Fall in love with your second choice! Students move off of waitlists and are admitted, but far more do not. So, you must be able to love your next preference and be willing to accept it as your new dream school.
May 1 is critical. Although, this year it falls on a Saturday, so your focus really should be on Friday, April 30. This is the National Candidates Reply Deadline. Especially if you have applied to selective institutions, you must have made your decision by that date by submitting enrollment and housing deposits. Missing this deadline will likely forfeit your place in the incoming freshman class.
Waitlists are not looked at until after the May 1 decision deadline. And this is where families may become perplexed about how to proceed. Please keep in mind that it is considered unethical to double deposit (depositing at more than one school).
Submit the deposit at the "second choice" school. If you are not admitted off of the waitlist at your first choice, you have a place in the freshman class at this campus and you are all set for fall. Whatever school you choose, you (student, not parent) should contact the admission representative at that school directly. Be honest. Let him/her know that you are submitting your deposit and expect to enroll for fall. But that you are also awaiting word about the waitlist at your first choice school. If I do not get off the waitlist, I will be a happy, contributing student at X school. But if I do get off the waitlist, I will need to make a decision about my attendance.
Deposits are not refundable. And if eventually admitted at the first choice campus, they, too, will require an enrollment and a housing deposit.
You are not jeopardizing anything by being candid. You already have your admission, your position in the incoming freshman class, your financial aid package, and have paid your deposits. The admission representatives appreciate the honesty.
It does happen that a student gets off the waitlist and decides not to go to that school. They have become so invested in their second choice, told everyone they were attending their second choice, put it in the graduation edition of the school paper, etc. Waitlist decisions do not come out until well into the summer, usually, so it is tough for some students to change everything then.
May 1 is critical. Although, this year it falls on a Saturday, so your focus really should be on Friday, April 30. This is the National Candidates Reply Deadline. Especially if you have applied to selective institutions, you must have made your decision by that date by submitting enrollment and housing deposits. Missing this deadline will likely forfeit your place in the incoming freshman class.
Waitlists are not looked at until after the May 1 decision deadline. And this is where families may become perplexed about how to proceed. Please keep in mind that it is considered unethical to double deposit (depositing at more than one school).
Submit the deposit at the "second choice" school. If you are not admitted off of the waitlist at your first choice, you have a place in the freshman class at this campus and you are all set for fall. Whatever school you choose, you (student, not parent) should contact the admission representative at that school directly. Be honest. Let him/her know that you are submitting your deposit and expect to enroll for fall. But that you are also awaiting word about the waitlist at your first choice school. If I do not get off the waitlist, I will be a happy, contributing student at X school. But if I do get off the waitlist, I will need to make a decision about my attendance.
Deposits are not refundable. And if eventually admitted at the first choice campus, they, too, will require an enrollment and a housing deposit.
You are not jeopardizing anything by being candid. You already have your admission, your position in the incoming freshman class, your financial aid package, and have paid your deposits. The admission representatives appreciate the honesty.
It does happen that a student gets off the waitlist and decides not to go to that school. They have become so invested in their second choice, told everyone they were attending their second choice, put it in the graduation edition of the school paper, etc. Waitlist decisions do not come out until well into the summer, usually, so it is tough for some students to change everything then.
No comments:
Post a Comment