<p>My S got accepted to great schools with merit money and Ivies with incredible financial aid!!!! How do you go about to say Thank you but No Thank you! We like to do it this coming week after we make sure Princeton has recieved his enrollment(Hopefully they let us know.)</p>
<p>Well, you could write nice thank you cards to the admissions committee if you wish but don't they usually have those reply cards where you indicate whether you're attending or not? Just mark "no" and send them in to the other colleges. Honestly, even Ivies are expecting anywhere from 10-40% of their admits to pass up their offer of admission.</p>
<p>Either use the reply card that came with his acceptance or a short note to the admission's office.</p>
<p>If your S is sure that he has made up his mind, he just sends back the reply cards. If there's any doubt, I strongly suggest that he wait until the due date so as to allow himself to completely think things through.</p>
<p>The rejected colleges probably will send him a questionnaire asking why he turned them down. Many colleges routinely do this with all students who turn them down. That's where your S can put any additional comments. No need to send a special note or anything with the reply card. Thousands of students turn down top schools. The colleges, even Harvard with the country's top yield, know that some students will reject them, so the colleges overadmit and turn to their waitlists accordingly.</p>
<p>Indeed, I saw something yesterday by an admissions officer at a top college saying that they like to go to the wait list because that way, they can balance the class.</p>
<p>Simply send the reply card and do it quickly. There are people on the wait list tearing their hair out.</p>
<p>As someone on the other side of the process, I appreciate your thoughtfulness in waiting to let us down nicely.</p>
<p>How about a quick email to the Dean of Admission? Feel free to share a positive thought about the school, and maybe a reason why that school was not chosen.</p>
<p>If you really like the school, you might want to consider giving it a bit of good p.r. --- I plan to write up some thoughts about each college my daughter seriously considered & give them to a few guidance offices at local high schools. She found some incredible schools in her search, and we really feel the need to let others know about them. I will also let the adcoms at each school know what I shared --- they may be able to use that as a good reason to check into the local high schools. It's a win-win for all.</p>