<p>Someone asked this on the multiple waitlist thread, and I want to start a separate thread because I think it is the ultimate waitlist dilemma.
What if your top school waitlists you (or your child) and then offers you a slot after contracts lock in?
Do schools go after you for the full year's tuition?
Presumably they wouldn't spend the time, never mind the attorney's fees, if they filled the slot.
Or would they?
I am hearing stories about waitlist movement into the summer and I wanted to get a sense of this.
Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>For my school only the registration amount is due with contract, and it can be made void if I call and say so. lol, so I only lose registration. Then I can go to my off-waitlist school.
This is Kent, but I opted to be removed off the M/X waitlist on April 10, so the day before or maybe earlier they will call me, maybe. I just think for me, waiting for a lost cause and being given fake hope is stupid, after the contract D/L.</p>
<p>Read your contract.</p>
<p>And this talk of summertime wait list movement is fool's gold. The Lawrenceville wait list letter says "Traditionally" there's movement on the wait list. Traditionally? Really? It's a tradition? Give me a break. Unless, of course, the tradition is for people to give up and bail out...thus creating the traditional movement.</p>
<p>But, yes, it happens. People get picked up by tornadoes and dropped a half mile away and live to tell about it, too. It's just not something you should plan on. If it should happen, know what your contract says. Generally, at first you lose the deposit. Then, later on, you're fully committed for the tuition. Even if they fill that slot, they will convincingly point out that your change of heart meant that they couldn't fill that slot with someone they had convinced to remain on their wait list for a shorter time.</p>
<p>There's some virtue in cutting off the wait list options after a certain point and focusing on the school your child is likely to matriculate at. This point would preferably be before the full tuition becomes a non-refundable, fully-vested obligation. But that's not the reason to shed those wait list connections. The better reason is that the outcomes from this spring should be an excellent barometer of which school your child would thrive at. I may not think much of their ethics when it comes to the wait list, but I do think they know their stuff when it comes to acceptances and rejections. Embrace your reality!</p>
<p>I read my contract the day it arrived. It's for a day school. I know a number of students in my area who've moved off wait lists -- again, at day schools - and gone to a preferred school. I know most of that movement occurs before you become vested. I have also heard stories about students switching after the deadline. I'm still curious to hear how schools might handle withdrawal provided they fill the slot. Thanks for your thoughts.</p>
<p>In every case, you'd be wise to clarify the consequences and the school's intentions if they have a legal right to sue you. If the offer comes after you're legally committed to the full tuition, you shouldn't do anything based on what we tell you the common practice is. You're going to have to place a call and tell them the situation and ask them what the consequences are. It's a bridge you need to burn when you get to it...so to speak.</p>
<p>My experience was with day schools only, but I believe that BS policies are generally similar (I have a close connection w. an admissions officer at a boarding school and another at a day school).</p>
<p>My child was accepted at School A and waitlisted at B. He got off the waitlist at B just before the tuition was due at A (mid June). We forfeited the deposit made in April, and had to undergo the embarrassment of the call to School A's admissions. But there was never any question of our paying the tuition, despite what it said in the contract. I believe that this was because they were a relatively competitive school that could still fill the slot. I think if they couldn't fill the slot they might make strenuous efforts to get you to pay (multiple bills), but from conversations with my two friends, they would stop short of legal action.</p>
<p>If your acceptance at School B comes AFTER the date that the first tuition payment is due, or, god forbid, after you have paid it, then I think the situation is more individualized but as I recall I was told that they mostly will not hold you to it and might in some situations refund it. But others may have more experience with that.</p>
<p>Thanks, interestedmom5.
Thanks for your suggestions, D'yer Maker. I'm trolling for anecdotes, not legal counsel.</p>
<p>Isn't movement on the wait list almost always after April 10 since that's when contracts are due? So, if you were accepted by one school but wait listed by a preferred school, you should probably pay the deposit at the school that accepted you. Then, hope that you get off the wait list at the other school, and if you do, all you'll lose is the deposit at the accepted school, right? (if the contract says that if you pay the deposit you don't have to pay the tuition if you switch schools)</p>
<p>I knew if I looked hard enough, I would find the information for you LovelyVelocity! Granted, it is from a few years ago, but here is a post from a mom (Jamismom) that had deposits at two schools, got a call that her son was off the waitlist at a 3rd school, and both of the first two schools offered to rip up her checks. :D </p>
<p>Yes Jonathan. Though in my area, contracts for day schools are due April 4.
Requests to withdraw are due June 1. That's the big wait list window. You'd lose the deposit.
The contract I have commits signatories to a full year's tuition after June 1. There is however withdrawal insurance. I'm studying what it covers.</p>
<p>Interesting post BostonBorn! Thanks for sharing. I also read in that same thread about Redfern, who's son was planning on attending St. Andrews (DE) and ended up getting off the SPS waitlist. Redfern lost the deposit check, but her son got into the school of his choice.</p>
<p>Big thanks, BostonBorn and jennycraig!
Apparently some schools inform wait listers when they're fully enrolled. That's a thoughtful gesture.</p>
<p>has nayone heard from amy wailists....choate...exeter..etc...</p>
<p>what is a contract?</p>
<p>i just posted in another topic area that andover is not pulling 9th grade girls from its waitlist - and doesn't expect to.</p>
<p>For all the talk of schools NOT going after families who've signed contracts, a cautionary tale from New York, "Big City - A School It Costs $20,000 Not to Go To":
[quote]
<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/23/nyregion/23bigcity.html?_r=1&ref=education&oref=slogin%5B/url%5D%5B/quote%5D">http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/23/nyregion/23bigcity.html?_r=1&ref=education&oref=slogin
[/quote]
</a></p>