Grad school spring admissions and fear of missing out

September 20, 2015 12:15 PM

Are there significant drawbacks to starting a grad school program in the spring as opposed to the fall?

I recently decided to pursue an MLIS (I know, I know - but I've considered the risks and rewards and still believe it's a good choice for my career goal of becoming a public librarian). If I get in, my top choice offers spring, summer and fall admission. On the one hand, I am super excited to get started and the sooner I can complete my degree the better. I don't intend to take out any loans and therefore am prepared for the possibility that it may take me longer to complete my degree I may end up needing to go part time at one or more points. On the other hand, I really want to make the most of my experience and don't want to feel out of step with my cohort because I started a semester early/late. Is this a legitimate concern or something I shouldn't really worry about? I know socializing isn't the main focus of grad school but I would be moving to a new city for this and making at least a few friends in my program is important to me. Also, would graduate assistantships be harder to come by in spring than fall?

Basically, I'm wondering whether it's worth it to hustle to get an application in in October or if I'd be better off starting in the fall anyway.

posted by Jess the Mess to Education (7 answers total)

At the school I went to for my MLS (UIUC) it was definitely better to start in the fall with the rest of your cohort. I don't know if they still do it this way, but there were two core courses everyone was required to take and bonding over those was how you met most of the people in your program. So if you're looking to enjoy the social aspects of the program instead of just power through the classes so that you can get the degree, I'd say it's definitely better to start when everyone else does.
posted by MsMolly at 12:47 PM on September 20, 2015

I started my MLIS in the summer session. It wasn't a big deal, really. There were about 20 of us and we kind of bonded together as a small intro class, but once we were "let loose" into the wide array of classes, we all kind of dispersed. I didn't have any trouble getting my prerequisites in before taking upper level classes, I didn't feel like I was missing out on a "college experience" by starting at an odd time. I made friends with the people in my classes, regardless of start date. Also: there were plenty of people in my program that didn't go to school full-time, so you'll see people from many different start dates that are going at a different pace.

You might not get an assistantship right off the bat if they are full-year assistantships...but you'll be extra qualified (and have extra schmoozing time) by the time the fall rolls around. I think that the assistantships in my MLIS program were semester-based so it was not a big deal in my situation.

Good luck! One more thing - they may be willing to defer your admission a semester if you get acceptance for the spring and decide it is best to attend in the fall after all.
posted by Elly Vortex at 12:53 PM on September 20, 2015

Related to what MsMolly says, check the spring and summer schedules (if available yet), and see what proportion of the course offerings require certain core courses as a prerequisite that may only be offered in the fall. I did not do this my first year of library school, a problem that was further compounded by my part-time night school status.
posted by avocet at 1:38 PM on September 20, 2015

Speaking as a former director of grad studies, the primary consideration has to do with scheduling: depending on the size of the program, some courses may only be offered in specific semesters, and that can make your life in spring awkward if you can't progress without a course offered only in fall. If that's not the case, then the differences normally aren't huge, as long as your program remembers that spring admits exist (i.e., they provide advising/orientation resources).
posted by thomas j wise at 1:47 PM on September 20, 2015

Have you been in touch with any faculty in your prospective department yet? This was something I asked of a faculty when I was in the process of applying for an educational MA program. Depending on your school/program, there might also be a graduate coordinator or other staff person in charge of advising who might also be able to give you some insights. It would probably be most helpful to ask specific things like how many student typically start in the spring, is there any sort of orientation or advising session for students who enter in the spring, and would there be any issue with the taking classes out of the intended order? You want to gauge their responses to see if they are making efforts to help spring students or if they just enroll you and let you figure it out.

As suggested, you could also ask to be put in touch with a student who also started in spring.
posted by dahliachewswell at 2:56 PM on September 20, 2015

Just graduated from UNC SILS. I started in January. The graduate appointments are almost all year long, so spring start is a detriment. Also it makes you ineligible for CALA (the free tuition work study thing they give to special snowflakes).

And anecdotally, I felt my choice was somewhat socially isolating.

YMMV. Memail me if you have any questions.
posted by sazerac at 2:58 PM on September 20, 2015

All of these answers are so incredibly helpful. Thank you! It's kind of looking like I should cool my jets and apply for fall but I will try to get in touch with someone connected with the program to ask them directly. I was hesitant to do this before for fear of looking stupid - there seems to be a lot of "if you don't already know the answer to this you shouldn't be considering grad school" going around but it's good to know it's okay to ask this kind of stuff.
posted by Jess the Mess at 3:17 PM on September 20, 2015