Decline a transfer offer after accepting it?

Hi! Could I get some help with making transfer decision?
Situation: EE undergrad, applied for transfer and got admitted to UIUC, have to accept/decline by May 1. Also applied GATech but the decision notification is May 15. Not sure if I could be admitted to Tech. And I’m thinking about calling UIUC and ask about if I could decline after accepting the offer, but I’m afraid that it’ll leave a bad impression.
Could I have some advice? Thank you!!!

UIUC is a very good school. If you were accepted there but are not going to hear back from GA Tech until May 15th, then it sure seems like you should accept the offer from UIUC (assuming that you want to go there and can afford to go there).

You will need to pay a deposit when you accept the offer from UIUC. If you subsequently get accepted to GA Tech, then you could accept the offer, tell UIUC that you are not coming after all and why. You will lose your deposit at UIUC. Alternately you could just go to UIUC and get a great education.

I am pretty sure that the only risk here is that you might lose your deposit at UIUC.

One thing that you could do is call admissions at GA Tech and ask if there is any chance that you could hear before May 1, and explain why. As always, be polite and respectful and calm whenever talking to admissions on the phone.

It seems pretty clear that schools will not know precisely who is coming and who is not until after the May 1 deadline by which accepted students tell them if they are coming. As such, there will always be a few students who get off of a waitlist or otherwise get accepted after May 1. These students will then need to decline previously accepted offers. A little bit of shuffling of acceptances like this is bound to happen every year after May 1. Schools are used to it.

Thank you so much!!!