Admission to College, With Catch: Year's Wait

Lisa Foderaro:

For as long as there have been selective colleges, the spring ritual has been the same: Some applicants get a warm note of acceptance, and the rest get a curt rejection.

Now, as colleges are increasingly swamped with applications, a small but growing number are offering a third option: guaranteed admission if the student attends another institution for a year or two and earns a prescribed grade-point average.

This little-noticed practice -- an unusual mix of early admission and delayed gratification -- has allowed colleges to tap their growing pools of eager candidates to help counter the enrollment slump that most institutions suffer later on, as the accepted students drop out, transfer, study abroad or take internships off campus.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at April 13, 2011 3:29 AM
Subscribe to this site via RSS/Atom: Newsletter signup | Send us your ideas