Congratulations – you’ve been accepted to your top-choice school! This is no small feat, as you can see from this year’s Early Decision admission data.
Because Early Decision (ED) is a binding agreement, this means your college admission process is complete. You cannot wait to hear from your other colleges and you cannot compare financial aid or scholarship offers. You need to follow the instructions provided in your offer letter directing you to submit a deposit by a specific deadline (usually early January for ED1 and early March for ED2).
Here is your checklist of things to do:
- Follow the school’s instructions on how to officially enroll.
- Accept financial aid and/or scholarship offers (if offered and desired).
- Contact any other schools to which you’ve applied to inform them that you won’t be attending – your ED college requires this! Plus, alerting your colleges opens up spots for other deserving applicants. Please do this immediately, as you would want someone to do the same thing for you! The easiest option to withdraw an application is usually through your college portal. If not, you can send a brief email to the admissions office saying something like, “I am writing to inform you that I have accepted an offer of admission from another institution to which I applied early decision. Thank you for considering my application.”
- Thank your high school counselor and teacher recommenders who helped your application be successful.
- Buy your college sweatshirt and celebrate!
- After your first semester of senior year, focus on applying for private scholarships and/or get a job to help pay for college expenses.
Is Early Decision Really Binding?
ED is a morally and ethically binding agreement. Families should know their anticipated Net Price before applying, and they sign a contract agreeing to attend if admitted. A student’s high school counselor also signs off on the agreement and will be aware if a student continues to apply to other colleges. Even though there are no legal ramifications if a family withdraws from an ED agreement, schools do not look kindly on students who change their minds.
What Happens If You Back Out?
Even without legal ramifications, bowing out of an ED acceptance can hurt your chances of acceptance elsewhere. There are colleges that share lists of early decision acceptances, and other colleges will not look favorably on an applicant who doesn’t honor their Early Decision agreement. Rod Oto, the associate dean of admissions at Carleton College, will first try to follow up with a student to discover why they want to withdraw their agreement. Oto said he might call the high college counselor or other colleges where the student has applied. While it isn’t his intention to get every college to withdraw their offers of admittance, he does want to make sure the student knows that Carleton College is not happy. Additionally, the ED college or university will blacklist the student so they will be unable to reapply to that institution at a later date (even graduate school). Here is what Cornell University has to say about students’ obligations:
In addition, we remind you that your admission to Cornell as an early decision candidate is binding. As part of the agreement, you must withdraw any applications you have filed at other colleges or universities. Cornell, as well as other colleges that participate in early decision, take the early decision commitment very seriously. If we learn that you have not withdrawn your applications to other institutions, you will jeopardize those applications as well as your place at Cornell. If you have concerns about keeping your early decision commitment, please contact us immediately.
Pulling out of an ED agreement doesn’t just reflect poorly on you; students in subsequent years could have a tough time gaining acceptance to your ED college if you withdraw. Chris Ajemian, from CATES Tutoring, says that one of his students was recently the first from his school in eight years to be admitted to a particular top 10 university. “Why had it been so long? Although we cannot say with complete certainty, we do know that a former student from the school had rescinded on their ED commitment. And from what we could gather, this single student had impacted the chances for both early and regular decision candidates for almost a decade,” says Ajemian.
What If Something Unforeseen Happens?
There are a few (rare) exceptions to the ED agreement being an obligation: if the financial aid package doesn’t meet the family’s financial need or if financial or life circumstances drastically change from when the student applies to when they are admitted.
Issues that might impact your acceptance could include a parent losing a job, sudden health issues for you or an immediate family member, or a natural disaster wreaking havoc on your home. Colleges aren’t going to hold unforeseen circumstances against a family.
In these situations, families should immediately share their concerns with the college admissions office and high school counselor. Colleges will often try their best to help find more money for the student. But, if after talking with the school, a family cannot make the college affordable, they can request a release from the agreement. There is a difference between not being able to pay and not being willing to pay, however. Colleges will know the difference, as they ask for documentation to support a student’s claim of financial difficulty.
How Can I Negotiate?
Parents can explain in a letter that they need more financial aid to make attending possible. It is also advisable to set up a meeting with the college. Parents should be able to demonstrate that they need a more significant financial package to make attendance possible and share specifically how much money is required. The college can choose to reject, negotiate or accept the parents’ offer. Then, it is up to the family to decide what is in their best interest.
What’s Next?
If you’ve pulled out of the early decision agreement and were released from your commitment by the institution, then you are free to carry on with the college process, assuming you have other applications in the works (most final application deadlines are early January).
But if there are no major life events and you’re just having second thoughts, take some time to consider your options. You could attend your ED school and apply to transfer for your sophomore year.
Alternately, you may apply to take a gap year to work or travel and reassess your ED school with greater perspective. Students will have to write a compelling letter explaining why they want to take a gap year, however, and the college can reject or accept an enrollment deferral request.
If even after a gap year, you decide your ED school isn’t for you, you can reapply to colleges the following year. Just keep in mind that you’ll need to explain your course of action on your second round of applications.
Whatever factors prompt you to reconsider your early decision acceptance, it’s important to approach this situation with caution and open communication. Talk to your family and high school counselor about your concerns and consider all of the factors before making a decision.
collegeboundandready 