All kinds of reasons, one of which was mentioned above.
My son was offered this at USC. Cornell offers it, as do a number of other colleges.
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It’s the college’s way of filling empty seats when students study abroad, or transfer out, or take time off, or can no longer afford tuition, or any number of other reasons.
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The student might be exceptional, but there simply isn’t room in that year’s freshman class. They want to give that student a chance to be at that college. This is particularly true at a school like Cornell, which has a high yield rate and no extra room for additional freshmen. I know two young women who took this option. One of them started at a local CC and transferred, the other started at a private university. Both are amazing students to start with and handily met the challenge of being at Cornell.
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It confirms that the student is capable of doing work at a high enough level to cope with the rigor of the college in question. Some students show promise, but the college wants them to prove themselves before greenlighting them. This was the case with my son.
Colleges know there is a very good chance the student won’t actually transfer in. My son ended up staying at his college and it has been the best decision for him. But they probably give the option to enough students to know that some of them will take advantage of it. In those cases, it’s a win/win.