<p>My daughter was just accepted to both Northeastern and American University. However, admission was for January. Northeastern does not allow students to attend fall classes and then allow those credits to transfer and to complete an internship. She was told that she could attend a community college, work or do a study abroad program.
American University allows students to live an a campus a few blocks away, begin an internship and take 12 "non-degree" courses but transfer those credits to American for the Spring session.</p>
<p>I am extremely disaapointed by Northeastern and surprised by American. We attended info sessions and private tours at these colleges and never were these Spring admissions discussed? Why do students have to have learn about this after they applied? Why should someone feel like they are "second" class students. I will have to rersearch to see if I saw this in the information we were sent by the colleges but don't recall reading about this? Any thoughts on this?</p>
<p>I am also surprised there was no mention of spring admits as a possibility. USC mentions it straight up in their application materials (the spring admits are the less strong applicants.) UC Berkeley is also pretty clear about their spring admit program.</p>
<p>I suspect with admission management being tougher than usual due to the economy that these different kinds of things are happening. People who’ve watched admissions for a few cycles have indicated there is more movement on decisions date (in both directions, earlier and later than originally published) than in prior years.</p>
<p>I have only recently been hearing about these “spring admits”. From what I understand, colleges have figured out about how many fall admit students will not return for the spring semester, so they have this group of spring admits that are supposed to fill those spaces back up.</p>
<p>I hope your child has other schools. I don’t like this.</p>
<p>My D will be attending Elon this fall, and I was surprised to read on the Elon thread that they are doing the spring admit thing as well. They never mentioned it in Info sessions either.</p>
<p>When S applied to Colby a few years ago they were offering a plan that would send the student to study abroad for first semester, then return home second semester. (Heck, I was nervous enough when S eventually went abroad as a 2nd semester junior! I never would have sent him abroad for his first semester of college!) He wasn’t offered that plan, but if he was I would have discouraged him from taking it. They did disclose that this was a possibility upfront.</p>
<p>With so many kids studying abroad, and most of them going in the spring semesters, I think there becomes a housing imbalance. If the college brings in new freshmen for 2nd semester, it helps to fill empty rooms and classroom seats. </p>
<p>As a parent or student, I wouldn’t like it though. I understand that “second class feeling.” And when all the other friends are heading out to college in the fall… not to mention coming into campus a semester later, when the other freshmen have established relationships and friendships.</p>
<p>I guess if it was the only way to get into “dream school” it would be ok. Otherwise, definitely not ideal.</p>
<p>I would have tons of reservations about this. Many friendships begin the first weeks of the fall semester. By January students have formed their friendships to eat, study, hang out and it would have to be a very outgoing atmosphere for the new arrival to feel welcome.</p>
<p>I understand that “second class feeling.” And when all the other friends are heading out to college in the fall…* not to mention coming into campus a semester later, when the other freshmen have established relationships and friendships.***</p>
<p>Exactly. Many schools spend a week or two before fall classes begin having Weeks of Welcome (Wow Week), parties, BBQs, concerts, canoeing trips, etc…to help the new freshmen bond and make new friends. I wouldn’t want my freshman to miss out on that.</p>
<p>This has been around for several years. In some cases it has to do with housing - more students study abroad second semester so there is room to take another 20 or 30 or so new students to filter in. One school (can’t remember which) actually offered a group study abroad for the Jan admits to take in the fall, so they “bonded” into a group and had a college experience.
