Anonymous wrote:I know someone who did a fall abroad freshman semester and made friends there.

That’s different because other freshmen are there with you so that IS your experience. I mean coming in brand new after working or something in the fall, which is what I did as a spring admit. I’m sure you can have a good experience but I think it’s much harder so why would you want that?

I know someone who did a fall abroad freshman semester and made friends there.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was a January Freshman many years ago and I HATED it. Everyone had spent fall semester figuring things out and making friends and it was really not fun to be the new person coming in after people had settled into their groups/routines. I would never let my child do this because it really impacted my feeling of belonging starting from day one. I was at a NESCAC school and we had about 40 students starting with me but it was not the same at all as being a freshman with a class of 500.


Just my two cents from a student who wished she hadn't gone that route.

I would strongly oppose my kid doing this for exactly this reason. I might go so far as to say I wouldn't pay for it. Offering January admission to an incoming freshman is a shitty thing to do, definitely not in the best interest of the student, and I don't care to send my money to a school that engages in this practice.

Meh. I was a transfer student, and managed to find friends just fine even though "People had settled."

And the year before, I didn't end up staying friends with my first group but finally "settled" in April, long after the Winter start people owuld have shown up.

Completely disagree! If you are one of a handful at a small school, sure, I’d agree it’s not worth it.

But in the era of covid (when the fall is so uncertain) and schools dealing with last year’s freshmen deferring, it’s a different ball game.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was a January Freshman many years ago and I HATED it. Everyone had spent fall semester figuring things out and making friends and it was really not fun to be the new person coming in after people had settled into their groups/routines. I would never let my child do this because it really impacted my feeling of belonging starting from day one. I was at a NESCAC school and we had about 40 students starting with me but it was not the same at all as being a freshman with a class of 500.


Just my two cents from a student who wished she hadn't gone that route.

I would strongly oppose my kid doing this for exactly this reason. I might go so far as to say I wouldn't pay for it. Offering January admission to an incoming freshman is a shitty thing to do, definitely not in the best interest of the student, and I don't care to send my money to a school that engages in this practice.

I'm PP and I 100% agree. It's not good for students, just helping the college fill spots that spring Junior Semester Abroad opens up. I've told any parents considering it for their kids to take it off the table. I met my husband in college and he has so many fond memories of fall freshman year but I always felt cheated and not part of the inside jokes that come from being new freshmen together. In the end I took off another semester in spring of senior year (would have been my first semester senior year) because I wanted a full senior year, given the fact that I had no real freshman year. I ended up graduating with the following class but never really felt like I belonged in that class either. It was just not good. I was very outgoing and had fun in general but it was really hard being "between classes".

Anonymous wrote:I was a January Freshman many years ago and I HATED it. Everyone had spent fall semester figuring things out and making friends and it was really not fun to be the new person coming in after people had settled into their groups/routines. I would never let my child do this because it really impacted my feeling of belonging starting from day one. I was at a NESCAC school and we had about 40 students starting with me but it was not the same at all as being a freshman with a class of 500.


Just my two cents from a student who wished she hadn't gone that route.

I would strongly oppose my kid doing this for exactly this reason. I might go so far as to say I wouldn't pay for it. Offering January admission to an incoming freshman is a shitty thing to do, definitely not in the best interest of the student, and I don't care to send my money to a school that engages in this practice.

I was a January Freshman many years ago and I HATED it. Everyone had spent fall semester figuring things out and making friends and it was really not fun to be the new person coming in after people had settled into their groups/routines. I would never let my child do this because it really impacted my feeling of belonging starting from day one. I was at a NESCAC school and we had about 40 students starting with me but it was not the same at all as being a freshman with a class of 500.


Just my two cents from a student who wished she hadn't gone that route.

So many options: internship, work, travel, even just relax after the stressful/crazy covid year.

I think spring admits will be very popular this year. Our DS is doing one (starting in January). We' view it as a great way to give the schools/world more time to back to normal.

He is headed to a large university with an established "spring admit" or "J-Frosh/January Freshman" program, so we're comfortable that Jan. will be an ideal time to start. (In fact, the admissions office said the school expects some of the Fall admits to request a January start because of covid concerns. Kind of like a mini-deferral to wait out covid without pushing college back a full year.)

Normally, his university offers travel abroad options but it is unclear if those will be in full swing thanks to covid. If they are, great; if not, we're ok with him continuing his internship, working or even taking a couple of credit-bearing online classes.

I view it as a great option for our son to have a couple of months of transition before starting a pretty intense program.

Good luck to your kiddo.

Part time job.

If your kid started college in the spring, what did they do in the fall?