<p>My friend is applying as a Transfer to 13 elite colleges in New England.</p>
<p>Mapping out the Decision Notification and Acceptance Deadlines for TRANSFER applicants, we notice that the times do not even come close to overlapping in several cases.</p>
<p>For example (these dates apply to TRANSFERS only):
College / Decision Notification / Accept Deadline
Bates / Mar 31 / May 1
Colby ............................/ May 15 / May 31
Williams .................................................. ......./ Late May / ?
Amherst .................................................. ......... / Jun 1 / Early June</p>
<p>Others (Bowdoin, Brown, Cornell, Dartmouth, Middlebury, Swarthmore, Vassar, Wesleyan, and Yale) map out in the middle or later ranges of the above periods.</p>
<p>You can see that the Bates Acceptance Deadline (your deposit is due) is May 1, which is a whole month BEFORE Amherst and Williams even send a DECISION. And the entire Colby decision period lies after Bates's deadline and before Amherst's and Williams's decision notification dates.</p>
<p>Is the timing so uncoordinated for freshman regular decision applicants?</p>
<p>Does anyone have any experience or informed knowledge about whether one can send his acceptance letters from early schools to the "late decision notification" schools in order to prompt a more in-line decision.... or.... will the early Acceptance Deadline schools allow an extension as applicants await decisions from other schools?</p>
<p>No, in freshman admissions May 1st in the final date for most schools for deposits, and most notify either April 1st or before if rolling.
As for sending in acceptance letters, I don't think it would work at all. They don't want to be unfair, and they don't want a million of those letters, so I doubt it would help at all.
As for the early schools, I doubt they'll budge. Your best bet is to just send in the deposit if you think you might want to go, and know that you may have wasted $200. Then again, if you get into an earlier notification place, dont send in a deposit and hope they'll take you, and then you get rejected everywhere else, and the early place won't take you.............well, its your $200, you decide</p>
<p>For the highly selective schools, you will very likely not get an earlier answer because you have been accepted to school A and need to give them your response.</p>
<p>For some schools, you may be able to get an extension on when you can respond with your to their acceptance. You will have to call them one by one when you get their acceptance letter.</p>
<p>Sometimes you will get decisions earlier than what the published timelines say, which will help you a bit.</p>
<p>It is a bit of a mess (yes, my S has first-hand experience with this) - much more so than for freshman admissions, so my sympathies.</p>
<p>But as the answers come in, it may begin to sort itself out. So wait and see what happens and what dilemmas you actually face. If you're still stuck, you can come here for specific advice re specific schools.</p>
<p>Remember, once you've been accepted they won't "take it back" if you call to ask for an extension.</p>
<p>For the spring admissons game I had an overlapping deadline with two schools...the day I should've gotten my decision letter for one school, I also had to have my deposit postmarked for another. As usual, the letter didn't come that day and I went on a wild goose chase trying to contact all sorts of admissions folks at both places. The school that I had already been accepted to refused to extend the deadline (thanks...) due to "several people waiting eagerly to take my spot," as they put it, so I just sent the deposit in anyway. When I heard the news from the other school and decided on that one, I wrote a nice e-mail to the first school saying I wasn't coming and to let someone else take my spot. They returned my check even though it was non-refundable, I guess because I explained the overlap of deadlines was beyond my control.</p>
<p>It's really not nice and no fun to deal with! Luckily my parents were nice about funding the deposit (they said "This $250 is just a drop in the bucket compared to your new tuition" haha) but I don't know what I'd have done if I had multiple schools with overlapping deadlines and a tight financial situation.
Mal :)</p>
<p>Anyone else have an idea of a respectful and effective way to work through the issue of being admitted to a school that has a deadline for notification that falls before other schools even plan to give their decision?</p>
<p>(For example, a transfer applicant accepted to Bates in late March has a May 1 deadline to respond to Bates about attending. However, Williams and Amherst do not plan to send their decisions until end of May or June 1. This means that the candidate doesn't have either the admissions decisions or the financial aid packages upon which the college choice needs to be made.)</p>
<p>Are there any seasoned professionals in here who know what the best options are - how to approach each of the schools?</p>
<p>In my case, a deposit with the intent to enroll does not constitute a binding contract. How much is Bates' deposit? Why not reserve that one school, just in case, and then see how the rest goes since it is likely that she'll receive her other decisions at the same time.</p>
<p>I'm wondering if anyone knows of a tactful strategy of talking with either the early or late decision schools to try to work through the conflicting schedules.</p>
<p>Well, when my S had a similar scheduling issue, we called two schools and said that he wanted to visit the school before deciding, and would not be able to do that until after final exams. One said yes and gave an extension. One said no. That would be one "tactful" approach; I'm sure there are others.</p>
<p>I think I'd wait until as close to May 1 as possible. (Who knows - she may then have an acceptance she likes better than Bates that doesn't call for a response until end of May). At that point, if the friend has multiple acceptances, identify the one she wants the most. Check its deposit policies carefully to see if the deposit is considered binding. If not, go for it. If you're unsure, post on the Parent Forum - lots of good advice there and someone likely will be knowledgeable about whether it's an ethical issue.</p>
<p>Personally, I feel that - with these convoluted deadlines and response dates - it cannot be held against a person ethically who is in such a bind. Might lose a deposit, but I can't fault someone for protecting one option so that it does not go up in smoke while waiting for all information to come in.</p>
<p>Thanks for the tips. Good thoughts about the other possible schools in the interim. It's difficult to determine preference thus far, even though we've visited nearly all the schools. (Bates was on break when we were in town - very dead). Financial Aid will be a factor as well.</p>
<p>The Bates letter says that the deposit reserves a place for you in the class. The candidate reply form just mentions the deposit. Neither characterizes the deposit as non-refundable (which isn't the major issue), nor does it say binding or require a signature.</p>