I am sorry if I am posting in the wrong place or with rookie questions, but I have no experience with college admission in the US and I am really confused right now, so I really could use some guidance from the parents who have been through the process already. D19 got accepted to her only safety school with a very generous scholarship offer. She still has quite a few more selective schools on her list, but she is dragging her feet with the applications. Her plan is to apply to the rest of the schools (if she ever finishes the applications), wait for the results and compare offers. The thing that bothers me is that the safety school does not have posted deadlines for accepting offers like the other schools do. They just keep sending the reminder e-mails to accept the offer. I assume the deadline is May 1, but I am not sure and I surely don’t want her to lose that scholarship. Is it OK to accept the offer now and wait for the offers from other schools and then change it to a different college, if necessary? I just don’t want to break some code of conduct I might not be aware of. I understand that the most sure thing to do would be just to contact the admission office and ask about the deadline, but I don’t want to give them the impression that D19 is waiting for something better to come along. So, how do you play accept/decline game?
Was this an early decision acceptance?
If not…probably the deadline is BY May 1.
But really…your best bet is to contact the college and ask them when the matriculation deadline is. They will be able to tell you.
She can accept now and change her mind later if that happens. You will lose the deposit though. Some people accept before all decisions are in so that they can “get in line” for housing. Not all colleges give priority in housing this way though.
Your D’s HS guidance counselor can make that call for you. It is not a game- the admissions office can tell your D’s guidance counselor what the deadline is.
Do not accept an offer which you plan to renege (the only exception is if your D ends up on a waitlist). It is MUCH better to just nicely ask for an extension on the deadline, which most college’s are happy to give.
Call or e-mail admissions directly. They will be happy to answer that. I personally wouldn’t commit yet. My kid is in a similar situation.
Also assuming this isn’t Early Decision…no, she shouldn’t have to accept until May 1. There may be pressure…(put a housing deposit down or lose out!) or the emails, but she can wait…unless the scholarship is on a first come first serve basis.
The good practices that colleges should be following are as follows:
Regular Decision: Students submit their applications by
a specified deadline and are notified of a decision within
a clearly stated period of time.
Rolling Admission: Students apply at any time after a
college begins accepting applications until a final closing
date, which may be as late as the start of the term for
which they are applying. Students are notified of a decision
as their applications are completed and are reviewed.
a. Students who apply under the two standard application
plans will not be required to accept the college’s
offer of admission prior to May 1.
b. Colleges must disclose whether admission to their
institution or to any of their programs or majors or selection
for scholarships is on a first-come, first-served
basis. In these cases, they must establish a priority
deadline that assures students of full consideration,
and that deadline must not be earlier than October 1.
Make sure the scholarship doesn’t have a different deadline.
@Alikath - as mentioned, the admissions office will tell you when the deadline by which she has to decide or lose her scholarship. Once you know that, ignore those emails! They will keep coming!
" Is it OK to accept the offer now and wait for the offers from other schools and then change it to a different college, if necessary? " I hope this is just accidentally poor wording. It would not be necessary to renege and then change to a school because someone later offered you a better deal. But you might prefer to change. Not the same as a necessary change.
Thank you everybody for your input! I did call the admission office and we also got the scholarship paperwork in the meantime, so it looks like she has until May 1 to decide.
@younghoss, I am sorry if I did not express myself correctly. English is not my first language and I am from a different culture, so I am sure there are a lot of subtleties I don’t understand. That’s why I am asking all these questions.
Good news. Encourage her to finish her apps and compare her options before deciding.
Thank you!
Good luck with admissions.