My son has been accepted to his safety school, but he does not want to attend it. Can he accept the admission offer, take a gap year and reapply to his top choice colleges again? So, ultimately, my question is: Would it be unethical to apply to other schools while he is committed to a university and on a gap year? If so, what could be the consequences?
Yes, that’s unethical. At my D’s school they specifically state it is a commitment. Best case you lose your deposit, worst case they inform other universities and any other offers might get rescinded too. If he doesn’t want to attend the school he should turn it down and apply to the ones he wants next cycle.
No, he can’t apply to other schools while he is committed to a school.
You also need to think about his high school and what they might do. A student at my sons former HS was thinking of doing the same thing and the guidance counselor told him that they would not participate in this. If they were asked to send transcripts etc. to other schools they would tell the school he was committed to about it. It makes the HS look bad and could hurt future applicants from his school. The fact that you are asking if it is unethical tells me you know the answer. I know that admissions is emotional and tough but sometimes you have to let the chips fall where they may. Good Luck!
Just decline and do your worst. If it is a real safety, he can reapply next round and still have it as a safety.
Also think about:
RIght now your son is probably disappointed in the college process and where he got accepted.
He may hear of others who got into “better” colleges.
He may think he is deserving of a “better” college.
But, it may be that he isn’t. It may be that he didn’t write a great essay. It might be that he reached too far.
But, in the fall, when his friends are going to college…what will he be doing?
WIshing he was going?
Is he running away from something or running to a gap year goal?
And if he is the awesome person he thinks he is…he will be a STAR at the safety. He will shine and be noticed by professors.
Why not be a big fish in a small pond? Malcolm Gladwell says that is a better situation.
https://www.businessinsider.com/malcolm-gladwells-david-and-goliath-2013-10
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So if he wants to take a gap year but renege…he should just turn them down but take a gap year.
If he accepted, he is saying there is a chance he would to go that school. Why not just go to that school?
Why did he apply if he didn’t want to go?
what @lbf said…
“and reapply to his top choice colleges again”
Others have pointed out very good reasons that you can’t do this. There is another reason that it might not be a good idea: If he applies to his top choice colleges again with essentially the same application, it is very likely that he will be rejected again.
He could say no to his safety and reapply to all of the same schools for next year, hoping to at least get accepted to his safety again. However, at least to me it seems likely to be very frustrating to wait a year and end up with an acceptance to the same school that he was already accepted to a year earlier.
Of course if you tell us where he got in, where he didn’t get in, and his stats, it might give us some more ideas. There are a lot of universities in the US, and in most cases the “boring” local public universities that kids don’t want to attend are able to provide a very good education.
If it’s unethical, why does it matter what the consequences are?
@austinmshauri , ref the admissions scandal. Some people only care about unethical if there are consequences.
You can tell him the following: you can take a gap year if and only if
- you don’t commit anywhere
- you find a job or are selected for something like CityYear
- you find two safeties you like and that we can afford. Those must be found first.
- you find 2-5 colleges you have NOT applied to, with a 40% acceptance rate
(or whatever depending on his stats - if he has top 2% stats, you can go down to 30% acceptance rate - the acceptance rate is as important as his rank in relation to the admitted pool: at or above the top 25%mark and 30-40% acceptance rate makes a good pick for a good student). - apply rolling and EA to half the colleges on your lidt
- ONLY THEN can you reapply to your #1 college.
Note that reapplying usually doesn’t result in the chosen colleges to go “oops we made a mistake!” No, in almost all cases, you were denied once, you had to give it your best shot then, end of story. But it can be comforting to teenagers.
. Maybe his safety is not really a safety for him? Most grow where planted and that you will here a lot around here.
If he turns down the offer from his safety he needs to think about what he could do during a gap year that would make the colleges change their minds. I don’t think he can apply with the same profile and expect to be accepted.
There’s nothing wrong with taking a gap year and reapplying to schools, but you can’t hold a seat at a college while you do it. There’s no guarantee that his safety will accept him in the next round, so if he takes a gap year I think he’d have to find other safeties. I’d spend some time the next couple weeks looking for one. If you can find a true safety (a school he’s pretty sure to get accepted to, that’s affordable, and is one he’s be happy to attend) then let him take a gap year. If not, he may want to consider attending his current safety.
If the only reason he is taking a gap year is to try to get into a higher ranking school then I would advise him to go to his safety school and then transfer. By applying to the same higher ranking school with the same application is not going to get him in, whereas excellent grades from his safety school may get him admitted via transfer.
Transfer students don’t get much aid. Unless the parents can pay for his safety with little to no aid he’s better off applying to a new list after a gap year.
@pianist101: Yes, applying to other schools while taking a gap year with a commitment to a particular school is unethical. It is as though your son gets engaged to one girl and sets a date one year down the road but uses that year to continue dating other girls in hope of finding someone better.
OP has not been back since the first post, but for some reason I didn’t get the impression FA is an issue. I also think for families that would consider gap year (not due to affordability) are usually full pay families.