My daughter is unsure if she wants to attend her dream school after all. She’s accepted but we’ve yet to pay any tuition (except deposit). In fact, we aren’t even able to pay any tuition until July.
What is the worst case scenario in these circumstances as far as her transcript is concerned if she decides she doesn’t want to go there? Would a withdrawal show on her transcript if she does so prior to tuition due dates?
There are multiple issues she’s dealing with at the moment, so I do understand the reasons behind her uncertainty. I would be paying full pay to a pricey school, so I’m fine if she’d rather go to a state school, or some other school, even if it means postponing her start date.
I’m a single mom, and we don’t have any family around to help us navigate what to do, so any advice you can offer is greatly appreciated!! Thank you so much.
Kids change their minds all the time. You would be essentially not enrolling so there would be no transcript to worry about. Kids come off wait lists and end up not going where they are deposited quite regularly.
Think through the logistics of a gap year plan and be aware that if she takes courses at a CC, she will not be considered a freshman going forward and may not qualify for scholarships.
Were there any other schools where she was accepted, that she would reconsider attending? Some colleges might reconsider admitting her if you call them and explain. It is pretty late and the odds are against it I think. Is paying for tuition an issue? The other obvious solution might be to take a gap year and reapply for admission in 2020.
Thank you for your replies. You’ve been so very very helpful!
Paying for tuition is not an issue, thankfully.
She’s been taking a gap year to deal with very serious health issues, and I think she’s come to terms with the fact that she’s still not quite strong enough to go away to school yet. She may need to stay closer to home, and to her current medical team. She’s had multiple surgeries this year, one with serious complications due to an infection she caught in the hospital. It’s been a very rough year to say the least.
She’s simply trying to get her health back before heading away to school. She’s got a little bit of time to decide, but for the sake of her and I trying to figure out the best plan, I thought I’d reach out to see if withdrawing without penalty is an option for her.
I will look into local schools with rolling admissions, and will also check in with the state school to which she was accepted. It was on the rolling admissions list, so it might be an option.
I appreciate the time you’ve taken to answer my question.
^^^That is something I was also going to mention. Deferring, if possible, may be a great option. Many schools will let you defer enrollment, some up to a year. It would be an easy status change for the school if it is something they are usually open to doing. And if not, given it is medical, I would guess they would still be more likely to open to it.
This way she is not dealing with the medical issues on top of giving up her dream school to handle them. May make it a little lighter emotionally to know that school isn’t out of the picture or feel like she has had to give up more for the medical issues…???
I like @fendrock’s suggestion of requesting a deferral. If she’d rather not do that, then, if the reason she will not attend is due to a medical issue, and she would like to keep the option open of attending her “dream school” in a future year, I would recommend that she explain this, openly and in writing, to the AO. That way, if she does choose to reapply in the future, they won’t consider her to be someone who simply opted out at the last minute, but, rather, an interested applicant with extenuating circumstances prohibiting attendance at this particular time.
Thank you everyone for the thoughtful suggestions! You have such great ideas as to how to best handle this situation.
We will discuss everything you’ve mentioned. We were thinking that since they already gave her a gap year to deal with her medical issues, they wouldn’t be open to another one (or even an extra semester), but perhaps this could be an option for her.
They are already aware that she needed to have the multiple surgeries. They just don’t know that there were post-op complications, plus the infection.
I agree with the suggestion of deferring. Multiple serious surgeries and infections seem like a great reason for her to just take a gap year and heal. She’s young, and she shouldn’t be in a rush. If it’s her dream school, and she can defer, it will still be there in a year. And if it isn’t her dream school after all, there are other local options and plenty of time to decide. Either way, I honestly would just let her have a break. There’s no rush to become a bill-paying adult.
@Lindagaf, thank you for the support. Honestly, you all have no idea how much your replies mean to us.
One more question: In her correspondence with the AO, how detailed should she be? Is more information better? or would just a quick statement explaining the year be best?
Again, thank you for your replies. They’ve helped a lot.
Absolutely if she’s still interested in this school ask them for more time. I would think they would be very willing because of the medical complications.
I would give a fairly concise, but comprehensive explanation, and I’d also attach some proof if they might be difficult about it. I’d think you should get this info to the college ASAP. The longer you wait, the less likely they might be to let her defer.
So sorry your daughter is going through this (and of course you as well). Agree that if she wants to go to the deam school, but needs more time, asking for more time for medical reasons is a good idea. However, tf she think she would like to start school in Septembr, but be closer to home and her medical team, and she has a more local option, that would be an option as well. If her health allows, she may not want to wait for another semester or year.
“In her correspondence with the AO, how detailed should she be? Is more information better? or would just a quick statement explaining the year be best?”
Without knowing the details, it is hard to know whether she should offer them or not. At a minimum, I would recommend writing that she is so appreciative of last year’s deferral (if it was a formal deferral as opposed to a gap year and reapplication) and that she wants to update them as to her situation. I would share that, during this past academic year, she had multiple surgeries and suffered from a severe post-surgery infection/complication. If her medical prospects have improved substantially or will in the future, I’d urge her to include that information, and explain that she is not quite ready but wants them to understand that this is her dream school and she very much hopes that they will keep her dream alive by offering a deferral of one year (or one semester, or whatever she chooses to request.)
Wishing all the best for your DD, both in her education and her health.