How can i cancel my acceptance

deontology
Sat, 07 Apr 2012 00:32:11 +0000

This is probably a good website for your question.
[Ask the Experts: Early Decision and Early Application](Ask the Experts: Early Decision and Early Application - Peterson's)
Actually, I’ll just post the exact text of the part of the website that is relevant to your situation.

"Is early decision 100% binding, and what if any, are ways to get out of this agreement? Are there legal ramifications in breaking this agreement? Thanks You. - leslie

Good question. The answer is no, the ED commitment is not, as we understand it, legally binding, at least in the sense that you will not be dragged in chains to the college, fined by it or the government, or sued for damages and tuition payments, if you decide not to go to the school that admitted you ED.
However, the ED commitment is binding in the college admissions process, and if you are found to have applied to other colleges after having been admitted ED someplace, or to have applied to more than one ED school, or to give up your ED choice for another college that has offered you admission, you will face the usual consequence of being blacklisted by the ED college. The school will try to contact your high school guidance office and other colleges that have admitted you to notify them of your breaking the agreement. These other colleges will most likely withdraw their admission offers, and you will be left with no choices for the fall.
The best thing to do if you have been admitted ED and have decided you do not want to attend, is to write a letter or call to explain your reasons, and to plan to take a gap year between high school and college. You can then apply to other colleges for the following fall.
If a college has admitted you ED, and then you have been admitted elsewhere, you need to contact both schools to discuss whether they will release you from the ED commitment and allow you to attend the other school.
Finally, insufficient financial aid is the only legitimate and explicitly approved reason to withdraw from the ED commitment. However, you should notify the ED college as soon as you receive the admission and financial aid offers from them (they are supposed to come at around the same time) and request to be released from the commitment, which they usually will do. Of course, then there may or may not be time to apply to other colleges by their deadlines, depending on when you applied ED, round one or two. And, you won’t know if any other schools will eventually offer you better financial aid packages if they admit you.
For more on ED and EA policies, and other admission practices, see the National Association for College Admission Counseling Web site, www.nacacnet.org and their statement of principles of good practice."