decline an early decision acceptance offer?

<p>As an ED applicant to UPenn who got rejected, I feel that this situation is very unfair to the many hopefuls who got turned down. I was heartbroken when I found out that I didn’t get accepted to Penn, but it makes me agitated when I see that someone who did get accepted is unable to keep the agreement that was made prior to the application process.
I know that I, along with the thousands of others who got turned down, signed the contract with full understanding of its binding terms. I read over these terms carefully with my parents before applying, and I am wondering why some people don’t seem to take the binding aspect of Early Decision seriously.
I am not attempting to make a personal attack, and I wish you all the best with your dilemma. I just wanted to offer the opinion of someone who was fully willing to keep the terms of the contract but who got turned down quite possibly for the sake of someone else who was not able to keep the contract.</p>

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<p>If there is a loophole, it surely won’t have a long shelf life! </p>

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<p>Assuming this quotation is indeed correct, the sentence “you need not withdraw other applications until you have recieved [sic]notification about financial aid” intimates that the “trigger” to withdraw other applications is the RECEIPT of a notification about financial aid. </p>

<p>For some reason, I doubt that the quoted text is the definitive guidance on this issue.</p>

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That was me admiring the ingenuity of finding this loophole.<br>
Again, OP never compared competing packages. She unexpectedly received a full-ride offer at the same time as her ED acceptance. She will never be able to compare Penn and MIT FA at the same time. She has to either accept or reject Penn <em>now</em>. The MIT FA award will not be sent until spring.</p>

<p>I thought early decision meant you HAVE to go if accepted and many do ED to their dream school to show that no matter what they will go… financial reasons or not… you sign a contract…</p>

<p>sparklesplash== sorry to hear about your disappointement.</p>

<p>I’m sure you will end up at a fantastic school, but I know that it is very painful for many this time of year. good luck to you!</p>

<p>No, FuturePRep-- the contract is not binding if it is not possible to attend for financial reasons and depends on the acceptability of the finaid package. It’s hardly as if UPenn will keep you for even your first semester if you do not pay your part of the bill. fwiw.</p>

<p>^^–^^</p>

<p>Semantics again, but the contract IS binding. And that is why one needs to be RELEASED from it.</p>

<p>I don’t know . . . The OP clearly received some kind of notice of “not too horrible” financial aid. So under the strict terms of that language, she must withdraw all other applications, even EA ones that are two days from decision notification. I think dstark has a point to the extent that merely getting a (horribly oppressive, factually wrong) notification isn’t the point at which the deal is sealed. The applicant can say “No” to that package, or can try to get a modification before accepting it. </p>

<p>THAT’s what creates the gray area, but it’s kind of accidental, so I really don’t worry too much about it. Penn allowed the OP to apply to MIT. At the time of application, no one really knew whether Penn or MIT would reach decision first. (Last year, I think MIT was a week earlier than Penn.) If MIT had accepted or rejected the OP before Penn, or the same day, we might still be arguing about whether she could turn down Penn now ostensibly on financial grounds, but keep MIT’s acceptance in her pocket “just in case” it offered her a little better aid later in the spring. But there would be nothing wrong with her knowing that MIT would also take her. Because of that, I’m not outraged if the OP keeps the ball in the air a couple days so as to have information about her chances at MIT. It’s scuzzy, but not outrageous, and more or less inherent in the system as it exists today.</p>

<p>Not that, frankly, this is going to come up a whole lot. Getting into Penn ED (about a 25% acceptance rate) hardly means that the OP is a shoo-in at MIT EA (about a 10% acceptance rate). In real life, the probability is that this will all be a big “never mind”.</p>

<p>It’s like Angelina Jolie. I suspect lots of middle-aged married men would sleep with Angelina Jolie if given the opportunity. They might even claim that their wives understand and accept that as a term of the marriage. Somehow that possibility isn’t keeping their wives awake at night or sending everyone to marriage counseling. The hypothetical possibility that a man might distort or violate his marriage vows for sex with Angelina Jolie, or even Megan Fox, is not a practical threat to the sanctity of marriage. It’s an obnoxious idea in theory, but overwhelmingly unlikely to be tested in practice.</p>

<p>I’ve been lurking this thread off and on all day, but now I’ve had enough.</p>

<p>Can’t keep Angelina waiting…</p>

<p>“It’s like Angelina Jolie. I suspect lots of middle-aged married men would sleep with Angelina Jolie if given the opportunity”</p>

<p>I wonder if there is an ED “opportunity” in this case.</p>

<p>Brad found that ED was very important. However, I think Jenn felt that they had a binding agreement. See?</p>

<p>I don’t think it’s a loophole. </p>

<p>I think that it is certainly unethical for PENN to cease being her top choice, were it not for money.</p>

<p>I also think the OP would be foolish, if not unethical, to not let MIT know that she applied to ED to PENN and couldn’t go because of an unsatisfactory financial aid offer. MIT will get PENN’s ED list and could and I believe does withdraw their offers those EA candidates on it. They can do this any time, even after she matriculates at MIT. </p>

<p>In the very narrow window, with a probability about the same as JHS having the opportunity to sleep with Angelina Jolie, if MIT agrees that their independently determined offer is significantly better than UPENN’s final offer, than I think MIT would let her attend.</p>

<p>I can’t even read this thread without becoming nauseated. My S applied to ZERO schools ED, because we all thought that we were obligated to accept their financial aid offer if he was admitted. Suckers we were, I guess.</p>

<p>But, I personally believe wholeheartedly that any offer after Brad would have to come from a Johnny Depp caliber institution, and since he is busy doing his study abroad…sigh. :(</p>

<p>Mummom-- I find ginger ale and saltines are helpful when my children are nauseated. Canada Dry has actual ginger in it, so it’s not even a myth! :)</p>

<p>Future if you haven’t read all 16 pages you should. The financial aspect of ED is very fuzzy. If you are fortunate and your family can afford for you to attend a $50,000 college and pay all or a significant portion of that $50,000 then there are no concerns. But the ED colleges do not tell families what they have to pay until they give them an acceptance. Because the financial aid forms don’t specifically address individual family debts it is conceivable that a family simply cannot obtain or afford loans to pay their expected portion. Because ED should be open to all students regardless of family income this is the “out” for families that cannot afford to pay full price. It is of no benefit to the college or the student if the family cannot pay the tuition bill in August. So there is an implied moral obligation to accept ED if the family can afford to pay what the college is requesting they pay. It’s complex and if you are genuinely interested read the entire thread.</p>

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<p>You must have watched Mad Men this season ;)</p>

<p>Good lord I can’t type fast enough to keep up with this thread. Here I am carefully posting a note to a student and you all are off talking about sleeping with Ms. Jolie and ED, which could be a problem if one were to be accepted by Ms. Jolie.</p>

<p>Love MadMen! The first season was the best one, though…:)</p>

<p>Well…I will speak for myself. I don’t have any ED problems, but I’m not into tattoos. So Jolie is out.</p>

<p>.
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Plus my wife would kill me. :)</p>

<p>dstark! :eek:</p>