My daughter has whittled down her acceptance list for a variety of reasons including too expensive, lack of interest, and better choices. Do we contact the schools and decline the offer formally?
I suggest not doing so until you’ve settled on a school and paid your deposit.
They don’t care.
Once you’ve settled and paid the deposit, just go to the school websites and hit “decline.”
I suppose you could call and explain but I’m pretty sure as @VickiSoCal they really don’t care.
The deadline is May 1. With my D, I just emailed all of the other schools by that date, thanked them for the acceptance and declined admittance.
Some schools give you a postcard to send in. Others have a way to say on the portal. Or your D can send a polite email to admissions. Remember that your D’s first choice might not work out, and she might want to transfer to one of these schools in the future. So a polite decline is a good idea. That said, we waited until near May 15 to decline most of my kids’ schools. You never know when something might change, and why not leave her options open? You might win the lottery, or someone in your family might fall ill and she might want to be closer to home, or a parent could get laid off. You can always deposit at her first choice, especially if it affects housing. But you don’t have to decline right now.
Don’t let anyone tell you that she is “taking someone else’s spot” by waiting. Colleges admit more than they think will accept their offer to start with, and they keep waitlists. If someone else is meant to have an acceptance, they will eventually get it whether your D declines now or in May.
Back in the day, S did notify the schools he wasn’t attending. If they asked, we did provide a reason, like one school had a very punitive policy for students who had prolonged absences due to documented chronic health conditions (they would require the student to withdraw from school and the dorm and lose the scholarships, even if the student was current or ahead in all coursework). Other schools offered no merit money and were too expensive without it. Some schools do inquire as to which school the student is matriculating at and we shared that information if requested.
Decline on the website the schools you are sure you are not attending.
Thank you. She put out a pretty wide net and I am just glad she has let a few go at this point.
I think you decline the offer when you are certain you won’t attend. It is a respectful thing to do. Each college will have a method to decline or just send an email to the admission’s rep. Theoretically students only apply to places they are willing to attend and someone at the college took the time to read and evaluate the application so when the student has made a decision take a minute and let the college know. A student can only attend one college so there is no reason to stall out notifying a college you will not attend.
Usually, it is done on the portal. I am of the opinion that at the point you are certain the school is not in contention, you should decline. Enrollment management is a challenge for almost every school, so it helps them know where they are in the process as well.
If you have any doubts at this point, don’t feel rushed. And if a rep was particularly helpful, it’s nice to send a short note although it’s not expected.
@momofthreeboys and we paid an application fee for them to do so. Not to mention the test scores, the cost of visiting, etc.
I’m not saying you shouldn’t be respectful, but to act like they don’t run it as a business, is naive.
First, don’t decline an offer before the deadline unless you and your D are both 1000% sure it is off the table.
I agree that if you don’t deposit by the due date the school will assume you are not coming. Still, my kids did notify the schools they declined. It is minimal effort, a good practice to learn, and I think it reflects well on your child and the HS. Some schools give postcards or have a portal to decline an offer. If that isn’t an option, a two line email to admissions would do the trick (include your D’s full name, high school, and any ID number she got from the school). My D did choose to send a somewhat longer, more personal note to two admissions officers she had interviewed with who were particularly kind/helpful.
After clicking the ‘decline’ buttons on the portals, S contacted most of the alumni and admissions reps that he had interviewed with and personally thanked them for their time and told them that he had accepted another offer. If nothing else, this will hopefully help them view his high school in a positive light and help out future applicants (these were mostly small LACs that consider “fit” as part of their admissions criteria).
One rep send him a hand written “best wishes” note which I thought was very classy. Smart too…S has lots of younger friends from having been a lab and band assistant in high school. After getting that note he started racking his brain for kids who he thought would be good fits for that college.
i agree that it pays forward. Who knows…maybe the kid who took the ‘i don’t care’ attitude decides he wants to switch colleges after freshman year. Nice to “finish” the process on a good note - not naive at all. i agree that it’s a good thing to learn, too. Decades ago I spent about eight years as a "buyer’ and I bought a pretty high amount of dollars. I always followed up a pitch (which meant time out of my day) with a phone call or a email note saying thanks but no thanks and telling the salesperson why…and guess what…several of those folks were instrumental in helping me secure my next job…even ones that I never ended up buying from. Don’t blow off the colleges. Say thanks but no thanks when you know that college is off the table and please don’t apply to colleges and universities you have zero intention of possibly attending. Just a waste of your and admissions’ time and money.
I don’t even see a place on the couple of portals we have to decline. Maybe I’m not looking hard enough and they hide them!
The college counselor at my kid’s school has longstanding relationships with many colleges… She has made it clear to the seniors that they should decline ASAP, with a " polite and kind" email or note, to the schools that are a definite “no”… Especially when the student has connected with or interviewed with an AO.
@VickiSoCal My D had at least one college that had no obvious way to decline and we had no personal contact (it was a huge state U). I forget whether we used postal mail or email to notify them. Even so D continued to get mailings about housing, orientation, etc., from them for months.
Each college had a different way to decline. I feel it’s courteous to decline but wise to not do it until sure about things. We declined some while saving 1 or 2 as backup till the deposit was paid (and check cleared!).
Declining, in our case, freed up scholarship money for some other student.
A simple email works, @alooknac , for every school (fyi).
I think if a college provides a means to decline, such as a postcard or link in a portal, it’s only reasonable to use that method.