Making Your Decision After the Colleges Make Theirs: Spring Admits

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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.

Taking Another Look

 Most colleges host special “admit” days or weekends in April before the May 1 Common Reply Date. Even if you have visited a college before, going to an admit weekend can be fun and a good way to get a feel for the campus. It can be especially important, though, if you have not visited before.

Finally, the pressure is off, and you can enjoy being courted. Everyone realizes that the parties and food might be better than usual on this special weekend, but you’ll still get to know the campus better because you can meet so many students, including other “pre-frosh,” your potential classmates.

Normally, students must pay the cost of travel to admit weekends. In some cases, though, a campus may be particularly eager to recruit a student and will offer to pay all or some of the expenses up to a certain dollar limit. This applies mostly to underrepresented minorities or students from low-income families. If you are not offered financial assistance but find that the cost of travel is a hardship, consider asking the admissions office whether the campus can help with your travel costs. The answer may be no because of budget limitations, but it cannot hurt to ask.

Admit days, especially when you stay overnight, give you a good chance to talk to current students about what the college is really like, as well as get a sense of who might be joining you in the freshman class. Some colleges also encourage parents to attend the admit days and even offer special programs for them (although no dorm housing!), and all colleges welcome them regardless of whether formal events are provided. It’s fine for parents to go along on an admit weekend—as long as they make sure to leave their children lots of space.

I want to look at the academics and which college really fits my academic goals the most. Visiting becomes more important. Getting a feel for the people that go there. Making sure that they’re compatible. Do I want to live in New Jersey? In Southern California? How much of a stretch do I want from my current lifestyle? - Senior trying to make a decision between two very different but excellent colleges