I am a student who will be starting college in spring (because I’m a spring admit).
But I got a call last week from my school’s admission counselor and she told me they can move my admission to fall. I said yes (without thinking much). But if I start in the fall, I would have to pay tuition in August, and my family is not financially stable and can’t pay the tuition that soon. So I had to call the admission counselor back and ask to change my admission to spring.
She sounded a bit bothered… She said it’s a very complicated process to move back the files and sounded annoyed by me.
I hate the fact that my college counselor already seems to not like me. And I’m worried if other staff members of the college will hate me for this.
Does this sound like a big deal? Should I apologize again through emails?
You do not need to apologize and there is a 99% chance you will never have any interaction with the admissions office once you begin school in the Spring and it would be far fetched to think a message went out to professors or administrators - that is not something you need to worry about at all.
If you want to send a follow up email (and I recommend you do it to have it in writing) you can reiterate how you are looking forward to joining X college in the Spring. You can apologize for accepting Fall prior to checking with your parent’s about the financial feasibility - just good to have it in writing, if you do not already that you are not enrolling in Fall and still enrolling in the Spring. There is no need to overly apologize - you did the smart thing for your family and you.
I would check this off your worry list - and enjoy college !
Thank you for the reply!!
I already sent a message apologizing briefly, but should I send another follow up message to her explaining about my situation more in detail one last time?
NO - as long as you have written confirmation for Spring admit. You are fine - it is the admission’s person job to fill the spots and not yours - Do not worry about this at all, as long as you are set for Spring (and hopefully have a financial plan in place to pay for college).
Enjoy your summer and don’t worry! You were accepted because you are qualified - so remember that fact.
Dont worry…once you start college you will have nothing more to do with admissions. You apologized and that is all you need to do.
I suggest you hold onto the email you sent confirming your spring enrollment date
You probably should also check your student portal just in case they goof and send you a bill for the fall semester.
If it’s only finances keeping you from starting in fall, you could say that you would love to be able to start in fall, but are not in a financial position to do so. You would need $X in additional aid to start before the previously offered spring date.
They will most likely say thank you for letting them know and keep your spot for spring. But, if for some reason they need to fill fall seats to meet enrollment management goals, it’s possible they could find the money to make it happen for you then. These goals could be the reason the admissions contact seemed frustrated. He or she may be tasked with meeting the fall goal.
I am sure they were irked because now they have to do more work, and they blame you because you answered differently at first without thinking it through.
But in the life of a well-meaning but overworked college bureaucrat, that sort of thing typically happens a dozen times before lunch. Within a week, they will probably barely remember what you are talking about even if you bring it up.
So your goal at this point is just to not make even more work for them. More emails and such is more work. So I agree just leave it alone and it will all be fine.
And yes, save whatever you got in writing, just in case.
I would of personally asked for funds to make it happen and always put the ball in their court. If they need the spot filled and can find the funds then why not unless other circumstances prevent it from happening. Free money is always good money.
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