<p>Instead of waiting until near the deadline to accept a merit scholarship, let's say a student decides to "just go ahead and accept" their scholarship at school A in early April. Lo and behold, school B, already a close second, comes up with a significant, totally unexpected award, making them first choice. </p>
<p>Is it ethically, morally (whatever) reprehensible to tell the first school that you have changed your mind? My thought, as a practical matter, is that it will not be a huge issue for the college to operate under the belief (for one week) that you are accepting a scholarship that you are not. Am I wrong? Does this happen often? Anyone?</p>
<p>I'd say if it is still before the deadline, you should fee free to change your mind and not give it a second thought. I would just assume the college hasn't changed anything it was going to do because of your (hypothetical student's) early acceptance, and stick with that.</p>
<p>Anyone else? The deal is that this past weekend my daughter decided to go ahead and accept (online) the scholarship offered months ago by one school. (If she had ASKED, I would have told her not to take any action until we neared the May 1st deadline, but I guess that is because I am older and wiser and better understand that things can change.) </p>
<p>Now we've learned that she is getting significantly more (out of the blue) from another school. Until I have written verification of the second school's offer, I don't want to tell the first school "nevermind" and also feel a little uncomfortable thinking that we are reneging on her acceptance. As I mentioned, logically it shouldn't be a big deal, but I would love to hear opinions/experiences on this situation.</p>
<p>Since the common response date is May 1 and D is absolutely sure is is attending school A, just let them know that she changed her mind (find out if any deposits paid will be refunded)</p>
<p>Thanks, guys. I felt like we should be okay, but really wanted some confirmation that we wouldn't be doing something inappropriate and were just justifying it to ourselves!</p>
<p>Now if we just get written confirmation of the sweetened deal........</p>
<p>Some college don't refund deposits...however, I think it's perfectly okay. Although I don't think, ethically, it's a great thing to do. But hey, you have to think about your own financial situation b4 your d attend any colleges. Also, the finaid officers in Uni. A have probably seen many cases like this before. So, I say go ahead and do it. </p>
<p>Maybe you can use the offer from Uni. B to negotiate w/ Uni. A since it's ur d's 1st choice?</p>
<p>We are dealing with this same thing right now. College A asked for an early decision on a full scholarship offer. It is a small college and I know they only offer a few of these scholarships. We had not heard from college B and didn’t want to miss the deadline as she really loved both schools. After we signed the offer and signed up for housing (three weeks later) we received another full tuition/room/board offer from school B. We did not expect this and my daughter is thinking of changing her mind. We feel very badly for doing this to small school A. Having a hard time knowing if this is okay and what to do. I think given the same offer, she would like to attend the larger school B. Thoughts?</p>
<p>I think it’s fine. I think this happens more than people realize. You are making a decision that is best choice for the family and especially for the child in question. I see nothing wrong with this when a school pressures to get you to accept before the main (majority) deadline of May 1st. I’m pretty sure if the scholarship is a limited one, that they have a few on a wait list.</p>