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.