<p>I've gotten a few PM's about this, so I'll give my 2cents to all-</p>
<p>There seems to be a group of applicants who applied ED to a Dual Degree<a href="i.e.%20M&T,%20Huntsman...">/b</a> but chose **not to be considered ED for their Single Degree option (be it wharton, cas, seas, whatever.)
The applicants (including yours truly) were accepted to their Single Degree option (after being rejected for the dual degree.) This resulted in an absurd situation: people who technically did not apply were admitted. Many, I should assume, are perfectly content with this, and are relieved at thought of getting the admissions game over with. However, some (me and at least three others on CC) aren't sure they want to commit to their single degree option (in my case, it's a big FinAid issue.)</p>
<p>I called the admissions office twice (once on results day; once on Monday.) They said this happened to others as well. My guess is that they accidentally just ignored the "no" response on single-degree ED. They're gonna have to make a big decision on what to do with us. The way I see it, they can either:[ul]
[li] Apologize for "leading us on" and say that our acceptance is revoked and we should log back in around March for our RD decision -- this is TERRIBLY unlikely (and quite cruel, if I may say), but still perfectly acceptable[/li][li] Offer us the choice of accepting our spot by Dec 20th (like any other EDer) or passing on our acceptance and waiting for a March notification (like an RDer) -- still somewhat unlikely, as they have already acknowledged that we are "good enough," but entirely possible[/li][li] Reaffirm the offer of admission we just received, while allowing us to apply elsewhere RD and make our decision like all other RD candidates.[/ul]</p>[/li]
<p>The third is obviously the best one, but I think it is also the most likely. However -- no matter what -- what they CANNOT do is to force us into accepting the ED spot, as we are not contractually bound to do so.</p>
<p>These are only my thoughts and opinions on the matter, nothing official from the admissions office yet. Please post if you get an email with clarification from them!</p>
<p>Other schools use the #3 option with ED admits to special programs…if you would like more info, pls PM me…don’t want to be flamed on here since they are not in the Ivy League but are good sources for info regarding this…</p>
<p>How large is this group of people? Is it fair that these people got into single degree options that could have belonged to many of the deferred/rejected applicants, who were contractually bound to commit to their respective single degree programs? It doesn’t seem all that fair that these slots were given to people who didn’t apply under the full commitment of early decision, but I guess this all depends on the number of people who were accepted to these single degree programs that shouldn’t have been. It would just suck to find out that one’s spot was taken by someone who hadn’t made the same commitment that he/she did. To allow these people to now sink into the Penn population, without having been entirely committed, is completely unfair in that their application probably wouldn’t have been given the same amount of weight had it been placed in the regular decision pile. Anyone else care to weigh in?</p>
<p>^ you raise some valid points. I don’t have an answer to that.</p>
<p>Well, the admissions office emailed me just now, but I believe the response is only applicable to my case, and not to the entire group of non-applicant admits.</p>
<p>It turns out I was DEFERRED from M&T and not rejected. Their email said that even though they saw that I opted not to go ED for Wharton they wanted to let me know that they though I was a good fit, before the M&T folks reach their final conclusion.</p>
<p>Bottom line: pretty much option #3 - I have until May 1st to respond to the offer of admission, and I will also be notified March 29th of my M&T status.</p>
<p>^ So the lesson here is that anyone who isn’t sure about his/her admissions status should contact the Admissions Office directly, and not make any assumptions.</p>
<p>Under the circumstances, it sounds like a pretty good result for you, Aaffda4 (and they’d really like to have you at Penn in any event ). Good luck with Phase 2 and, again, if financial aid is an issue, be sure to let Penn know (they may try to remedy that).</p>
<p>^ Thanks 45 Percenter, your posts throughout the forum have always been helpful.
Yep, I feel pretty great since the M&T dream isn’t dead just yet.
BTW, I still think they’re covering up a mistake (overlooking the “no ED”) and not that they just decided to let me know “for kicks”.</p>
<p>I will appeal the FA decision, and I really hope they’ll listen. Also, I’ll try applying to other places RD to see if they can offer a decent FA package.</p>
<p>^ Penn will often match or beat other schools’ FA offers (especially offers from other Ivy Plus schools, and other offers that don’t include merit aid).</p>
<p>And you know, even if you don’t ultimately get accepted to M&T, you could still pursue dual Wharton and SEAS degrees on your own–lots of Penn undergrads do that:</p>
). Good luck with Phase 2 and, again, if financial aid is an issue, be sure to let Penn know (they may try to remedy that).</p>