<p>Due to record number of applicants to many colleges, last year seemed to have an upsurge in the number of qualified students who received spring rather than fall admittance at many colleges. I feel that may happen again this year. </p>
<p>So, if your student accepted spring admission, how is it going? Are they making friends and becoming involved? Any regrets at accepting the spring admission rather than fall admission at another school. Did the colleges provide adequate orientation for this group of students? How did they spend the fall months? Thanks.</p>
<p>My best friend's D accepted spring admission at a top 10 uni 2 years ago. She spent her fall semester in a study abroad program geared to her age group--that is, with more structure and less freedom than a second semester college junior would have. She had a tremendous time, fit right in when she got to her uni in the spring, and has never looked back. As she reports, there is no stigma to being a january admit. She is thriving.</p>
<p>I suppose it depends on the college. My sister's friend got in spring admit to Middlebury, spent the first semester at St. Andrews in Scotland, and had a really tough time fitting in at Middlebury. She's really sweet, but shy, and was stuck in a single in a senior dorm. The orientation wasn't great at getting her involved and it took a long time for her to find a group of friends and be happy there. The academics were what she was looking for, but socially it was a hard transition.</p>
<p>I don't have any personal experience with the issue, but I could imagine that spring admits wanting to take science classes or start a new language will have a hard time academically because those subjects are typically taught as a two semester sequence at the intro level.</p>