Am I supposed to withdraw or cancel enrollment for universities I don't wish to attend anymore?

For example, if you are accepted into several universities and accept the offer to all of them, are you supposed to inform the universities you don’t go to that you wish to withdraw from them or cancel your enrollment? What about if you transfer universities, are you supposed to let your old university know that you are no longer going to be attending?
Thanks

Can no one help me with this?

As an applicant for freshman in college, you do not have to accept any offers until May 1. However, if you choose to accept an offer to a school that you actually plan to attend before that, it would be a nice courtesy to email all of the other schools where you were admitted and let them know that you have made the decision to attend school elsewhere. As far as transferring, I am not sure, but I suspect that when you enroll at the transfer school you notify the school that you have been attending that you are transferring. There may be a formal process at the school in the case of a transfer.

If you are accepted to several universities, under most circumstances you can only accept an offer to ONE of them.

There are-- or will be-- kids on waiting lists waiting for those spots to open.

And if you’ve submitted a deposit, you’ll want that $200 back before May 1.

Contact admissions and let them know.

OP, why is it too much trouble for you to send a few emails or go to the websites and indicate you will not attend?

And, yes, if you transfer universities you should check with the registrar of the old university to find out what you need to do to officially withdraw.

Do u also RSVP to your friends’ parties, then just not show?

Why would you accept an offer of admission to more than one school? You can wait to accept until you’re sure of a decision, but you wouldn’t accept and send a deposit to more than one. And yes, as soon as you’re sure you don’t want to attend a given school, you should decline as soon as possible, to give someone else a chance.

You cannot accept the offer of admission to more than one school. If you deposit at more than one school your offers of admission can be revoked.

If you were accepted to a school you will not attend let them know either though whatever method they have set up (ex. postcard, portal) or else email admissions (a one line email saying you appreciate the offer but will not be attending XYZ University is fine).

@happy1

That is absolutely false. It might not be the most ethical thing in the world, but there is no rule against it. If you are willing to forfeit your deposit at one or more schools, then so be it. But the offer of admission absolutely cannot be revoked based on that. Show me one piece of support for that.

Certainly the right thing to do if a student changes their mind is to let the school know they won’t be coming, even if they already are past the deposit refund date. That way the school can make sure everyone has roommates, which is probably where it has the most impact. But every year at all schools, sometimes even Harvard, Yale and Stanford for example, there are no shows. The term for it is “summer melt”.

@fallenchemist - A number of blogs such as the one here say that a student can be rescinded for double depositing. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeannie-borin/is-double-depositing-wron_b_5009949.html But no, I don’t know of any specific case where it has happened and I can’t guarantee it is a fact from a blog.

However, the following statement must be signed on the common app. " I affirm that I will send an enrollment deposit (or equivalent) to only one institution; sending multiple deposits (or equivalent) may result in the withdrawal of my admission offers from all institutions." therefore if one double deposits he/she violates the terms agreed to in the common application. http://mesfoundation.org/cgblog/123/What-s-Wrong-with-Double-Depositing/

Perhaps we can at the very least agree with the College Board that double depositing is unethical. https://professionals.collegeboard.com/guidance/applications/ethics

And of course I understand and agree that a student has every right to change the right to change his/her mind about what college to attend at any point in the process including after a deposit has been sent to a college… In fact my S did that exact thing. My son simply informed school 1 in wriitng that he would not be attending (the school very graciously sent our deposit back which was unexpected but very nice) and we sent in a deposit to school 2. Ethical and easy to do.

@happy1

Total and complete agreement on that! Double depositing is morally wrong except maybe in very particular situations, but Common App notwithstanding, there really is no penalty beyond risking the deposit. That was extremely nice of that school to send your deposit back. Shocking, but really nice.

BTW, I don’t follow this closely so I could easily be wrong on this, but the mesfoundation link you have talks about schools finding out about double deposits because of looking at the FAFSA and knowing where else you applied. Hasn’t that issue been shut down as of this coming year? I just thought I heard that. There really is no reason for College A to have any idea where else a student applied. The Ivies got in trouble some time ago for pooling this information, IIRC.

@fallenchemist and @happy1 When
submitting applications to several schools that DS16 applied to, there was a statement included in the application that the applicant must attest to that he would not send in deposits to more than one school or risk losing any scholarships or chance of admission . I don’t know how often schools actually hold students accountable to that , but we did see those statements on most if not all of his applications. Again , I don’t know the legality of all this.

@carolinamom2boys @happy1

I am aware of the statements, and they hold no legal value really. Like with breaking the ED agreement, there has never been a civil case pursued because of it that I can find in my searches. The colleges of course want clarity, and their position is more than reasonable. But look at it this way. The colleges you turn down can do absolutely nothing except keep your deposit. The college you pick, even if they find out, is turning away $XX0,000 in 4+ years of tuition in most cases if they cite ethics. I suspect at most a sternly worded letter would be the worst consequence.

In the end, it isn’t just good manners to only accept one invitation, it is an issue of integrity. And by putting all these warnings down that in actuality have no teeth, they insure it remains a very sparse phenomenon. I don’t blame them for doing it and in fact I support it. People should be reminded of their ethical responsibilities. I think the issue is a small one in terms of practical effect and should stay that way. Personally I don’t think it would be much worse if they stopped all the “warnings”, but why risk it?

Forgot about this thread. I ended up contacting all the schools I was enrolled in and told them. Turns out it didn’t matter, they had policies where if you didn’t enroll in classes by x date they would unroll you automatically (unless you notify them later that you are in fact attending). And the deposits I put in to accept the offer were non-refundable regardless.

As for not being allowed to accept more than one offer, happy1, that is completely untrue. I had this verified by the student services staff at 2 different schools and they will NOT revoke your admission offer. From what they told me it’s pretty common for students to accept multiple offers for whatever reason (usually indecisiveness or whatever specific circumstances).

It is NOT common, and IS unethical. I can’t believe ANY college would tell you that it is fine to send enrollment deposits to more than one college at the same time. Now… there are some schools that separate their housing deposits from the enrollment deposits, and that is a different story. But you agree when you use the Common App that you will only deposit at one school at a time. You have until May 1 to decide, and if you need more time to decide (say your financial aid offer from one school is under review and not finalized), schools will often grant an extension if you ask for one.

Here is an article that gives statistics on rescinding acceptances, and it sounds like it does happen:

http://www.nacacnet.org/studentinfo/articles/Pages/FinishingStrong.aspx

@ph1lly I’m sure each school has their own policies regarding admission offers, and it would be best for people to check with each of the schools that they have questions about .

Every school that uses the Common App has a rule against double enrollment deposits. They may have variations on refund rules, or how enrollment & housing deposits are tied together.

I think I’ve read on CC that some people felt it was okay to double deposit because some schools were pressuring for a commitment before May 1 to guarantee housing. Maybe that’s where the confusion comes from. If schools want families to play by the rules, they shouldn’t be muddying the waters.