Most international universities follow the procedure of having two intakes every year for admissions. To throw light on each of the intakes, the fall semester starts in September and ends in December, and on the other hand, the spring semester starts in January and ends in May.
To look into the comparison between Fall and Spring intake of admission, certain factors need to be looked upon underlying the substantial features and the benefits for the international students to apply for the international universities more coherently and efficiently. Both the terms carry their own set of positives and negatives, which is why the students must examine deeply for opting for their future course of study.
- One of the biggest advantages that the fall intakes hold upon is the number of courses it offers, which lay down the variety in front of the students to choose their preferred course. As the fall semester offers a myriad full of courses in the colleges, it brings down the smaller number of courses that the spring intake offers comparatively.
- The major difference that brings upon between fall and spring intake is the acceptance rate between the semesters. The class sizes are much larger for the Fall intake, which brings the chances and probability of getting admitted then. The above-average profiles are in high chances of being in favor of the Spring Intake.
- The number of sources for financial assistance that a student can obtain is during the spring intake, the number of opportunities is much higher since job positions usually open up during fall semester intake, preference is usually given to students who have finished at least one year in college and it turns out to be a disadvantage for the other semester students to cope up with it, as students admitted in the spring semester have an advantage of one semester over them.
- The opportunities for extracurricular activities are best in the fall semester in comparison to the spring semester as it might be difficult to join the clubs or take up leadership positions one semester later as many events and workshops have already taken place previously.
- If a particular international student wants to take some time off after a degree to have a gap year and explore more options in the field or needs more time to settle down, opting for spring intake is applicable rather than the fall semester in such cases.
- Fall intake is significantly high compared to spring admissions and therefore, there are chances that even with a low GRE score, you might have a good chance of getting admission.
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In the end, choosing fall or spring intake entirely depends upon the student. The differences vary from courses, the readiness, acceptance rate, etc, but the decision lies completely upon the student to which semester he/she will opt for according to their necessities and fulfillment. The important point that arises is what the student expects from the education that they are further pursuing and how the education will transform through their various goals and opportunities in general. Applying to one of the intakes will not harm, what matters the most is the student’s credibility and their plans.
