<p>I read an article in the USNWR’s rankings issue about Mid Year Admits.</p>
<p>Kids go abroad, drop out, whatever, so schools want to keep those dorm rooms and classrooms filled.
I just think that due to Freshmen Orientation in Aug/Sept that a lot of long lasting friendships, connections are formed then! It may be a disadvantage to start college in January.</p>
<p>This has happened to my DS:</p>
<p>1) Accepted into our state flagship university as “Undeclared” rather than into Engineering during the EA round. We sent them updated stats (Dec 1 SATs went up by 200 points and his 1st semester Senior year grades) and asked them to take a 2nd look at his stats. They basically said he would just be put into the RD pool and we are still waiting to hear.</p>
<p>2) Accepted into his 3rd choice major rather than into Mechanical engineering at a tech school in NY.</p>
<p>He has been accepted in the mechanical engineering program at other schools (including his top choice). He has decided that it is more important to go to a school where he is all ready accepted into his major than to go someplace for the school and try to get into his major.</p>
<p>My son was admitted to the NEU In program which required his first semester be abroad - at an addtional cost! For us, the cost was the deal breaker. Northeastern is expensive enough but to add another $10K was just too much. Also he certainly hadn’t even thought about going abroad that fall - he was picturing himself in a dorm at a college. Not sure he would have done it even if cost were not a factor. If they had given him a January admit he would have considered it, but even then probably too expensive and my guess is he would have picked another school to start in the fall.</p>
<p>I know a couple of kids that got January admits a few years ago to U of MD. Both went and it was fine. One finished on time, another needed an extra semester but probably not due to the January admit.</p>
<p>There is nothing new under the sun. My oldest sister was accepted to Wesleyan for second semester…in 1984. She decided to take the offer and graduated on time in 1988. The other option on the table was Oberlin in the fall; we’ll never know if that would have been a better choice.</p>
<p>ClassicRockerDad - - I couldn’t agree with you more. I do think that there should be a different letter for those who are accepted, but not to their major. We, too, initially thought there might have been a clerical error. </p>
<p>ConfusedMama - This must be a common occurrence with engineering as we are facing the same situation in several cases . . . fortunately my son is also accepted to some programs. Hopefully he will do the same as your son and pick the program where he’s already in the right school . . .</p>
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<p>Accepted for spring can sometimes be turned into an advantage if attending community college and transferring the courses for the student’s major is allowed by the four year school that accepts the student for the spring. In this case, 1 cheap CC semester + 7 semesters at the four year school can be a significant savings compared to 8 semesters at the four year school.</p>
<p>Spring admissions is a load balancing tool, since fall semester typically has higher enrollment than spring semester.</p>
<p>It does seem that what infuriates people is the fact that the letter confuses them and seems like a “bait and switch.” People seem almost more upset about the way the offer is communicated than about the fact of not being accepted for fall.</p>
<p>Some of these programs are good opportunities and allow a student to eventually enroll in a school that might not otherwise have had a place for him/her. But they are obviously not anyone’s first choice option, or they would be OFFERED as an option that one could choose to apply to. So why not acknowledge that in the communications? Along the lines of “Dear Applicant, Although we are unable to offer you admission to U of X for the fall of 2013, we are happy to inform you that we have another option available to you. You have been admitted to U of X for the spring semester of 2014. Students admitted for the spring semester may opt to spend the fall semester in our XYZ program if they choose, or you may pursue other interests if you prefer.”</p>
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<p>My nephew is in this boat right now. He has to decide whether to go to UTSA and transfer next year. The problem is that he wants to major in business, and it’s really hard to get into UT’s business school. He may end up going to Butler (in Indiana). That would be ironic, because he hates cold weather and is always giving us a hard time for living in Maine. He was impressed with Butler, though, so it will be interesting to see what he decides.</p>
<p>goingnutsmom - that may be true. I’ve never actually checked. But I do know that CMU’s computer school is ranked up there with MIT, and it’s extremely difficult to get into, even from within the college.</p>
<p>My DD was admitted as a January admit to a state school, but they sent a very very nice letter. They said they would keep her on wait list, etc. If we could not have afforded other options, we might have gone with this. One positive was that she knew other kids from our HS going to that school.</p>
<p>DeskPotato - - That is absolutely the way it should be done. Exactly as you worded it. It avoids the element of “surprise” and gets your hopes down before framing the opportunity. I’m not sure who advises these places from a marketing perspective, but I think that it makes more sense to present these things in a straightforward, but encouraging manner.</p>
<p>To echo what Post #26 says:</p>
<p>My older daughter got the “Congratulations… but don’t come just yet” letter from Brandeis in '08. We had never heard of a Mid Year concept and it was an emotional rollercoaster to be in … but not embraced or welcome on campus until January. D loved the school tho, so we listened, and asked lots of questions, and learned that they (allegedly) admit the full class, and then handpick the 100+ MidYears based on anticipated ability to deal with the unorthodox, make up for lost time, maximize the opportunity, be leaders, etc. Apparently the Brandeis experience is that the MidYears may arrive late, but they come in gangbusters and end up as the class leaders. Assuming that is all true, and true at other schools as well, it may be a compliment to your child if they are being offered this option. Our D and a large % of the MidYears ended up graduating on time with the kids who started in the Fall. They used the first semester to take classes at other schools (in our case, this saved us over $20,000 out of pocket!), worked on political campaigns, volunteered, worked, traveled, and other gap-year-like activities. If you asked her today, my D would tell you that if given the choice with everything they now know about the experience, she and her friends would absolutely CHOOSE to be MidYears rather than feel slighted by it as they did when they first read that Congratulations letter. </p>
<p>And, at least at Brandeis, there is Orientation, Student Activities Fairs, etc. for the kids arriving in January, albeit maybe a little lower key than in August/September. The kids still get lots of oppty to bond, make friends, develop a sense of community, etc.</p>
<p>MJSMOM, are the midyears at Brandeis housed together, or assigned to share rooms?</p>
<p>One major caveat to a spring admit offer is how they handle financial aid.</p>
<p>USC has a large number of spring admits, and the financial aid offer (if any) applies the entire year’s EFC and student contribution to the spring semester, resulting in extremely reduced or no aid for the first year.</p>