<p>Ok, this is probably one of the stranger questions asked on here.</p>
<p>I've put down my deposit at a well known school in the Northeast. I was waiting on some conditional offers to the UK to see what happened and just found out whether I got in or not about a week ago. Turns out I didn't get into the program I really wanted, but I can still do something very similar at pretty much the best school in France - Sciences Po. I really would like to do the Sciences Po program, but it's very specialized and I'm worried I may not be interested enough. I'm willing to take a chance with it, but here are my questions:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>How angry will this US school be if I tell them I'm not coming this late in the game? I have a solid reason, but I expect that if I tell them I'm not coming and then re-apply next year if I decide I don't like Sciences Po there's no chance I'm getting back in. </p></li>
<li><p>Transfer options? I've heard that it's very difficult to transfer from Sciences Po to the US, but do you think I'd have a chance if I ended up really not liking it? What if I re-applied as a freshman and thought of Sciences Po as a gap year? I thought that doing that could possibly even help me get into some schools I didn't get into this year because I'd have the international perspective and experience studying at a top institution. </p></li>
<li><p>For graduate school: if I studied politics at Sciences Po for three years (the BA there is 3 years) what are my chances of picking something different for grad school? Could I then take an extra year somewhere else, maybe a community college, and apply to grad schools in other areas?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Thanks in advance for your help. I'm just extremely confused. I really want to try this, but it's quite scary to take a big risk like this - especially when I expect that this US school will be furious with me.</p>
<p>EDIT: It may help to know that I have a lot of interests outside of politics such as linguistics and philosophy. My main passion is music, but I don't want to study it, even though I want to continue trying to make a career out of it. My idea for going to college is to get a back up degree that I can fall back on. The trade off of Sciences Po is the fact that I'll be sacrificing some of my passions (maybe too strong a word...) for things like linguistics for a totally different experience. I am passionate about the study of Europe though, so it's not like I hate politics or anything.</p>
<p>The US school won’t be furious, they will call someone from the waitlist. However, if you were to reapply to the US school, they may not accept you again.</p>
<p>There’s a high chance that they will track you down. Unless you plan on having bodyguards and/or living in the shadows in France, I’d strongly advise you against withdrawing from this US school.</p>
<p>If your not alive, what’s the point of an education?</p>
<p>Students backing out at the last minute happens so often there’s a name for it . . . </p>
<p>It’s called “summer melt” . . . the phenomenon of registered students “melting away” during the months leading up to the first day of school. The school won’t be surprised or upset and - as noted - they’ll fill the space with someone from the waitlist. (Plus, as an added bonus, they get to keep your deposit!)</p>
<p>As for being readmitted later, I wouldn’t count on it.</p>
<p>You would not be the first or the last student to withdraw from a college at this point. Others will get accepted off of waitlists and switch schools (I even know one student who moved after attending one week of class at a college). That part isn’t a problem, although you probably won’t get your deposit back. I can’t help you with your other questions as I am not familiar with Science Po in France. The poster above’s suggestion of deferring admission at the US school is worth looking into.</p>
<p>You can’t usually defer and take courses for credit elsewhere. If you are going to go to Science Po, just make a clean break. The school will not be angry; they will take someone off the waitlist and that person will likely be thrilled. I do know of a person who was accepted to a top lac, turned them down to go abroad (did not defer), reapplied and was accepted the 2nd time also. So I’m not sure you would be denied if you reapplied but it may depend somewhat on your grades at Science Po and whether you need financial aid and how the school handles it for transfers. (Some schools have a lot less financial aid available for transfer students.) </p>
<p>As far as finding out what you would need for grad school, call a few grad schools. This may depend on what field you want to pursue for grad school. I think that the overseas tracks are so narrow that it might be hard to get admitted to a grad program here in a completely different field without additional credits-- and I would think they would need to be at a 4year because they may want higher-level coursework.</p>
<p>Well what would be my options for taking courses at a 4 year? Would that be a possibility after graduating from Sciences Po - doing an extra year at a 4 year school? Since the program is only three years (most European schools are like this) taking an extra year wouldn’t be much of a problem for me.</p>