<p>My S was accepted to UR -- but for January 2011 admission. While Rochester was probably his first choice before receiving this decision, he is now shifting his focus elsewhere. He does not like the idea of missing the first semester freshman experience and doesn't seem excited about spending his first semester somewhere else. The fact that he has other good choices to start college in the fall (Tulane, Lafayette, GWU, Skidmore) is also a factor. </p>
<p>I am torn between going with this flow or trying to nudge him back towards UR. I want to remind him that college is a four year experience and that while he is disappointed by the decision, he felt very positively towards UR and has in fact been accepted there. </p>
<p>Was wondering if others are facing or have faced this choice and have any thoughts on the topic. </p>
<p>BTW, the admissions folks made it clear that there is virtually no chance they will reconsider and offer him admission for the fall.</p>
<p>bzk722 - Between 20 and 30 students arrive on our campus each spring semester as January admits. These students are identified as a strong fit for Rochester, but because of limitations in space on campus, we are unable to offer them fall admission. Between the fall and spring semesters, enough space becomes available to provide these students with housing.</p>
<p>There is an orientation program for the students in January, and we do allow them to transfer in a semester’s worth of work so that each is on track to graduate with his/her class.</p>
<p>I understand the difficulty in your son’s decision. As a high school senior I was given a similar invitation to my top choice University, and turned down the offer - but in retrospect I think I would have been fine making that adjustment. It really is a matter of preference, and it does sound as if your son has some wonderful options.</p>
<p>Oddly, I recently met a young woman who was a January 2010 UR admit at a wedding I attended in early March. She was a friend of both the bride and the groom, whom she had met while doing a fall semester abroad program. </p>
<p>I had a chance to talk to her several times. (I mean I <em>had</em> to! What are the odds of meeting a UR student in suburban Denver at a wedding of the son of dear friends? Also she and I both were staying at the same hotel and I ended up driving her to the home of the groom’s family several times.) I told her my D was a UR sophomore and I asked how she was settling in at Rochester. Although she seemed to be a fairly shy person, she told me that while it was a bit strange to be starting classes in the spring after a semester off, she had felt welcomed at UR and had not been treated as leper or second class citizen by either the administration or any of the students. She said that the orientation was thorough and useful, and that her new roommate had been welcoming and helpful. She had no problem in ‘getting into the swing’ of things at her new school. </p>
<p>Like your son, UR was her first choice and she too was disappointed that she wasn’t accepted for fall term. She said that while to decision to start ‘late’ was a hard one, it’s one she’s glad she made because UR was worth waiting for.</p>
<p>I put her in touch with my D (who was at our home in another state on spring break), but the two girls quickly discovered they had absolutely nothing in common.</p>
<p>Thanks you MC and WOWM for your replies. I think each provides a thoughtful perspective my son needs to hear. I will ask him to read this thread as he works through his choice – although he will be mortified that I have been chatting about him on the web. </p>
<p>Also special thanks to MConklin for a steady stream of reassuring and informative posts in recent weeks. I am a first time contributor to a thread and am sure that there are numerous silent readers of the CC site that have benefited from them. (My children would call us stalkers!).</p>
<p>My son is not put off by waiting til January except that curricular issues arise, since many classes are sequenced and offered only in fall semester. So we will try to get some academic advising around where else he might start sequenced classes to transfer in the credit but also be ready for Rochester’s Spring classes. Wondering if anyone else has similar concerns. The social issues really do not worry my son, who finds friends wherever he goes. He would love to do some study abroad in fall, but it is not the best timing, since it would mean not starting work in his areas of concentration until the sophomore year, and thus perhaps not advancing quickly enough for undergraduate research opportunities, etc. Just wondering if anyone else has concerns about accomplishing a major with highly sequenced courses which cannot be begun in Spring semester.</p>
<p>A few of my friends were January admits as well. One of them spent a semester in Denmark, another did some hiking/traveling/work before arriving at U of R for the spring semester. The bottom line is that you’re admitted, which is great! Use your time “off” to explore / volunteer / grow as a person. The experiences January admit students bring to campus are very valuable (and they can serve as an excellent ice-breaker). </p>
<p>With Rochester’s open curriculum, a January-admit student can knock off the only required class (freshman writing), and then take time to pursue his other interests outside of his/her desired major during the spring semester. Then, he or she can start on track next fall in his/her main area of concentration! By then the student will fully understand the academic workload that U of R demands, and they can hit the ground running with the advantage of knowing students who took these courses last fall!</p>