<p>What happens if you are admitted from a wait-list after April 1, and have already sent a letter of commitment to another college? Is it just a matter of losing a non-refundable deposit, or are you liable for tuition? I'm sure this must happen all the time, but how does it work-- universally for all institutions?</p>
<p>By and large I think it is only the deposit, but to be on the safe side you should probably check with the specific institution.</p>
<p>[Top</a> Colleges Have Bigger Waiting Lists - NYTimes.com](<a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/14/education/14waitlist.html]Top”>http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/14/education/14waitlist.html)</p>
<p>There was a recent nyt article on waitlists, and it seems to suggest essentially just the deposit.</p>
<p>Pretty sure you just lose the deposit. Colleges are used to this but check with the school for sure.</p>
<p>The reason I ask is that on the IU reponse form it says: By signing below and submitting this enrollment form, I understand that there is mutual commitment on the part of myself and the Indiana USJM. Therefore, I agree that after May 1 of the calendar year of matriculation, I will not consider any other offer of admission from an institutional member of the NASM for the next academic year, except with the express written consent of the Director of Admissions and Financial Aid of the JSM.</p>
<p>I have contacted the admissions department and haven’t heard back, but apparently this is standard NASM language for students receiving talent-based financial aid. </p>
<p>[FAQ</a> 12](<a href=“http://nasm.arts-accredit.org/index.jsp?page=FAQ+12]FAQ”>http://nasm.arts-accredit.org/index.jsp?page=FAQ+12)</p>
<p>Does anyone on this forum have experience with this issue? Thanks!</p>
<p>Although IU says “I will not consider any other offer of admission from an institutional member of the NASM” as opposed to the standard “I will not consider any other offer of admission from an institutional member of the NASM” which refers only to financial aid offers.</p>
<p>I understand the wording to mean that any commitment you have made is binding from May 1 – so if you get off the waitlist elsewhere prior to May 1 you are free to retract the commitment.</p>
<p>Agreed. You can send in a letter of commitment to IU, but you can still change your mind until April 30 and retract it if you get a better offer by then. As of May 1, if you have not retracted it, you need the consent of the Director of Admissions and Financial Aid if you wish to pursue a different opportunity.</p>
<p>If IU has gotten a higher yield than they expected on your instrument, you might be able to get such consent with no hurt feelings.</p>
<p>Of course, if you are admitted elsewhere from a waiting list after May 1, IU cannot force you to attend if you are willing to walk away from your deposit there. However, if you do so and the school that you attend is an NASM member, they are not supposed to be able to offer you any scholarship money.</p>
<p>[FAQ</a> 15](<a href=“http://nasm.arts-accredit.org/index.jsp?page=FAQ+15]FAQ”>http://nasm.arts-accredit.org/index.jsp?page=FAQ+15)</p>
<p>On this page it says:</p>
<p>Section 4</p>
<pre><code>If the student is to be offered admission after May 1 for undergraduate-level programs and after April 15 for graduate-level programs, and before August 1 of the year of matriculation with a financial aid award made directly to the student based at least in part on demonstrated talent, prior to making the offer, the offering institution shall determine from the student whether he or she has accepted an offer of admission with a talent-based financial award from another institution. If so, the offering institution may not offer admission with talent-based financial aid during the first term of enrollment until the music executive of the school the student previously agreed to attend has given permission for the student to withdraw from the commitments, obligations, and benefits of his or her financial award.
</code></pre>
<p>So I guess the other school is still free to offer aid, IF the school you originally committed at gives permission for your withdrawal.</p>
<p>The language re not accepting any other institution’s scholarships is standard on any of the music school/conservatory acceptance forms that I have seen (CIM, etc in addition to those indicated above). As Bratsche indicates, if you want to change schools later, you complete another fairly standard form through the originally accepted school (if the original school agrees) that says they allow you to accept a new institution’s financial aid. In addition to initial enrollments, this scenario happens when a teacher changes institutions and brings students along. </p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>BassDad, that is so clear! Thank you!</p>
<p>But IU seems to be stricter than NASM, saying you cannot accept any offer of admission, period: "Therefore, I agree that after May 1 of the calendar year of matriculation, I will not consider any other offer of admission from an institutional member of the NASM for the next academic year, except with the express written consent of the Director of Admissions and Financial Aid of the JSM. "</p>
<p>bratsche: Quite correct. You can still get a talent scholarship if you are officially released by the first school. Also note that the restriction on the second school is only for the first term of attendance, not all four years, and it only applies to talent scholarships, not to academic scholarships or need-based aid.</p>
<p>On the other hand, breaking your agreement with the first school and walking away from your deposit there usually generates some ill will that could have a negative effect, for example, on your chances of ever being admitted there for graduate studies. The music world is fairly small and very interconnected, so you want to consider the consequences as well as the benefits when making a decision like this one.</p>
<p>Anyone in a situation like this should be sure to officially notify the first school of their withdrawal at the same time they notify the second school of their acceptance. If withdrawing constitutes burning a bridge, letting things fester until after the first tuition payment is overdue constitutes burning the bridge and placing land mines up and down both sides of the river.</p>
<p>These are all very valid considerations that need to be made. </p>
<p>Sometimes, if between a rock and a hard place you roll the dice and takes your chances, and dot as many t’s and cross all the i’s you can. But a jot here, or a twiddle there, left un-tweaked can come back to bite you on the backside later.</p>
<p>Just make sure you consider the options, and the potential ramifications.</p>
<p>glassharmonica, your pm box is full.</p>
<p>glassharmonica,</p>
<p>The honorable thing to do would certainly be to request consent before even considering another offer, but what it comes down to is how far IU is willing to go to enforce that particular provision. Agreements such as this are broken from time to time, so the real question is what happens at that point.</p>
<p>glassharmonica,</p>
<p>This may not be helpful as your question is language specific by institution, but below are links to examples of required release forms for students transferring or (included in one example) moving off a waitlist. These would be obtained from one school and signed by the “powers that be” at the other.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.music.indiana.edu/admissions/docs/Transfer_Release_fall_2009.pdf[/url]”>http://www.music.indiana.edu/admissions/docs/Transfer_Release_fall_2009.pdf</a>
<a href=“http://www.cim.edu/assets/downloads/financialaid/transfer.pdf[/url]”>http://www.cim.edu/assets/downloads/financialaid/transfer.pdf</a></p>
<p>Other examples are probably available on other school’s sites. The above releases address the question of making the transferring student eligible for Financial Aid, not the apparent restriction on all enrollment that you noted from IU.</p>
<p>Thanks, Fiddlestix. Interesting-- that is IU’s document, but going in the other direction. The office did not answer my query today. I guess I have to call in person during the week. I’m sure this situation has cropped up in the past and they have a standard way of dealing with my question.</p>
<p>glassharmonica:</p>
<p>Regardless of how this turns out, please know that you are a superb steward for your daughter. I have enjoyed your descriptive posts and have been rooting for you and for her throughout this process. Good luck!</p>
<p>Thanks TenorDad. This has been an unbelievably difficult venture. It’s mid-April and we are still unturning stones, finding new surprises (good and bad) every day. I know it is easier for some, but I also know that we are not alone in feeling as though there are countless unexpected obstacles in our paths. We thought we would be finished on April 1, but the past 3 weeks have been much more arduous, in terms of travel and anxiety, than anything leading up to April 1. Marjecat and I are going to write a book when this is over 
Everyone else is invited to write a guest chapter.</p>