<p>benny1, I think you are quoting me, above, and I agree with you. My suggestion for a written withdrawal was for those instances where another option is not available for whatever reason. So, it is polite to formally decline…in SOME format…instead of just not registering or sending the deposit or whatever the next step would be.</p>
<p>giddey_up: I don’t see anything wrong with an emailed response letter, depending on the school. Especially large schools will probably find emails easier and quicker to process than paper letters. But we let the schools themselves be our guide; if they notified us by email or online student account, we responded by email; if by US mail, then the response went US mail.</p>
<p>“Polite” is indeed the right word, along with “adult.” My D probably wouldn’t have sent withdrawals on her own initiative either, until I pointed out that someone had spent some time, attention, and care looking over her application, and that the adult thing to do was to take a minute and respond.</p>
<p>
I probably was, but my advice stands. Don’t bother the admissions department with personal letters and information they did not ask for even if there is no another option, unless you are asking for something like a a reconsideration the financial aid package. Even in that case, you should call.</p>
<p>LasMa is wrong. There is something wrong with an emailed response letter regardless of the size of the school. It just gives the admissions office more email or paper to deal with and it probably won’t go to the right office anyway.</p>
<p>If they care to know that you aren’t attending, they’ll ask very specifically and tell you exactly how and to whom to reply. </p>
<p>I say this a lot o this site, but trust me, I know what I’m talking about.</p>