Can the school actually enforce anything? If I just decide that I don’t want to a school I applied early decision to what will happen?
Your high school may be blacklisted. Your GC will get a nasty letter from the university you stiffed. And depending on the college they may share this information with peer schools.
At the very least it will show that you are not a person of their word and that are comfortable being unethical.
Why would you waste your early application on a school that you do not want to attend?
I know of one instance where someone had been accepted Early Decision and was planning to go, but did not immediately contact the other schools to which she had applied to rescind her application, and one of the schools found out and sent the applicant a email threatening to contact the ED school to say that she was violating the terms of her ED agreement.
Unless you can’t afford it (and it’s assumed that you’ve run the NPC and applied for FA), you have failed a contractual obligation. While perhaps difficult for schools to enforce legally, you are at the very least ethically bound to attend. As @TomSrOfBoston points out, there are potential repercussions for you and for your high school.
There are acceptable and legitimate reasons for a student to break an ED agreement. If it’s simply cold feet or you can’t commit, then ED should be no where in your universe at this moment.
You are asking for a HUGE commitment from the school. They ask the same. If you can’t deliver, then you can’t ask the school for its consideration under ED either – apply RD like everyone else. That’s not the end of the world whatsoever. you’re about to graduate HS – it’s time to act like a mature adult. Good luck on doing the right thing with your conflict.
If you need to ask that question then don’t apply ED.
Do not apply ED.
The whole idea of Early Decision is that you are willing to commit to a university. There are a variety of reason you may wish to commit but it is a commitment. They in turn give you early consideration and if accepted will lock in a place at their university for you. For this consideration they ask that you agree in advance to attend and if accepted withdraw all other applications. It is agreed that if they do not give you sufficient financial aid to attend then you can withdraw but on the whole that is the only ethical reason to withdraw. To go into this agreement without the willingness to commit is at best unethical and at worst shows a moral failing, a willingness to to lie to achieve some perceived advantage.You are in essence asking us to answer “what happens if I choose to be unethical”. One would hope you desire to be an honest and ethical person. Please don’t consider applying ED if you are not committed to attending the university.
Don’t apply ED.
Are you talking about NYU? I don’t know if your 26 ACT is competitive there. How much of a hit your GPA took from the math (or whatever the class was that you mentioned in your other thread) probably makes a difference. If you do get in but don’t get enough aid to be able to afford it, you can turn it down for financial reasons. Run their Net Price Calculator and if it’s not affordable then don’t waste an app there.
Try to get your grades up so you get back in the top 7% of your class instead of the top 8% if that’s what gets you guaranteed admission to a TX college. And find out for sure how much your parents can pay per year. It does you no good to ED to a school they can’t/won’t pay for you to attend.
Generally there is a window to change your mind right after the acceptance in December, if that is what you are asking. Usually kids do it if the FA package won’t work for their family, but I suppose you could say that even if it isn’t the real reason.
If, instead, you are trying to game the system and count on an ED push but then see what the rest of your schools say in the spring and decide then, different story.
At some schools if a kid applies ED and is accepted, the HS simply refuses to send out transcripts to other schools unless the kid withdraws from the ED right after getting the acceptance notice in December.
And it’s hard to justify that the finances don’t work if you are not applying for financial aid. Are you?
Remember, if you turn them down, there’s no going back either. What happens if you don’t get into other schools you like as much as that?
Basically, if it’s not your clear first choice and/or if finances are a concern and you want to compare other offers, do NOT apply ED.
Wow this was genuinely just a theoretical question. Calm down.
Perhaps if you had stated it was theoretical rather than asking it as you did. But it still brings up the question of why you are asking. The advice remains the same.
@mikemac, that window to “change your mind” is ONLY if your FA is not sufficient.
Your question says a lot about you character.
Lol, kids don’t generally get to tell adults to calm down. Not when you asked the question as you did.
If you already applied, consider emailing them a request to move this to RD.
MODERATOR’S NOTE
You should have led with that. Regardless, you’ve received your answer; there really is nothing left to say. Closing thread.