https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2019/05/16/you-got-into-college-but-not-quite-yet/AawpVGXXMIBKRWLxSQjz0J/story.html
“High school senior Sabeer Narula was thrilled when he got his acceptance letter from Boston University this spring. Then he turned to the second page, and disappointment hit: He wouldn’t be allowed to show up on campus or start classes until January, a full semester behind most other entering freshmen.”
Happened to one of mine with Northeastern (needed to go abroad first term) and UMD-CP. neither school was high enough on his list to do that, but had they been, it would have been s consideration. Both schools were reaches for him.
Had a co-worker’s D19 get accepted for USC in Jan. Ironically it was more due to the major/program and not the stats of the kid.
Friend did this at CofC. \fantastic abroad experience and he’s already gone abroad again as a sophomore.
Once upon a long time ago, my sister, got off the waitlist at her #1 choice for the spring semester. The college permitted her to go to a local college for the first semester, and they even worked with her to help plan her classes to assure all those fall credits would transfer in. I don’t know if colleges today would do that, but she was pleased.
Sping admission is not all that rare. It has two possible purposes:
- Load balancing fall and spring semesters. When all students start in the fall, the fall semester will have higher enrollment because many who graduate early or late will have one extra fall semester, and some who transfer away or just drop out will also have an extra fall semester.
- Ranking gaming because ranking measures include only fall start frosh. So a college focused on ranking gaming can admit its lower test score admits to start in the spring.
Most students consider spring admission less desirable. But some may decide that they want a gap semester, or the ability to take some frosh level courses less expensively at a local community college, if allowed by the college giving spring admission.
I had a student admitted to American with Spring start
My son was a January admit to Hamilton College. At first he was very upset, but then decided to accept the offer. He spent his first semester in London thru another college’s program that Hamilton uses. All the credits transferred to Hamilton. Had a wonderful time. Traveled throughout Europe. Had no problem settling in at Hamilton in January. It’s not for everyone, but it worked for my son.
And at BU, you may be in the College of General Studies where you are limited on what you take the first year.
Fairly common for USC. I always assumed this was just another way they try to massage their data, as the rankings are based on SAT scores of fall admits.
People often talk about ways to cut down on college costs, and lopping off a semester is one way to do it. I think it is easy to graduate with your class in 3.5 semesters by using AP/DE credits, taking an extra 2-3 credit class in other semesters, taking a january course (if offered), taking an online class or summer class.
Most of the schools would like you to take an online class or go on a semester abroad that first fall, they just don’t want you on campus because they don’t have the beds.
Yep. Happened to one of D’s best friend’s (full pay, lower end stats). Accepted to BU but for Spring 2019. She went to a community college last fall to take some general ed requirements “which kinda sucked” according to her but now loves BU, joined a sorority, enjoys Boston and will travel to London for summer classes with her other Spring classmates as a consolation prize, of sorts.
Happened to my D with Cal back in 2009. The same day she got accepted to Harvard and Dartmouth. Cal was #1 until then. No way was she interested in spending half the year at the local community college taking courses that would not have been half as challenging as her high school classes in junior year. That “offer” was easy to turn down, and she’s never looked back. I think it’s an insult. YMMV.
I know someone accepted at Wesleyan under those terms
@twoinanddone this isn’t about saving money. You go to London at the end of the spring semester with this program and stay for the summer.
This is the opposite of saving money LOL, I think it is about admitting the kids with money but not the the stats (might affect rankings) , keeps those classrooms at max capacity., like the airlines. Pandering by the offer of $$ international travel. Study abroad outside of scholarships is a pay to play for the privileged.
FSU makes being a freshman abroad even more enticing:
If you pay for one of their abroad programs as a freshman, the last 3 years are at in-state rates.
@Sybylla The alternative is the end up in the RIP College Closings thread here on CC.
I think it’s a perfectly fine business model for universities to account for fall semester “melt”. I don’t even care if they do it to game their stats. They are giving a student who they’d otherwise reject a chance to attend. The student is free to decline their offer.
I know of an incredibly accomplished student who was offered spring admission at Cornell and took it. And her spring admission was in no way an attempt to game stats as her stats were excellent - as are the stats of many kids who apply to Cornell. So although they wanted her, they just didn’t want her enough to make room in their fall class.
She was able to look beyond that and recognize that when she graduates from Cornell no decision of any significance will hinge up whether she was a spring admit. Her diploma will look just like everyone else’s and her degree will be deemed as valuable as every other fall admits in the eyes of employers or grad schools or wherever she goes next.
isn’t this what Middlebury calls, “Febs”?