<p>I have been surprised at how many of S13's friends who applied to 10+ schools have not relinquished spots or withdrawn applications to schools they know they can rule or have ruled out (due to early, rolling, or likely letter acceptances and/or more financial aid at other institutions). </p>
<p>S was accepted at his SCEA school, and did not complete any additional applications besides the four others he had completed before hearing the EA decision. He received merit aid from two local schools, one public and one private, and turned acceptances and aid down quickly because he was confident he would choose the SCEA despite merit aid from those institutions. Still waiting for decisions from the other two and financial aid from all three.</p>
<p>Our school is a feeder, and it seems clear that there are limited spots available at some of the selective colleges (though they and their websites say otherwise). Of course, no one is expecting students to withdraw if they are still actively considering schools or weighing FA packages, but it is obvious that some of these students could withdraw from a few schools--places they are sure to turn down. In fact, they have said as much to classmates who are applying to the same schools. Sometimes, it seems that some of the students are just trying to accumulate as many acceptances as possible.</p>
<p>If a small handful of students have cornered the market, is it reasonable to expect students to withdraw apps or relinquish spots? Or is it "to the victor go the spoils?" </p>
<p>(To MY--not S's--known friends on this list, I know your children are still actively considering all their options, and this is not in any way meant as a comment on your applications. :) )</p>
<p>It does not seem wise to turn down other offers until the SCEA school provides a financial aid offer that makes it affordable to attend.</p>
<p>But yes, once a school gives an early admission offer with affordable net price (i.e. not a likely letter, nor still waiting for the financial aid offer), there is no reason to apply or continue to apply to any school that the student would not choose under any circumstances over the early admission school.</p>
<p>I only applied to 7 schools, but one of the schools I only applied to because I had a moment of panic and was convinced I wouldn’t get in anywhere. So, it sort of was just applying to get a letter, in a way. I didn’t even think to withdraw, especially since it is such a fine institution. I feel like I screwed someone out of a spot, now.</p>
<p>Plus, if schools have spaces once the reply deadline has passed, they go to their waitlist. You didn’t screw anybody out of a spot, it simply takes longer to get things sorted out.</p>
<p>My Son was accepted early decision to the University he will be attending in the fall. I tried to withdraw applications, but the University of California and the Cal States do not have an easy way to do it. If he is accepted, he’ll hit the decline button and move on. He did withdraw his application to another private school. He had an admission counselor to contact.</p>
<p>Yes, you do. People may have committed to other schools and not be able to accept a waitlist offer. I think it is very bad manners. I also think when a kid gets in EA at a top school (Harvard, UChicago, Georgetown, etc.) he should count his good fortune, take it and withdraw other apps.</p>
<p>That completely defeats the point of EA rather than ED. Lots of folks need the ability to compare the top school’s FA offer (even if it is at 100% of "need’) to the full rides that may be forthcoming from Flagship U or somewhat less tony privates.</p>
<p>Wow, I completely disagree with this. Lots of kids are not sure of their “first choice” until May 1. And they are entitled to that uncertainty. I have a kid in EA at U of Chicago, but it is by no means certain that she will attend there. She has at least two other schools that will be top contenders if she manages to get an RD admission, another that is pretty close behind those with some strong selling points, and a couple of financial safeties that we would like to keep in the running until the last minute (cuz if there is one thing I learned when I ended getting divorced during my older kid’s senior year of high school, along with the recession, it is that s*** can happen, and to keep financial options open as long as possible). She may end up at Chicago, but there is no way or reason why she should withdraw her other applications.</p>
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<p>I don’t understand this. You can commit to another school AND accept a waitlist offer. Of course, you lose your deposit if you end up at the waitlist school. But you CAN do it.</p>
<p>SomeOldGuy, I am assuming your comment refers to Pizzagirl and not to OP (me! since I’m the person who posted earlier that I chose one humanities graduate program over a closer one that had beautiful Gothic architecture because the first gave full tuition & a stipend :)). </p>
<p>But I do agree with Pizzagirl, mostly. First, we really like pizza at our house, and second, I think that it is plenty safe to compare three or four financial aid offers and/or merit aid offers, especially when they are known, but not okay to keep 10 other schools on the hook when the only explanation seems to be to gather as many acceptance letters as possible. </p>
<p>UCB, I am sure you will find something else to argue with, but we were 100% sure that DS wanted to go OOS so it seemed a “wise” choice to release that in-state merit aid to others.</p>
<p>I agree with you, Intparent, especially if your child prefers (say) Princeton to the University of Chicago. My question is whether it is okay to wait to hear from Amherst or UCLA (for example) when you know your child prefers U Chicago and you’d be able to send him there.</p>
<p>To be clear, I think EA candidates can and should prune their lists if they’re admitted at the EA school. Most kids can cut at least <em>some</em> schools from consideration once they’ve got one in the bag, and doing so is not only courteous to fellow applicants but takes a file out of the hands of some poor, overworked adcom before he or she flips out and goes all @AdmissionsProblems on us.</p>
<p>I don’t know how anyone can presume to know what another family’s decision making process is, what issues another family may be considering, or what priorities another family may have.</p>
