<p>So I have a very important question.</p>
<p>My brother got into my email and accepted my admission into Harvard. While I am 99% sure I am going there, I would really like to explore other financial aid options. </p>
<p>Can I still apply to other schools without voiding my Harvard application? I do not want to take a risk.</p>
<p>Thanks for the help :)</p>
<p>People that are put on waiting lists in the spring have to go ahead and say yes to one of the schools where they’ve been accepted while they wait to see what happens on the wait list. If they do get in off the wait list, they just cancel with the other school, losing nothing but the registration deposit they paid to hold the place. So, I wouldn’t worry about it. I’m sure Harvard wouldn’t withdraw the offer even if you told them the whole story, but I don’t think you’re honor bound to. However, from all I’ve heard, Harvard is the best there is for affordability, so unless their offer seems inadequate, why bother to apply elsewhere since you could be knocking someone else out of chance?</p>
<p>Oh thank goodness. Honestly, I don’t want to apply anywhere else, but my mother is making me. Oh well. If it gives her ease of mind, I will do it.
Thanks for the help :)</p>
<p>To be safe, I would tell you to E-MAIL ADMISSIONS.
If there’s even the smallest possibility that you won’t be attending, you need to let them know - both to benefit other people who will be applying RD and to prevent your offer from being rescinded (even if practically speaking this is a very small possibility, I’m pretty sure you’re not allowed to apply elsewhere once you’ve accepted an offer).
I’m pretty sure they won’t rescind the offer if you explain what happened - they’ll just mark you down as another undecided. What isn’t okay is letting them think you’ve committed when you haven’t.
Harvard finaid is among the best, so it’s unlikely from what I’ve heard that another school would beat it. But honestly - this is a matter of integrity. If you’re not sure, don’t let them think that you are.</p>
<p>I planned on calling them on the 3rd. Should I just email em tomorrow?</p>
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<p>Of course you can! Being accepted EA isn’t binding at all. Apply to your heart’s content.</p>
<p>Mr. Pi, while that’s true, it’s not super relevant. While EA isn’t binding, you’re certainly not supposed to accept an offer of admission - say you’ll be attending - and then apply elsewhere.
OP: I would probably call if I were you, since I’d feel better equipped to explain the situation, but you can do either. E-mailing tomorrow is fine, I’m sure, but so is calling on the 3rd.
Didn’t mean to sound harsh earlier, but it’d be a real shame if your acceptance somehow got rescinded over this, and/or if you ended up not going and causing someone else an agonizing stay on the waitlist. Merry Xmas!</p>
<p>Ih it’s fine.
But if there is ANY possibility, then I do not want to apply elsewhere… What should I do…</p>
<p>Harvard’s EA is just that: early admission. You can go ahead and accept it and apply anywhere else you want for as long as you want. Even when you send in your check, you are NOT bound to go there. Early admission is not AT ALL similar to the contractual binding of Early Decision. Think of your acceptance of the offer as if you had accepted their offer in April, but then got off the wait list at some other school you prefer. What ALWAYS happens in that circumstance is that you would withdraw your acceptance at the first school and accept the offer off the waitlist at the second school. Indeed, the wait list school always tells you to go ahead and accept the offer from some other school so that you have at least a place to go to; if you get off the waitlist, then withdraw from the first school and accept the second. I see no moral or practical difference in your current situation. You did not apply Early Decision, so they don’t own you. Accept and apply anywhere else you want and see if something comes up better. Believe me, all those kids on the to-be Harvard waitlist will be delighted when you withdraw!</p>
<p>Am I really wrong in this? I’m pretty sure that etiquette for accepting RD decisions and accepting a waitlist offer is a totally different situation than accepting an offer and then knowingly applying other places. In the one case, you’ve applied everywhere at the same time and are forced to make a decision - in the other, you’ve told a school that you’ll definitely be attending before you have to, but then apply elsewhere.
I’m surprised that there are so many dissenting opinions. An EA acceptance isn’t binding in itself, but accepting it is different. No?</p>
<p>OP, this really isn’t a big deal if you just let them know. If in doubt, just be honest. Contact the admissions office and explain the situation. Tell them that you want to apply to other schools, and would just like to reverse your acceptance of the Harvard offer. They almost certainly won’t rescind your admission, and then you’ll be in the clear. Problem solved.</p>
<p>Eleanorci, what about the totally accepted situation of someone that’s been wait-listed putting down a deposit with another school while still hoping to get accepted off the wait list? Is that unethical?</p>
<p>No, because that’s an entirely different situation - one that’s inevitable and acceptable for that reason. You have to go somewhere, and so you have to commit to sosmewhere before waitlist offers. Here, OP has committed EARLIER THAN NECESSARY - ie told Harvard that, even though he/she doesn’t have to decide now, he/she is definitely attending. There is no penalty for waiting longer to commit, so the only effect of this is to screw up, however minutely, harvard’s calculation of yield for EA and therefore how many to accept RD.
My point is that there is zero benefit or necessary reason to be doing this now, and there are a few downsides. I’m also pretty sure that Harvard wouldn’t be too happy about it. Why not just explain the situation and see what they have to say?</p>
<p>Tarakn, it would be an easy call to the admission’s office to fix the issue. Ask them to cancel your reply to matriculate, and you can then apply to as many schools as you want till the May deadline. Do not say that you’re going to matriculate unless you actually are going to matriculate. </p>
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<p>The policy of early action is that you can go ahead and hold the admission offer until the matriculation reply deadline of May 1st, and apply to as many other colleges as you want in the meantime. That is not the same as declaring to matriculate at ten different school while applying to twenty more. By matriculating, you’re holding the spot of someone else who would otherwise be admitted.</p>