Students who have been accepted by a college through an Early Decision (ED) program should consider themselves fortunate, and most do. They’ve applied to a school at or near the top of their target list and have been admitted before most of their fellow students have even applied to colleges. They can rest easier and enjoy their senior year without the stress of admissions hanging over their heads.
Terms and Conditions of ED Agreements
Most ED submission deadlines are in November. Students can apply by ED to only one college, so they should do so only if they have confidence that it’s a school they really want to attend. If not accepted, the student will receive notice early enough to submit applications to other colleges during the Regular Decision (RD) cycle. A college that has denied admission to an applicant during the ED cycle will usually defer consideration of the student to the RD period when admission standards are less rigorous. Acceptance of an offer is not required by ED applicants if not admitted until the RD cycle. Successful Early Admissions (EA) applicants, by contrast, need not accept an offer of admission.
Withdrawing from a ED Agreement
Some students who have been accepted by ED may wish to withdraw from the agreement after admission due to an event that may have occurred that makes them regret their obligation. For example, they may be admitted to an even more prestigious college that has offered them a far better financial aid package.
Students in this kind of situation want to know if their ED agreement is binding or if can they just blow it off without repercussions. The answer isn’t simple. The agreement is binding, but a student can withdraw from an ED agreement, even as late as July, and not be subject to a breach-of-contract lawsuit by the college.
Consider a typical ED agreement that is signed and submitted to a college. A majority of the schools that offer ED programs do so under the “Statement of Principles of Good Practice” of the National Association for College Admissions Counseling (NACAC), which guides the school’s treatment of students. The NACAC statement requires that:
“Restrictive early application plans — Early Decision (ED): Students commit to a first choice college and, if admitted, agree to enroll and withdraw their other college applications. Colleges may offer ED I or II with different deadlines. This is the only application plan where students are required to accept a college’s offer of admission and submit a deposit prior to May 1.”
A student’s obligation is clear under an ED agreement. While pursuing admission under ED, students may apply to less-restrictive EA programs at other colleges, but they can have only one ED application pending. If an ED applicant is denied admission or waitlisted, they are automatically released and may accept admission to another college.
The Drawbacks of Withdrawal
What can happen if an ED admittee chooses to ignore their agreement and enroll in a different college? As noted above, ED agreements aren’t legally binding. However, they applicant is obliged to enroll if admitted, so a college may take action other than a lawsuit to encourage compliance.
First, obviously, the student will forfeit their enrollment deposit. The amount varies, but typically ranges from $100 to $400. Some colleges demand up to $1,000. However, in the context of a substantially better financial aid offer, this may not be a significant amount to a student. Many students who were offered admission in the RD cycle, accept it, enroll, submit a deposit, and then blow of their deposit and don’t show up for the fall semester. This is such a frequent occurrence that colleges have a name for it — Summer Melt.
A selective college is not likely to suffer financially if student breaks their ED agreement because they can readily fill that seat with another qualified applicant from their waitlist. Nevertheless, colleges are not indifferent to withdrawal because they use ED as a tool to improve both the quality of their incoming freshmen class and their all-important yield rate. Yield is the percentage of applicants who have been offered admission to a college, accept it, and then go on to enroll in and attend the college. Yield is a key administrative tool for a college’s planning, so they strive to manage it effectively and keep it high. Since ED applicants must accept admission, they boost a college’s yield rate. So if ED-admitted students can renege with impunity, the main purpose of an ED program is nullified.
At the same time, a college is reluctant to compel a student to attend if he or she doesn’t really want to be there. So a college whose ED acceptance is spurned isn’t going to pursue an admittee too ardently. “In some ways, Early Decision is a gentleman’s agreement”. according to Dave Tobias, VP of Enrollment for Ursinus College.
When a student backs out of an ED agreement without cause, it raises an ethical issue. For this reason, colleges and high school guidance counselors may choose to act in order to discourage such conduct. Examples of actions include the following:
- Until the outcome is known, high school guidance counselors may stop sending transcripts, letters of recommendation, and other essential materials on behalf of other students who have applied via ED. The guidance counselor’s reputation is at stake and their credibility with college admissions officers is important to them.
- If a college admissions office finds out that a student has applied to their college and another via ED, they’ll contact the other college. The student risks being denied consideration by both schools.
- Sometimes, an admissions office discovers that a student is gaming the system and will reject their application. Or a high school guidance counselor may be aware of what the student is doing and will contact affected colleges.
- A number of major research universities in the northeast participate a common ED program. If a student has submitted an ED application to any one of them, the others are informed. The student won’t be admitted to any of them.
- Thirty liberal arts colleges share lists of applicants admitted by ED so that others don’t unwittingly admit them. They also share the names of students who were admitted via ED but were later released from the ED commitment for a valid reason.
Valid Reasons for Release
- Financial Hardship:The most common and generally accepted reason for reneging on an ED agreement is that the financial aid package provided by the college doesn’t enable the student to attend. The student should contact the college’s financial aid office to try to work out a way to make it affordable.
- Extenuating Circumstances:Colleges will understand if there are unforeseen and significant changes in a student’s personal circumstances, such as a serious illness or injury in the family, a family business or a parent’s career has suffered a severe setback, or a death in the family.
Occasionally, a student will receive a notice that they have been accepted from a college’s waitlist late in the summer prior to fall semester. If this school ranks even higher on the student’s wish list than the one with which he or she has an ED agreement, the student may wish to accept the offer despite consequences. This is especially true if the student will receive a superior financial aid package from their “dream school”. Under such circumstances, it may make sense for the student to abrogate their ED agreement. They must, however, have an understanding with the waitlisting school that this action will not result in the rescission of their offer of admission or financial aid package.
Conclusion
An ED agreement is a serious undertaking, often one of the first such commitments that a student will make in their lifetime. Students should understand the ED agreement’s terms and conditions and make every effort to adhere to them.
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