<p>A friend just had a nephew accepted to Brandeis - not for fall semester - will begin Jan '07. She asked me if other schools offered the same and if so why? Please enlighten. Is it due to housing and the flux of students studying abroad?</p>
<p>I have heard of other schools doing this, I think Middlebury is one. It is typically because more housing is available spring semester due to study abroad. I think it would be nice to have a long break between high school and college.</p>
<p>I know UC Berkeley has offered freshmen spring admission. But Berkeley announces all its admissions at one time. How could Brandeis know now that it'll have a housing crunch in fall? I'm assuming your friend's nephew was accepted through the Blue Ribbon Application which is non-binding. Very strange.</p>
<p>In recent years applications for Brandeis have grown rapidly and there are more qualified applicants than space at the school. So Basically, they know they can fill all the freshman housing in the fall. But, as was mentioned, when students go abroad in the spring more housing opens up so they can accept more students to fill those places. As to why your friend's nephew was accepted as a midyear instead of for the fall: if you ask the admissions office they midyear admissions are based more on the applicant's qualities (strong extra curriculars, reccommendations etc.) thanthe grades (though they still must be up to Brandeis' standards) because they want students who will be able to make a smooth transition coming in the spring. The midyear program is now in its 3rd year at Brandeis. They expect to have about 100 midyears each spring.</p>
<p>Thanks for the reply!</p>