<p>What in the world makes anyone think they “know” what another family should be able to “rule out” in making college decisions?</p>
<p>To their defense, I have known 2 people who have applied to reaches only and did not get into to any colleges. You just never know what they are thinking.</p>
<p>eastcoascrazy, I think this is a little like the “How did HE get in” thread going elsewhere right now (except please don’t bring up MIT :)). You don’t know what is going on with that other family’s finances, pressures from legacy grandparents, family situations that might make the kid weigh staying close to home, shifting thoughts on possible majors, etc. Even if your kid thinks another kid is keeping apps in play that aren’t options that are seriously being considered, there can be whole layers in the decision making process that they can’t see. Could a kid maybe drop a school or two if they get in EA? My D dropped ONE (Cornell) from her list due to her U of Chicago EA admission because she saw them as somewhat similar, and knew she preferred Chicago.</p>
<p>Another point is that I am reluctant to let my kids make a decision without some revisiting for accepted student days. Picking based on ONE day on campus (probably 18 months prior to the decision date) has some risks. Yet another reason to keep applications in the pool, and weight the acceptances once they are in hand.</p>
<p>And qialah has it right. In the end the student with a lot of great acceptances attends ONE school. If the other schools underestimated their yield, they go to their waitlist. It takes longer, but in the end that student who gets in to multiple good schools does not “take” anyone else’s actual attendance spot at those schools.</p>
<p>Unless a student has committed early decision to a school, any other student whether they have applied EA/RD has until may 1 to decide whether or not they want to accept a decision. </p>
<p>To rush and do otherwise is really IMHO bad planning. Of course there are kids who definitively know what they want. There are also kids who grow and change over the course of the application cycle. Perhaps the school that they coule not live without in November becomes the “how could I apply there” in April (and lets not forget the gentle pressure applied by some parents to apply to a school). In addition, a lot of life can happen within 9 months; while it may have been feasible for a kid to go from one coast to the other in december, there could be a situation, where plans change and this may no longer be the best option for the family, child.</p>
<p>No one is holding up a slot from anyone else. Schools know that every one that they offer an admit to is not going to take them up on their offer and plan accordingly.</p>
<p>If you have one or two that you really love and can afford in the bag, it might be sound practice to withdraw from others that are clearly lower on your wish list in the event that you may open up a spot for some other kid out there. Those that have to compare financial offers (and there are a lot of us) may have to wait to get all the FA offers in.</p>
<p>Until the final finances are it, it’s not advisable to withdraw applications. Colleges know this. For some, that information is done as soon as they are accepted, for most, it’s not something that can be decided upon until March/April when the packages come out.</p>
<p>EastGrad, your perspective may be different from mine, as you say your S attends a ‘feeder school’. Very few kids at our school apply to selective colleges, and there is no competition within the school for spots. My D did not apply ED because she wants to keep her options open and have the ability to change her mind. Lately she has been getting offers of scholarships and research grants from some schools that were lower on her list, which may cause her to look at them more closely. She’s disappointed that her EA school, which offers lots of merit, did not offer her any.</p>
<p>Sometimes it’s important to see how 2nd semester Senior Year unfolds, to determine whether “first choice” school is still “best fit” on May 1. At DS’ HS, a number of seniors are suffering from “senioritis”, and DS’ HS college counselor noted he’s “workuing closely with several seniors who’ve D’s and F’s suddenly in their 2nd semester progress reports”, meaning that their GPA, and possibly graduation, are in jeopardy.</p>
<p>Schools’ admittance number parameters include a large contingency for students who decline admittance by May 1, “summer melt”, and last-minute decision-changes. That’s one reason the May List of colleges with admission spots available is published, and the Tier 1.5 and lower schools work their waitlist after May 1. I know plenty of kids accepted after May 1, when the waitlisted folks get their delayed acceptance offers - and have heard stories of experiences similar to a flea market bazaar of fast-paced back-and-forth financial-aid negotiations.</p>
<p>1) Most schools without ED programs do not have an easy mechanism for “withdrawing” applications. They don’t expect it, they don’t require it, and in many cases, they simply ignore it if the application is complete. Why should a school, with a process and a bureaucracy, be expected to interrupt their procedures to remove applications from consideration? </p>
<p>Decisions aren’t all made at once; a decision may have already been made on the application that is now being withdrawn. Of what benefit is it to withdraw at that point?</p>
<p>2) You claim that the kids are simply seeking to accumulate “acceptances.” How do you know that they’re all acceptances? Perhaps the kid just wants to see if he or she was correct in their assessment, and really would get in? Why is that so hard to understand? And perhaps not getting an acceptance to schools they thought they’d get into would be a good thing.</p>
<p>3) High schoolers, particularly seniors, change their minds daily, if not more often. (We see that here on these boards where suddenly a kid no longer wants to go to their ED school.) Why would you seek to require them to make up their minds before they have to? (Never mind all the “I can’t decide - can I double-deposit” threads that crop up every year.)</p>
<p>As noted, schools generally know their yield; I see no reason to place another burden (of withdrawal) on the students.</p>