<p>Okay, so let me be clear this is about a friend of mine - I have full intention of going to Columbia. </p>
<p>He applied ED to Brown and was deferred. He since applied ED 2 to Vanderbilt and was accepted. He forgot to withdraw his Brown app and has since received a phone call from admissions saying he's been accepted to Brown (recruited athlete). </p>
<p>So, clearly the obvious solution is to decline Brown's offer of admission and go to Vandy like he agreed to when he applied ED 2. BUT, I mean... come on, it's Brown, and his top school. Heart-wrenching situation for real...</p>
<p>Would it really be all that bad for him to not go to Vandy and go to Brown instead? And would he actually be able to do this without getting rescinded from Brown?</p>
<p>a) he can’t have already been accepted to brown, as brown wont actually accept him until the end of march, so he is in a bit of a pickle there, i would not bet on that being a reality.</p>
<p>b) if he really wants to attend brown: i think honesty is his best play at the moment, and the people to be honest with would be brown first and then vandy second. tell brown that you applied ed 2 and never officially withdrew, apologize, say you are very honored and “if i had known this would still be a possibility, i probably would have not applied ed 2 somewhere.” ask for suggestions on how to handle the situation. make it clear that he understands “the gravity and weight of the ed agreement.” i think telling brown first (who may rescind his acceptance letter at that point) will make it easier for him to just commit to vandy and pretend like nothing happened.</p>
<p>c) the easiest play is just to withdraw his brown app and just attend vandy, it is the most ethical, easiest and least likely to create problems.</p>
<p>adgeek, thanks i’ll relay that info to him. but @ your a): he’s a recruited athlete, so he found out earlier than the regular pool of applicants</p>
<p>I would recommend to your friend to talk to the admissions office. Honestly, one checkbox on an application you filled out when you’re 17 should not dictate 4 years of your undergraduate life. There’s a difference between playing the ED system and applying to multiple schools to maximize your chances of gaining admissions, and an honest mistake that you sincerely regret. </p>
<p>People change their mind, especially during their senior year of high school. I know admissionsgeek’s advice might be different given his experiences, but I would recommend talking to vanderbilt and brown and letting them know of his decisions. People renege on job offers all the time. Don’t let the ED system dictate your undergraduate experience. Take control, be open and honest, and firmly let Vanderbilt know that it was a mistake to apply ED, that if he were to attend, his heart wouldn’t be in the school and that’d he’d live with regret day to day. If the admissions committee has any sympathy, they should understand.</p>
<p>That’s true, but I think both admissions committees should be understanding and respectful of his decision. At this point, the worst that can happen is to attend Vanderbilt so first notify Brown and make sure that the admissions committee is okay with the decision to withdraw from ED. Then contact Vanderbilt.</p>
<p>Lol, considering this thread along with the other one about the dude and Oxford…</p>
<p>Disclaimer: everything below is probably stuff you already know, don’t mean to be repetitive lol
Not to be trite, but I think that ethically, of course Vandy would be the way to go.</p>
<p>2) However, seeing as how Brown is an ivy, I think that Brown will definitely offer more financial aid than Vandy. He could possiblity (legitimately, of course) cite financial difficulties as a reason to back out of Vandy ED…</p>
<p>brown is going to have a higher chance of giving financial support than vanderbilt
people have withdrawn ED acceptances due to financial situations before. and as collegeftw has stated, even though this is not the ethical way, if your friend really wants to go to brown, the reason for financial problem will suffice as a reason</p>