<p>Now that I've recieved all of my acceptances and made my final decision, how should I go about telling the other schools that I will not be attending? Should I send a letter, or is an e-mail ok? </p>
<p>I'm also curious as to what I should say. Should it be like I'm sending them a letter of rejection: "I regret to inform you . . . Thank you for your time . . . " etc.? or should I simply say that I will not be attending? Should I tell them which school I will be attending?</p>
<p>I got my good news last Monday. I was accepted to the College of the Atlantic with 22K merit aid and a very generous need-based package. Thanks to all of the parents and others for all of your help.</p>
<p>Yes. Tell them how there were so many competing for a place in your heart; the competition this year was very fierce (there being 3,000 colleges and universities and all), and they shouldn't take it personally, as so many fine institutions will have to do without your services. You might want to add, for some, that they can renew their applications for you in about four years.</p>
<p>When I turned down one of my offers of admission, I typed out a nice and POLITE letter thanking them for admitting me in the first place but that I would not be attending in the fall (unless they gave you a sheet in your admit package where you could just check whether or not you would be attending). I also left a blank space and personally signed the letter at the end of it. My letter basically stated:</p>
<p>Dear Sir or Madam,</p>
<p>I am honored that I was considered to be a great fit for <em>Blank</em> University during the review of my application, and I am grateful for the acceptance. However, I am unable to join the student body at this wonderful university this coming fall. I would greatly appreciate it if you would cancel my acceptance into the class of 2009 and also cancel my place at summer orientation. My PAN is *blah".</p>
<p>Please return the deposit to my father at the following address:</p>
<p>*The school that I withdrew from wanted us to deposit within one month after acceptance. However, since it was NOT an Early Decision acceptance or anything of the sort, I could still get my money back as long as I withdrew before May 1st.</p>
<p>The acceptance committee has met and I am sorry to inform you that [your-name-here] will be unable to attend your school next year. We received [insert-number-here] acceptances this year and we were able to attend only a small percentage of that pool: 1 college, to be exact. </p>
<p>I realize you may be disappointed with this decision. I could not choose to attend all the qualified colleges who accepted me in this admissions cycle. My choice reflects the strength and size of my college pool and is not a judgement on any college's potential as a national doctoral university. </p>
<p>The committee made each decision in the context of the other admissions decisions and therefore, I cannot provide specific reasons why certain colleges were not chosen. I know this explanation may not be consoling, but it is as much as can be practically given. </p>
<p>Sometimes I am asked to reconsider a decision. All of our decisions are final and as a result, I do not have an appeals process. I imagine you are hearing from other students this week, and that you have a fine freshman class. </p>
<p>I wish you well as you continue the college acceptances process. </p>
<p>What about the professors or instructors who were especially helpful? At each school where my son was accepted, there was at least one person in the music dept. who had corresponded with him through email and talked to him on the phone before his auditions. </p>
<p>At one college, the trumpet instructor really seemed to be pulling hard for my son. I don't know how much the full tuition music scholarship they've offered is due to the influence of this instructor, but he made it clear when my son was there that they really wanted him for the music school. Even with the scholarship, however, that is not s's first choice for the fall.</p>
<p>Are personal emails to those folks appropriate, just to say thanks for your help, I appreciate the departmental scholarship, but I feel that another university has a program that seems to fit my needs better? Or just a note to say I'll be pursuing other options? </p>
<p>Or perhaps thank-yous should be more formal and go out in the form of a real letter?</p>
<p>Amy, through this lengthy process there were several small schools where my S interviewed with a person in admissions who followed up several times with my son and arranged an overnight visit. In other words, an actual relationship exists. In this case I feel a short note is appropriate thanking the individual for their time spent and expressing sincere regrets. If it were a large state U with minimal personal contact I think filling out their reply card (or an email) would be sufficient.</p>
<p>I'd say that thank yous are appropriate. If someone has helped you beyond the normal amount that's expected, it never hurts to say that you appreciated that person's time. </p>
<p>That's just my opinion, but then again, I'm just a lowly student/kid so you might want to wait for other answers.</p>
<p>dt123:
That is pretty funny! We need a sentence or two about the relative availability (or lack thereof) of finanicial aid/scholarship money. Or, perhaps something shorter will do the job for us:</p>
<p>"Sold to the highest bidder: University of X"</p>