<p>Son started to submit his declines this weekend. The whole process left us thinking it shouldn't be so hard. He has to inform 5 colleges (and maybe 3 more if the withdraws backfire) that he's not enrolling. </p>
<p>2 schools provided simple "check here if you're not coming" forms to mail in. Great!</p>
<p>2 schools gave NO instructions on how to decline. NONE. Upon calling to ask for instructions, 1 said, "oh, just email it in." The other took the response over the phone with NO identity verification. Imagine the pranks. :eek:</p>
<p>1 school offers a tiny link on the applicant portal that says "click here to decline your offer of admission." Upon clicking we find ourselves at the "enrollment confirmation" page. :mad: DOH! Son's still trying to get to the bottom of that one.</p>
<p>This was all very eye-opening. Here I had assumed that declining would be as easy as accepting. Wrong again, I guess. :p </p>
<p>What's your experience? Easy or frustrating?</p>
<p>We pretty much just tell our students to e-mail our regional rep directly, if there is not a specific response card or other instruction contained in the pkg. Some schools then respond to the e-mail saying they want a signed letter by regular mail - I guess to avoid pranks, as you mentioned. </p>
<p>When I started reading your thread, I thought you were going to say hard to turn other schools down for emotional, not logistical, reasons. When my son chose Wake last year, I could not let go of the William & Mary and Elon pkgs! I felt like I had gotten so close to them, I would really miss them. It actually felt very sad to shred them. Sounds a bit bizarre, but I guess I felt I had invested so much time and energy researching these schools and visiting multiple times that I had grown a bit attached. This is also called living vicariously through your child, lol.</p>
<p>For those schools not explicitly requesting decline notification, not paying the deposit by the due date serves as a decline. A prank decline would be nullified by receiving the deposit.</p>
<p>If we’ve been contacted by admissions people/profs personally, should we inform them we’re not coming?</p>
<p>Sorry to hijack the thread, just wondering.</p>
<p>^ That sure sounds reasonable and polite!</p>
<p>Also keep in mind (perhaps it’s obvious) that the schools do not want everyone admitted to accept; it would be a huge disaster!</p>
<p>It is only as frustrating as you want it to be. With a word processor, it takes just a few minutes to draft a a two-three line letter to Admissions withdrawing and thanking them for their time. Add a 44 cent stamp, and done.</p>
<p>I agree, bluebayou. Son will just send emails to the 3 frustrating ones, then be done with it in a matter of minutes. </p>
<p>My lament is mainly about the lack of instructions. If no reply = decline, fine; just tell us. If an email is all the school wants/needs/requires, then fine; just tell us. For the life of me, I can’t figure out what they gain by not telling us. </p>
<p>Further, since two of Son’s schools call or write weekly to pitch their virtues or ask if he has questions, I find it particularly ironic that they make it so puzzling for US to communicate TO THEM. Oh, well. ::shrug::</p>