<p>Hello, all! CollegeConfidential has been immensely helpful to me during my college woes, and I'm hoping I can wrangle one more answer from the knowledgeable masses. I'm taking a gap year after my senior year, and have accepted and deferred at a university. I've made my deposit and I've spoken to the dean. </p>
<p>But, if during my gap year, I have a change of heart or professional inclination, could I "drop-out" (for lack of a better term) of the school I've already been admitted to, and apply somewhere else that fall? </p>
<p>Ethically no. If you opt for a deferral, you will be expected by the college to sign a certification that you won’t apply to other colleges during that timeframe. They are worried they are getting played – like you’re inquiring about. Unfair to them.</p>
<p>Please don’t do this.</p>
<p>It’s akin to accepting/giving an engagement ring. Then in the lead up to the wedding, still dating others “just in case” you find someone better.</p>
<p>As of now, I’m content with the school I’ve been admitted to. But I’m not going to kid myselfI may very well exit my gap year with a new perspective or a new direction. I know it sounds like I’d be “playing” the school, but I wouldn’t want to lock myself into an institution that I don’t feel comfortable with. </p>
<p>Ethically, I understand this would be an issue for the university. It would appear as if I’d lied to a college just to feel safe in the fall. But they haven’t given me anything but their time and correspondence; they will not pay for any part of my gap year, and even if I do decide to go elsewhere they will have a $600 deposit to show for it. But, ethically, this is also a problem for me. And, again, I’m living in the hypothetical future, here. If I feel like I should apply elsewhere, I do not believe I should restrain myself for the common courtesy established in the gap year deferral convention.</p>
<p>If there’s no legal restriction, and the school will be ultimately yielding a net profit off of my application anyway, as they won’t be paying for any part of my gap year, is this still a problem?</p>
<p>I do not believe that there is any “ethical” issue here. Unless you sign some agreement that you won’t apply anywhere else (in some sense, like a commitment like an Early Decision commitment), your acceptance and deferral is no different thana May 1 acceptance and deposit but then finding a better offer later from a waitlist school and taking it. Just let your own conscience be your guide.</p>
<p>Of course you can change your mind and let that college know that you aren’t coming! There is mo problem with that at all.</p>
<p>As others have pointed out, what may be iffy is applying elsewhere before telling the college/university that you won’t be coming after all. Take a look at your paperwork, and see if you have agreed to any restrictions on applying elsewhere.</p>
<p>is this still a problem?
yes.
You will have to contact your HS teachers AGAIN, to ask them, AGAIN, for letters of recommendation. Remember they now have a whole new class of seniors and may very well not remember you well enough to write a glowing LOR.
You have to contact your HS college counselor too, and get him/ her to fill out the same forms again. The college counseling office also has a new class of current seniors they are responsible for, and your request for grades and a letter of recommendation may very well fall to the bottom of the list.</p>
<p>In addition, you will be asked by the GC for the reasons you have chosen to apply elsewhere. If they feel that their credibility with the college admissions office may be damaged and affect future students, because you are now turning down an acceptance if favor of the possibility of a possible acceptance at another college, your plan may backfire on you. Especially if the college feels you are trying to "game " the system. So be very careful…</p>