Most high school seniors take for granted that they will move into their college dorms in August with the rest of their graduating class. Yet at other universities, including Middlebury College, Brandeis University and Northeastern University, a portion of the student body is admitted on the condition that they matriculate at the beginning of spring semester.

This admissions system is undertaken by colleges primarily for financial reasons, as it helps fill dorms emptied by students who transfer or study abroad, balancing and preserving tuition revenue. And while schools like Middlebury take great care to present the option as an opportunity and not a slight, many schools generally utilize second-semester admission as a way to simply increase tuition revenue by admitting a student who has potential but may not be on par with those who receive an offer of direct matriculation. As more universities move to adopt this more economical admissions process, Georgetown should weigh the considerable drawbacks before following suit.

Spring semester students would have less time to adjust to freshman year — a reality the administration would need to account for by implementing appropriate programs, like a separate New Student Orientation for second-semester entrants.

Furthermore, the transition into college, difficult enough already, can be even more problematic when done in the midst of already-acclimated first years. It would breed a division between the semester-old freshmen and new faces on the Hilltop. Instituting second-semester admissions could even run the risk of having a group of students be seen by others as second-tier, especially given Georgetown’s competitive academic atmosphere.

Although second-semester admission could benefit students by giving them academic and extracurricular freedom during the fall for community service, travel or independent study, instituting such a policy at Georgetown would be out of place.