If I Commit do I Have to Attend?

Applying to College
1

Or can I say I won’t be attending later on after committing and accept admission from a waitlist?

2

If you pay a deposit to “commit” you may lose the deposit. No school will or can force you to attend.

3

Schools expect some number of kids who committed and paid a deposit to back out for some reason, usually accepting a WL offer elsewhere. Most keep the deposit.

You will need to commit somewhere, though, by May 1.

4

As noted above, this happens all the time and is perfectly fine.

Here is the process:

  1. Commit and pay a deposit to a school where you have been accepted. As noted above, you need to do this by the May 1 deadline.
  2. IF you get accepted at a preferred school off of the waitlist you should notify the first school that you will not be attending (best to do it in writing like an email) and then you are free to accept the waitlist offer and send in a deposit to the new college. You will lose the deposit at your first college.