Inundated with more good applicants than they can accept, some colleges have found a creative solution so they can admit a few more students each year. They offer a group of students the opportunity to enroll as freshmen starting in the spring semester rather than in the fall. A college can do this because it knows that some students will not return for spring semester. Students withdraw due to health, adjustment, or family problems, and a few seniors usually graduate early. The spots opened up by the departures create space for students willing to start midyear.
Colleges offering spring admission encourage students to use the fall semester well, either through coursework at another college or through other enriching activities. Middlebury College and UC Berkeley have offered spring admission for many years. Middlebury calls spring arrivals “Febs”—for the month of February, when the spring semester starts. Brandeis University and Wheaton College (Massachusetts) now offer spring starts as well. A few other schools offer students a first semester at an overseas location: Skidmore in London and Colby in Dijon, France, for example. The disadvantage of a midyear start is obvious—you don’t have the opportunity to experience the first exciting semester of college life with your future classmates. On the plus side, though, after just a few months you will join them, when you would not otherwise have had a chance. You usually don’t apply for spring admission; if a school cannot accept you for the fall but expects to have room in the spring, it will advise you of that in your admission letter. Middlebury even asks on the application if you would like to be considered for spring admission, so you can express your willingness at the outset. They look for outgoing, flexible students who will adjust easily.
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