My take - D just finished a junior year abroad program in a very small group like this - it was nothing like a real freshman on campus program. My other guess is that Jan. admits are getting the least on the merit scholarship/financial aid end. If she decides she “has” to go to one of these schools, can she turn it into a full gap year?</p>
<p>We know a student who was accepted at his first choice school as a January admit. He’s found it very tough to adjust socially (and he’s a socially adept guy). He’s finishing up his 3rd semester there but is looking into transfer possibilities, for many of the reasons raised above. The first few weeks of freshman year, especially the orientation period, are so very important in finding a peer group, joining organizations, sharing common experiences, etc. I don’t think colleges should offer this as an admissions option unless more than a handful of students are January admits, and a strong orientation program for them is in place.</p>
<p>Northeastern is upfront about this possibility during the application process and it is likely also because they are a co-op school and likely dorm rooms shift due to that. My daughter was accepted for the fall but I remember when she applied it said admissions offers could be “waitlist” “admit for fall” admit for spring" or “denied” in such words.</p>
<p>It would have to be my child’s 1st choice over anything else for us to want to consider a January start though, otherwise I agree it would be hard to break into the fold.</p>
<p>^^^ I don’t know about that. American, NEU, Colby and Elon all have very high retention rates. I really think it does have to do with study abroad. Colby & Elon have very high percentages of kids studying abroad (60%+ at Colby, 70%+ at Elon) although those schools have a 4 week January term in which they offer a variety of study abroad classes. Many kids at Elon study abroad more than once, perhaps once in Jan and once for a semester. I suspect American has a high study abroad group as well. As for NEU… that one’s a little harder. With their co-op, they’ve got up to 20% of their kids off-campus at any given time of the year. So I would think their housing/seats in class situation would be more even throughout the year. </p>
<p>I have a vague memory of something about this (housing and spring Study Abroad kids) being brought up during our tour of Holy Cross a couple years ago, but I could be wrong.</p>
<p>I thought I remember reading somewhere that the “late starts” help the colleges with their rankings. The late admits’ stats don’t get reported or get reported differently?</p>
<p>I believe Hamilton mentioned it in the application material a few years back. If I remember correctly, they were sending kids to London for first semester. That doesn’t sound bad because those kids will bond and have each other. We thought it sounded appealing but Hamilton admitted my kid into the regular fall class. I don’t like the way it sounds like NE and AU are doing it. There’s no reason to make someone feel like a 2nd class citizen. That 17yo ‘weaker admit’ could end up being a 40yo amazing alum.</p>
<p>The S of a friend was spring admit at UC Berkeley. UCB has a program at the local CC where he could take classes that could transfer over. So he moved in the fall and moved over into the college after the first semester ended.</p>
<p>It worked for him–and he’s happy. Berkeley was the best school that accepted him and he was willing to forego the socializing that went with the first semester in order to get to go there.</p>
<p>There’s a $$$ issue here as well. Say you have two in college, well the mid year admit won’t start until January 2011. That messes up the financial aid situation for your other student in college, his FA package will have to be adjusted, as you won’t have “two in college” in September 2010, only one. </p>
<p>If you aren’t paying in 2010 for your Mid Year admit, you won’t get the American Opportunity Tax Credit on your 2010 taxes. Unless the college lets you pay in advance in 2010 for the student starting college in January 2011.</p>
<p>FWIW, Middlebury is well known for its January admit program. A young woman I know who was a January admit to Middlebury LOVED her experience there and had a fantastic time - there were a good group of incoming first-years with her and they really enjoyed their experiences there (graduated a year or two ago). Students don’t apply for January admission (at least I don’t believe they do) but are rather offered it (instead of a fall entry).</p>
<p>Less about drop-outs, more about maximizing dorm space (for example, Middlebury has a substantial study abroad %) AND bringing in candidates who may not be at the top of the admit list but still offer something to the institution . . . . .</p>
<p>D was a spring admit TRANSFER student at her dream U. It worked well for her because she had things she needed to complete before transferring. She re-connected with her many friends at dream U when we brought her with us to the school in October for Parents’ Weekend (S attends there). In January, she was able to make some new friends & catch up where she left off with her HS friends–who were freshmen there & she had seen in October. She’s very happy there and would have had a tough time if she had started in the fall rather than spring. She arrived in January, in time to figure out which of her HS friends she’d be sharing an apartment with for the following fall. It would have been tough if she had not had her brother & HS friends to help introduce her and give her the “insider tips.”</p>
<p>One of her buddies was a freshman spring admit at that same U but her mom saw it like many of the posters here & insisted she attend a school that admitted her for the fall instead. She did and they had a nice time visiting her on the east coast.</p>
<p>D’s U is very upfront about spring admits–for freshmen & transfers. One nice thing about starting in January is that it is MUCH less frenetic than August.</p>
<p>I am so sorry for you parents of spring admits that your kids weren’t rejected outright, which seems to be your preference. <sarcasm></sarcasm></p>
<p>No one is forcing your kids to take those slots. If it is inconvenient or you don’t want them… then you can pass. </p>
<p>My d. was a spring admit to Berkeley. I was not at all surprised – or, actually, I was pleasantly surprised, because I thought her stats were weak for Berkeley. So I wasn’t all that sure if she would get in at all. She ended up with better offers – but I would have encouraged her to look seriously at the Berkeley offer if she hadn’t been accepted at schools that were higher on her preference list. I wouldn’t have worried too much about the social issues because Berkeley is so huge that I don’t think it makes much of a difference when a student arrives on campus – there are plenty of students around and plenty of activities going on. </p>
<p>Anyway, I understand the reasons most students and their parents prefer a fall admit, but I just don’t understand the anger at the school for offering a space when the alternative obviously is rejection. It seems to me that if a kid wants to attend a particular college, then starting in the spring is preferable to not being allowed to attend at all.</p>