Hi,
So I got off the waitlist at one school to whom I sent a LOCI that stated I would go if I got in. However, I am also on the waitlist at another school, to whom I said the same thing… (Yes, call me unethical)
So… Is it unethical or illegal to wait for the other school and if they take me, end up not going to the first school even though I said I would? Also, can I deposit at the first school and then still end up going to the other?
Thanks…
ok. How long do you have to decide on the school that just accepted you? You can hold out till then. Then you need to deposit, and tell your current school you are not coming.
If you get off WL #2, you go through the same process all over again.
“(Yes, call me unethical)”
Unethical.
There is nothing unethical about accepting multiple waitlists.
But if you said you definitely would accept a spot, then yes you should accept
^ he told two schools that he would attend if taken off the wait list.
Yes, unethical.
You’re asking how to play an unethical game. You told the school that accepted you you would attend. So put down your deposit. And unlearn your cynicism. Ethics really do matter.
Interestingly, OP is getting a different response to the same question posted in the Harvard forum:
I am following this thread because I’ve wondered the same thing about what happens in this situation. My main concern would be that the OP is not doing anything that will make life difficult for kids from the same HS in future years.
While it may be unethical for a kid to tell more than one school s/he will attend if offered a spot off the waitlist, I can hardly blame these kids. The game colleges play with waitlists to protect their yields is unethical, too. They offer waitlist spots to hundreds, even thousands, of kids and then take only a handful. The colleges hold all the cards in my opinion, so it’s no surprise that a kid will try to preserve all his/her options for as long as possible. And, if you’re talking about an elite college’s waitlist, there will be someone else who will gladly accept the runner-up waitlist spot.
I agree with 1518mom on this. College admission practices these days propel this type of behavior. Try to tell a Harvard interviewer that you are considering multiple schools and see if you still get in. The schools will bypass better candidates and take the ones who they think are more likely to come to protect their yields. In turn, the students start to tell each school applied that it’s their top choice.
I’m of the camp that says it’s OK. Student was admitted and accepted school A’s offer. Later, student turns down school A to accept the a WL offer from school B. I think it’s fine to remain on other WL from school C. If school C later makes an attractive offer, I feel it’s OK to withdraw from B to attend C.
While it’s late in the season for school B to try to slip in another wait list offer, they know the game. The thread that GnocchiB cited was a student who has been offered a WL offer but wants to remain on the Harvard WL. I don’t feel it’s unethical to accept a later Harvard offer should one come in – and immediately inform the current school of the hows and whys of the declination.
I don’t think anyone is against what you stated @T26E4 . The issue is with using the silver bullet phrase “if you accept me I will attend” on multiple schools.
Surely schools hear the silver bullet phrase with the unspoken “unless I get a better offer.” I would not do it, but I’m not going to judge.
Hi, yes. Though I did use the phrase at two schools, my original plan was that if I were to get off the waitlist at one, I would take myself off of the other one. And that’s what I did last night; I took myself off of the Harvard waitlist that I hadn’t heard back from. Thanks everyone nonetheless!