The admissions office at Gonzaga College High School admits the majority of Gonzaga’s population when they are eighth graders, and they start life on Eye Street the summer before their freshman year or in August of freshman year. There is, however, a small percentage of students who transfer into Gonzaga as sophomores.
These students have to redo the process of applying with their grades. Jack Twomey, senior, transferred into the senior class of 2021 as a sophomore.
“Gonzaga was my first choice freshman year, but I was not accepted due to my grades,” Twomey said.
After not being accepted to Gonzaga, Twomey decided to attend Paul VI in Chantilly, Virginia. Twomey then had to decide if he wanted to apply to Gonzaga again as a transfer or stick where he was at PVI; Jack decided to transfer to Eye Street.
“So I went to [PVI] freshman year, and it was amazing. I seriously considered staying because there was no reason to leave. I had great friends, and I loved the school, but I knew that I would always wonder ‘what if’’ I didn’t take that chance and go to Gonzaga, the school I have wanted to attend since fifth grade,” Twomey said.
Twomey played sports at PVI and began to make a name for himself in their athletic department, but he still wanted to be a part of the Gonzaga family.
Twomey had connections to the school. His older brother Patrick, class of 2020, attended Gonzaga, and Twomey’s dad also worked as a coach for the varsity lacrosse team. After deciding that he wanted to transfer to Gonzaga, Twomey started the application process. As seen on the Gonzaga website, the five first steps needed to apply: submit an injury form, create an account, review the assigned checklist, submit materials and complete a questionnaire after finishing the previous steps.
“Transferring to Gonzaga has changed since Jack transferred. The two main differences are the HSPT. All transfers now must take the SSAT. The other difference is that there is no deadline; students can apply whenever they want. Some of the factors we look at are your enthusiasm and how much you want to be at Gonzaga. We look at your grades, and if you don’t have a 3.0 GPA or higher, we will respond and ask you to look somewhere else,” said Director of Admissions Andrew Battaile.
“When I finally decided to transfer to Gonzaga the application was the same when I first applied in my eighth grade year. I had to submit my grades and write an essay,” Twomey said.
After looking at the information from Jack Twomey and the Gonzaga website, it is clear that the process of transferring to Gonzaga is just as complicated, if not more, than applying from the eighth grade.
“I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else,” Twomey said.