February Freshmen

The best time to enter college is often the middle of the year--and by February, U.S. colleges will have space for at least 150,000 additional freshmen.

So estimates Manhattan's Student Admissions Center, which reports that many small liberal arts colleges in the Midwest, South and Southwest last fall accepted far more freshmen than actually enrolled, and began the semester with classes as much as 30% under strength. Dropouts will create more space. In Iowa, for example, 14 private and public four-year colleges report 1,205 midyear vacancies. At 42 similar campuses in Ohio. Michigan, Illinois and Indiana, the hole is 3,897 places. In Georgia alone, nine senior colleges have 1,413 openings. In New York, eleven junior colleges have 1,186.

Besides being available, midyear admissions provide a variety of advantages. One is the academic backbone they lend to many small colleges: with fresh applicants, the schools need not flinch at flunking out students for fear of losing tuition income. Another beneficiary is the top-of-the-class high school senior who might as well get an early crack at college. Less qualified high school graduates, on the other hand, need not enter college in the fall, but can wait until midyear and use the time to prepare themselves better. And if they enter colleges with the quarter system, they can go to the summer quarter and be sophomores right on schedule by the next fall.

The center sends its list of the colleges with midyear openings to high school guidance counselors who subscribe to the center's reports Cat $22.50 a year). One effect is to undercut a racket that has grown up from the rush for higher education. To the dismay of reputable college counselors, a number of unscrupulous advisers work covert retainers from academically weak, dishonest colleges, charge parents big fees to get dull-witted youngsters into those same colleges--and then get a kickback (10% of tuition) from the college.

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