Declining an Acceptance…

Yes you read that correctly, declining an acceptance.  You got into your first choice, congratulations!  Now you need to tell those other schools that you got into that you won’t be attending their schools.  This can be very awkward, but it has to be done.  You may have been tucking the letters and invites to their open houses away or even throwing them out, but you need to be upfront with the school and let them know that you will not be attending.

There are a couple ways that you can do this, one way would be to call the admissions office and tell them that you have chosen another school.  You could also send them a polite email stating that you will be going elsewhere.  No matter how you handle things, they will ask you to explain your decision and to tell them where you will be attending.  Obviously, be honest with them.  If you think your school has better academics, tell them.  If you think that your school has a better campus, tell them.  You’re not trying to impress them anymore, just be honest.  It’s very awkward and uncomfortable, but thank them for their interest in you and move on.  You’re going to a school that you picked out for yourself.

Acceptance

Once you start getting your acceptance letters to the schools that want you, it may seem like the stress is lifted off of your shoulders.  That’s a great feeling, however there is still a lot that you will have to get done.  When you get a few acceptance letters, you may be ready to make a decision, but you should wait until you hear back from all of your schools to make that final decision.  Some things that you may want to take into consideration is the amount of money each school offers you.  Many schools offer an upfront merit-based scholarship which will account for your grades and SAT/ ACT scores.  Some schools may even give up to half tuition (or more) if you’re in the top 10% of your class.  The schools will send that number that they want to offer you with their acceptance letter.  They will also inform you on the materials that you need to complete and send back in order to enroll/ move in.  ONLY SEND THIS BACK AFTER YOU HAVE MADE YOUR FINAL DECISION.  I know that you probably have you first choice schools and back up schools, but what if one of your back up schools offers you $15,000 per year and your first choice offers you nothing?  Then are you still willing to go to your first choice?  I know right now that sounds like an obvious yes, but money is a very important thing to think about when you make your final decision.  Of course, you’ll end up picking the school that you believe is your best fit, but having the extra aid is always nice.

Once you do make that decision you’re going to have to fill out your acceptance form.  This is a form that allows you to accept their acceptance of you.  I know, it’s redundant, right?  Whatever works though.  Anyway so you have to fill that out and you have to get a physical done at your doctor, and you have to submit a vaccination history to make sure that you have all of your boosters up to date.  You also have to send your parents contact information and any other emergency information along with it.  You also have to send your housing deposit along with a housing contract and your roomie survey.  This all seems like a lot to handle, but once you get that over and done with, you’re pretty much set for school in the fall!  It’s all really crazy and really fast, but sending in all of that will make sure that you get registration materials when they become available, and then you’re really IN the school.

Admissions Types

There are 4 types of admissions:  Early Decision, Early Action, Rolling Admissions, and then Regular Admission.

• Early Decision:  For early decision, you apply to the school early and then they will send their admission decision to you and you’ll know whether you were accepted or not before everyone else.  Simple enough, right?  No.  This is a binding decision.  If you are accepted into the school then you are expected to go there (as long as you can afford it).  You can only apply to one school for early decision and once accepted you have to withdraw your other applications.  There are pros to knowing what school you are going to early, but there are also cons to this admissions option.  For example, the school knows that you have to go there once accepted so the financial aid that they offer may not be enough to keep you out of extreme debt.  Only apply for early decision if you have researched the school a lot and it is definitely your first choice.
• Early Action:  The only real difference between early decision and early action is that it is non-binding.  The school cannot tell you that you have to go there and you are allowed to choose another school.  You will find out early during the admissions cycle (January) and you must send a refusal/ acceptance of the acceptance by May 1.’
• Rolling Admission: The school will consider you as soon as all of the required documents have been sent over.  This includes your application, application fee, SAT/ ACT scores, official high school transcripts, and letters of recommendation.  Instead of using application deadlines and reviewing all of the applicants in a batch, schools that use the rolling admissions process will consider applicants as they receive all of the information.  Their decisions will be made quickly and they will usually let you know within 2 weeks of getting all of your documents sent over.
• Regular Admission: You send all of your documents and information to the school by a deadline.  The school will go through all of the applications at once and the process will take a while.  They will decide and then send out the decisions all at once usually a couple months after their deadline.

There is also a chance that a school might wait list you.  This means the school may accept you if spots become available.

If you are an athlete then you should look into being recruited.

I don’t even know what I want.

College.  The scariest seven letters any junior or senior could hear.  But, what is it that we want in a school?   Well, everyone wants different things; otherwise there would be one type of college.  So what do you want?  Small?  Big?  Close to home?  Far away?  I know that thinking about college makes you feel like an adult, but you’re never too old for your parent’s help.  The thing is, your mom and/ or dad are going to be some of the key players in your decision, after all, you’re their baby.  While your parents worry about the security and academics, figure out what you want.  The best way to do that is to actually visit schools.  If you have absolutely no clue what you want, visit all different types of schools to see where you feel comfortable.  Make sure to do a lot of research before you go because you want to know that they are actually options for you, personally.   Sometimes a school will click and you’ll feel right at home.  While you go on the tours, ask a lot of questions.  Ask about the food, the dorms, the different room options, what students do for fun, if anybody stays on the weekends, literally ask everything.  If you like the campus you visit first, keep that in mind, and find things that you like about it to ask about when you visit other campuses.  If you love any of the schools that you visit, contact the admissions counselor for your region and talk to him/ her about scheduling a personal interview to get more information.  And of course, if you like the school or love it, apply!