<p>I agree it’s kind of a bizarre thing they do. My guess is it’s an outgrowth of the relationship the “contract colleges” there have with community colleges in NY state. If a kid bolts out of a community college early, nobody really cares. And of course no other institution is harmed if the student actually completes the two years at community college and then moves onwards. I only read about it in the last several years, I don’t think they’ve been doing this forever.</p>
<p>On the other hand, this kind of just formalizes what other colleges do more informally. After D notified them that she had chosen Oberlin, another college wrote her a note to the effect of," best of luck, however, just in case, we will keep your application material on file for years, please call us if you want to make a change down the road".</p>