students graduate in 4 years compared to other ND freshman admitted students? I have heard comments from our local conversations (friends & family associated with ND) who are really just “guessing” and don’t know the actual “facts”.
We are coming to the info session this weekend. Hopefully we get all the “facts” so my DD can make an educated decision. We can’t wait. Brrr… it will be cold.
Who is coming to the February Info Session? We are excited to hear all about the program this weekend.
@Hankcat just sent you a PM
@Hankcat Notre Dame’s four year graduation rate is around 91%, among the most likely in the nation to graduate on time. After six years 97% of Notre Dame students have completed their degree. Together with the First-Year retention rate of 98% those are very positive outcomes, both in absolute terms and in comparison with peer universities.
Notre Dame does not break out incoming transfer students separately, yet they are included in the above numbers of course. There is no doubt that the vast majority of Gateway students will graduate from Notre Dame in 4 years, in line with Notre Dame’s total undergraduate class.
The consideration I mentioned to @heyneighbor above is related to the fact that some intended majors, i.e. engineering in the discussed example, will require more careful pre-planning for the Gateway course schedule than others. For this and other important academic questions the very knowledgeable Gateway advisor will be an excellent resource, and it is important for the incoming student to seek those conversations early on during the process.
Ultimately, the decision by the student and family for or against the Gateway year should not be taken in isolation, but in comparison both with other admission decisions and respective FANs - which should be complete by the end of March for RD applications, leaving all of April to take a final decision. Best of luck and success to your daughter and the family!
My daughter is a junior at Notre Dame now; she is doing just fine with getting all of her credits in time. She is double majoring & double minoring. So your daughter shouldn’t have any problems. Her group is about 12 past gateway students & I have not heard of anyone having a problem getting in all of there credits. Please feel free to DM me if you have any other questions.
Just curious how the visitation days have gone. I enjoyed the current student panel and student video last year. How have the first two gone this year?
Unfortunately, with Harvard, Stanford and other universities starting to cancel Admitted Student and Campus Tour programs, Notre Dame might not be too far behind this rising trend. Next Gateway visit days are not scheduled before beginning of April:
https://admissions.nd.edu/gateway-program/visit-program/
Hello. We went to the session in January and found it extremely informative. The interaction with current and former Gateways was a great way to get real questions answered for my daughter. I highly recommend attending if they all proceed.
Just passing this news along for anyone who might be interested in studying computer science: https://news.nd.edu/news/notre-dame-launches-new-ba-in-computer-science-major/
With ND and HC closing down, how will this impact the GW kids and their ability to finish the program? I’m looking it as just another hurdle for these kids to get over. Hopefully everyone will practice social responsibility and we can knock this pandemic down quickly and get everyone back to school. Stay healthy! Thoughts and prayers to everyone!
@Fin2019 DD is GW this year. She is experiencing no more of a hurdle than any other college student. Online classes are going good and running smoothly. Administration has reached out to them and reassured nothing has changed. As a matter of fact, she just finished emailing her transfer information. Keep healthy!
We visited in February. It went very well. I felt like the visit confirmed what we had already learned about the program from conversations here on College Confidential and from Notre Dame’s & Holy Cross’s sites. I do feel badly for students and parents who are unable to attend one of the info sessions. We really needed to see, touch & feel the situation. We have also prayed & deliberated to get to the decision to “Say YES” to the Gateway Program, which my DD did last week!
My take away at the end of the day was that the Gateway kids develop a unique bond unlike any other ND freshman because of their unexpected path into Notre Dame. These kids are all taking an extra step to accomplish the same goal. These kids are all high achieving, amazing and goal oriented. I do believe it takes a tremendous amount of determination and humility to accept this path.
We love and trust Emily (the Gateway leader, also a ND graduate from the Gateway 1.0 cohort). Emily is so incredible. She is the eyes and ears to this program. Hands in all of it. If you have questions, you should contact her directly. The Gateway Program is her baby.
During our visit we met 14 families. I was incredibly surprised about how many moms and dads both came to visit with their child. These families are very invested in the success of their children and finding the “right fit”. One couple told us their son was their youngest of 3 children. Their older son was rejected from ND, but is attending Harvard currently… Really? So they were both there in South Bend to understand the program in its entirety. Several families were legacy (which we are not). The commitment to Notre Dame and Family seemed to be thematic.
I am on a Facebook “Notre Dame 2024 Gateway 8.0 Parents” group. It just was created a few days ago as several kids are at decision time. We are trying to get a Zoom Meeting together for those who were unable to visit and have this decision to make or those who have already committed to the Gateway Program.
I was just accepted into the 8.0 Gateway program last night and I am really excited 
I am a little unsure about the whole integration thing because a big part of the ND experience is the dorm life. Also in terms of involvement in activities at ND… do ND students get priority in clubs? I am very interested in acapella music and although the auditions posters from past years say it is open to all students (from HC, ND, and SM), I can’t help but notice a lot are just ND students. Any guidance on these matters would be super helpful because although I love ND and have wanted to go there since I was younger, I also want to have the full experience. Also if anyone was accepted or is going in this program please let me know your pros and cons of this program and how you ultimately made or will make your decision
@STUDYGIRL24 Have you decided to enter the Gateway program? My DD was 7.0 (her transfer just got approved, yay! Go Irish!) and would be happy to answer questions if you like. I will give the parent’s perspective.
While dorms are big part of ND life, the Gateways did a good job bonding as a group and were a de facto dorm, though with more interactions among M/F than typical at ND After transfer, the Gateways will have friends among various ND dorms, something that is not as common among traditional ND freshmen who bond/form friendships with mostly their dorm mates and thus have few friends in other dorms their freshmen year and even in their later years.
Because HCC is a small campus, Gateways took largely the same HCC classes (math, science, etc), so they formed study groups, and really supported each other. It is most definitely a “No person left behind” mentality among the Gateways. HCC staff and advisors, particularly Emily David, are incredibly supportive.
I don’t think there is priority for clubs, and I would think certainly for acappella there wouldn’t be restrictions (singing should be a joyful experience!). The Gateway 7.0 class had kids in ND band and ND glee club. There might be less participation due to logistics (practices on ND campus in evening, when the trek back to HCC “Holy Hike”, doesn’t seem appealing in January, etc), not due to restrictions on HCC students.
While the freshmen experience will be somewhat different than ND freshmen, our daughter really enjoyed it (Gateway tailgates at football games, hockey games, etc) and is looking forward to joining the ND campus. Happy to answer any other questions.