My sophomore year of high school I visited tons of liberal arts colleges in the Northeast. I fell in love with Hamilton College almost instantly after arriving on the campus, and from then on it became my dream school. Thus, when the time came to actually apply, there was no doubt in my mind that I would be applying Early Decision (ED) to Hamilton. On December 15, 2017 at 8:00pm, Hamilton College released their decisions for ED applicants. Nervous and excited, I logged onto my portal, stressed beyond belief, my fingers shaking from anxiety. I clicked on my decision letter, and festive ribbons began cascading down my screen with the words “Congratulations, we would like to offer you…” and I instantly started crying tears of joy. I was on Facetime with one of my best friends, and the two of us shouted with joy for getting into my top choice. However, as I continued reading the rest of my letter, my tears of joy quickly turned to tears of despair. The words, “…for the term beginning in January 2019” stared back at me.
January admissions — or Spring Admissions, as it’s referred to by some schools — was a completely foreign concept to me, something that I didn’t even know existed and definitely had not considered when applying to schools. I felt rejected, inadequate, and ultimately like a failure. Why didn’t my favorite school want me for four full years? What had I done wrong?
I cried for hours that night and walked around school the next day dressed in apparel for a different college, my attempt at showing Hamilton I was over them. Had it not been for my best friend constantly reminding me that I did actually get into my dream school, it would’ve taken much longer for me to begin even remotely considering their offer. This is probably the most crucial takeaway: you may have been given a January Admission, but you did get in. You weren’t denied, you weren’t even deferred; you were accepted and received an actual offer.
Go ahead and cry, I know I did. But after you’ve given yourself a few hours, or in my case a day, take action. Here are my 3 tips for how to manage your offer of a Spring Admission:
RESEARCH YOUR OPTIONS
After adjusting to the idea that if I accepted the offer, my first semester as a freshman would not be spent on campus, I began my research. To avoid making an uninformed decision, my first step was to go directly to the Hamilton College Admissions website. There, I found plenty of information ranging from articles about January Admissions along with blog posts written by previous “Jans” as they are affectionately known. It seemed that the most popular choice was to spend the first semester abroad in London and that the majority of Jans chose this path. It is important to note that there is also an option to pursue other programs of study or even to take a Gap Semester to explore a personal interest. I leaned toward the London program and learned that since it’s an officially-sanctioned Hamilton program, not only would I graduate on time, but I would be integrated with 40 other Hamilton students on the same program, and it would provide a happy excuse to travel and study in the wonderful city of London. Slowly, the offer started to sound more appealing, but I still had more work to do.
REACH OUT TO CURRENT STUDENTS AND FORMER PARTICIPANTS
First, I contacted students I already knew on campus. I texted three of them, informed them of my situation and asked a bunch of questions. Within an hour, all of them had gotten back to me with incredibly detailed answers. One even wrote a persuasive essay about why I should attend Hamilton as a Jan. I also reached out to students who actually participated in the program. Their feedback and personal stories were extremely helpful. I was also curious about how Regular Admits viewed Jans and also whether there were any difficult adjustments when arriving on campus in the spring. I was relieved to hear that the school worked hard to ease the transition and that Jans were overwhelmingly happy.
ATTEND ON-CAMPUS ACCEPTANCE PROGRAMS
Since my Jan Admissions offer was no longer binding (whereas normal ED offers are) I chose to wait on accepting the offer until hearing back from my other schools. In the meantime I attended Hamilton’s Accepted Students Day, where in addition to all the other fun events, I had the opportunity to attend an information session devoted entirely to students who received an offer of January Admission. I also attended an international relations class, where I met a past Jan, and his enthusiasm for the program sold me. He was the first “real life” Jan I had encountered, and it suddenly made the possibility of going to London that much more concrete. It no longer felt like a strange concept in a foreign land, but instead like something that I could imagine myself doing and enjoying. That day was filled with such an abundance of positive Jan-related experiences that I couldn’t leave the campus without committing to the school. I remember leaving the Admissions Office with a huge smile plastered across my face, a gold star now shining on my nametag to symbolize my commitment, and I was very excited about my future.
Ultimately, it is completely rational to freak out about getting an offer for a Spring Admission. It can be startling and unexpected, but that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be considered. Take some time to get over the initial shock, but then take the steps necessary to learn as much as possible about what programs are available to you. You may be pleasantly surprised.
Ella Gaspar, a resident of Redding, CT, just finished her semester in London and will be heading to the Hamilton campus after her holiday break.
