<p>Now that my son was accepted into Colgate, I am curious on your opinions for what the "proper" etiquete is for rescinding outstanding applications. Does he email the admissions officer and simply say he is rescinding his application or should he indicate that he was accepted via early decision elsewhere? Should he mention the specific university he will be attending in the fall?</p>
<p>Best of luck to everyone!!!!</p>
<p>Looking forward to your replies!!!!</p>
<p>Your son is smart to concern himself with closing those doors gently. 
Some colleges, if they’ve already extended offers of admission and/or merit aid, will keep his information on file and make the offer stand for a year.</p>
<p>A polite note saying that he’s withdrawing his application is fine. If he wishes to tell them why and where he’s going, one line is enough to cover that information. He doesn’t need to go into why he chose Colgate. Would suggest he close on a gracious note; e.g., “thanks for making me feel so welcome,” or “your beautiful campus, friendly personnel, and great programs were very attractive.”</p>
<p>Congrats to your son on getting admitted to his first choice!</p>
<p>Congrats! My twins were each admitted ED and they sent emails that said, in essence, please withdraw my app; I have been accepted to XX early decision; have enjoyed learning about your college. They asked for acknowledgment and have saved the emails/letters they’ve received. It’s up to you but I see no reason not to mention the u he has chosen; they like to know their competitive sets. I think doing so promptly is the right thing to do.</p>
<p>While e-mail will work, I personally recommend snail mail which is probably easier for the office since they don’t have to print off the e-mail to add it to the file. A simple, 'tx for your consideration…" and withdraw the application. Whether you want to add the ED school is up to you, but there is no need.</p>
<p>If the college wants to know to whom the are losing students they pay for some market research. :D</p>
<p>Who “asked for acknowledgment and have saved the emails/letters they’ve received”.
We will inform them that Colgate is where they are going. I prefer the personal communication rather than the colder one suggested by bluebayou.</p>
<p>A couple years ago my son withdrew an application after an ED acceptance. We did not think it necessary or appropriate to mention the ED school. He sent a very polite email asking them to withdraw the application because he has been accepted ED elsewhere.</p>
<p>Someone in admissions responded nicely, thanking him for the notice and wishing him well at his chosen school.</p>
<p>But really, I doubt it matters how you do it. They’ll just deal with it as a clerical matter.</p>
<p>My D applied primarily to LAC’s and smaller private colleges and in the process developed good relationships with the Admissions Counselor at each. After she was accepted to her dream school via ED, she was advised by her high school GC to send certified letters to the Dean of Admissions of each school notifying them that she was withdrawing her application. That seemed too formal for her so she called or e-mailed the AdComs personally to let them know of her decision. She only sent one formal letter and that was to the college that did not return her calls or e-mails. She felt more comfortable doing that.</p>
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<p>Exactly. The simple fact is that it is highly unlikely that the regional adcom is gonna take care of this transaction (pull the file, mark closed, send to storage). It will most likely be completed by a clerical type who then may send out an official response.</p>
<p>But I gotta ask why does ‘short and sweet’ have to be impersonal? Heck, colleges are very happy to receive any type of official withdrawal at this point because it saves them a lot of processing time.</p>
<p>LOL, blue i agree with you. it really is just not that serious…</p>
<p>I think it seems weird to say “withdraw me” without offering some kind of reason, and if your reason is ED acceptance elsewhere, it seems weird to me to be coy about the name like it’s a big secret. I do agree it’s just clerical but it never hurts to be gracious.</p>
<p>I am kind of confused here. When we did early decision, at the time of application, we signed that there were no other applications. If we had any outstanding, they were supposed to be withdrawn at that time. What am I missing?</p>
<p>My son did not try to be coy or hide the information. Some colleges will ask further. Some colleges sent him surveys to explain where else he applied and why or why not he did not choose XX college. Remember, the admissions department works at many levels: as a marketing arm, as PR, as a development office, and as a gatekeeper. I don’t mean to sound sarcastic when I say this: you’ll help them a lot if you explain who their competition is.</p>
<p>reelman- With ED you sign that you will withdraw other apps if you are accepted to the ED school. You don’t withdraw them before that, and you are able to apply to any schools you choose until you are notified of acceptance by the ED school.</p>
<p>Excuse my ignorance, but why even tell the other colleges to withdraw you, other than as a courtesy? Frankly I think the application fees most of these schools charge is obscene. So if the go through the trouble of admitting or denying you, it seems you’ve paid for it. </p>
<p>I’m not trying to be rude, I’m just seriously curious what the purpose of withdrawing is.</p>
<p>So that the spot can be given to someone who might really want to go to that school instead of being wasted on someone definitely not going there.</p>
<p>When I withdrew applications I didn’t give a reason why (I had just chosen to go somewhere else I had been accepted to very early in the season, wasn’t an ED school) and then I was hit with a barrage of post cards, emails, letters, and phone calls wanting to know why I withdrew, whether I would rather defer admission, and if not, why? Would I fill out a survey? No? How about now? No? Why not? How about NOW? </p>
<p>If I had to withdraw apps for ED I would mention that’s why to avoid that.</p>
<p>When you are accepted ED, you must withdraw all the other applications. And, once you have accepted an acceptance, it’s just the ethical thing to do so that 1)the ad coms don’t waste time and money and 2) you aren’t offered a spot that somebody else should have.</p>
<p>Smooth23 - another reason to be polite and withdraw your application is because you never know what might happen. Your dream school might become a nightmare and, having been polite and done the right thing, you have left the door open to contact those other schools and reapply. We had someone in my community who did just that - in the middle of his freshman year he wrote to his number 2 choice and said that he made a mistake choosing school 1 and would like to be readmitted as a sophomore to school 2.</p>
<p>Interesting responses. Based on the feedback received, we decided the right thing to do is not only rescind the outstanding applications (so others can receive acceptances) but we will inform them specifically of his e.d. acceptance at Colgate U. He will email the admissions officers he met since in two cases, representatives from the school met with him personally in our home town. It seems like the "right’ and mature thing to do - similar to writing personal thank you letters to the guidance couselors/teachers/others that helped him with the entire application process.</p>
<p>Smooth23-you’re a kid; you’ll learn that it’s best to do things graciously. You withdraw because a) it’s part of your ED agreement and b) it is boorish to let the other school do the work of reviewing your app when you know it won’t be coming. It’s the same reason you cancel a dinner reservation if your plans change. </p>
<p>I’ve stayed up late to work on things for work and then my clients indicated they weren’t going to need those things. How do you think that felt? Frustrating, right? Why wouldn’t I enable them to streamline their jobs and open a spot to make another kid happy?</p>