Take it. My kid would have jumped on this opportunity. I didn’t even know schools did this.

Yes, it's worth it, but I'd recommend taking courses in the fall at a community college (or online with the college they'll be attending if that's offered) so they can graduate with their class when the time comes. They'll be a bit behind socially, but they should catch up quickly enough if they're reasonably outgoing.

Congratulations!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Take it! Your child has been admitted to this program to hide their stats so if not in this program, not admitted at all. Because of this smoke and mirrors approach in admissions, more of the colleges are offering it and strengthening their programs.

More colleges are doing this, but it's not to hide anything. It's just practical to have people waiting to take the place of those they know will leave after the first semester for whatever reason, and they're pretty good at predicting how many students that will be each year. They lose loads of money otherwise.

They are not deferring the higher stats kids.

To add, it is kind of easy to still graduate on-time in most majors if you start in the spring. An AP credit there, a summer class, a class in the fall prior to entry, an extra class one semester, an internship for credit—-all ways to do that.

I say go for it. So many things she could do in Fall - whether that be fun/exploration or taking courses to keep in step. It's only a few months.

Would love to hear a list of which schools have made this sort of offer if others have experienced the same.

Anonymous wrote:Take it! Your child has been admitted to this program to hide their stats so if not in this program, not admitted at all. Because of this smoke and mirrors approach in admissions, more of the colleges are offering it and strengthening their programs.

More colleges are doing this, but it's not to hide anything. It's just practical to have people waiting to take the place of those they know will leave after the first semester for whatever reason, and they're pretty good at predicting how many students that will be each year. They lose loads of money otherwise.

Anonymous wrote:OMG—would have no hesitation about taking it.

+1

School-wise, it is not so bad. For my kid, there was group of kids that started in spring, and my kid had no problem making friends or getting classes. The hardest part was that my kid graduated in Dec., and graduate schools/jobs through on campus interviews did not start until after the next summer, so there was another 8-9 months of time to kill after graduation, so that Spring start was really more of a year lost compared to a Fall start.

Absolutely

My D did it and excelled academically. Took general electives in the fall at another college as a non degree student so she is on track with the rest of her class.

The down side is that socially it is a little harder. They go in everyone else already has friends. They have to be willing to join everything and figure out where they belong. My D was a little shy, so this was the hardest part for her.

Also, it was hard in the fall when all of her friends where having new experiences. We found out about some study abroad programs after the fact, but if we had know about that for the fall it would have been a much better option.

Take it! Your child has been admitted to this program to hide their stats so if not in this program, not admitted at all. Because of this smoke and mirrors approach in admissions, more of the colleges are offering it and strengthening their programs.

OMG—would have no hesitation about taking it.

I think it's a great option, especially if schools have a decent-sized admit program for spring students. Your DC can do something really interesting in the fall--like an internship or travel--or just work and make money and maybe take a cc course or on-line credentials just to stay in study mode. Often these schools have some fall programming or options for these spring admits.

DD was a spring admit to her very top top R E A C H school and she accepted without hesitation. But she's a very adaptable and optimistic person. She knew this school was right for her.

Anyone get into top choice as Spring Start Freshman? Is it worth it? pros? cons? Please share experience.