Hi all! I was recently accepted ED at a T10 school. However, looking back, I feel as though I applied on a whim rather than actually having it be my first choice. I honestly should have done more research, and now I really, really do not want to attend the school. Would it be possible for me to back out of my ED acceptance, take a gap year, and reapply next year as an incoming freshman to other schools to have more options? This has really been weighing at my mental health.
Assuming you can afford, you are contracted. Some will break out of ED even for this year. It’s not right. But people do it. It could impact your hs for future applicants. And if other schools were informed, it could impact you.
If the school isn’t right for you, talk to them. Explain your issue and maybe they’ll release you. Plenty of fine colleges are still taking apps.
Check their policy on deferral - I’m guessing you’ll still be bound.
Most kids don’t truly know up front. What seems a dream can go wrong. What seems bad can turn into a dream.
What would you do in your year off ? Do you truly want a year off ? Why not see if you’ll love the school and transfer if you don’t ?
Truth is - no one truly knows b4 you step foot on campus.
This is the consequence that many have from trying to game admissions for a perceived top school, vs finding the right fit. There can be heavy consequences but you did sign the contract as did your family and hs.
You have choices including walking out on your contract. It can get messy. But that’s a choice you and your family need to make or not to make. But if you talk to the school, maybe they’ll honor your wishes. You never know.
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Can’t you ask for a deferred entry, ie., starting Fall 2027 and in the meantime do something productive with your time - join CityYear, attend a HS abroad, use the WHV scheme to work and discover Australia… The delay may make you realize that yes this college is great. Or alternatively that it isn’t - and then you can apply RD to various other colleges that fit better.
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But a school may not allow ED deferral - or may allow but not release.
The student will need to find the school’s policy or talk to his adcom about the situation.
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Are you sure it’s not just butterflies? Lots of kids go through a period where they freak out and think they made the wrong choice. You got into a T10. Who’s to say you’d get into what you now think is your first choice (the grass is always greener…) Take the opportunity and make the best of it. There will be lots of opportunities on a T10 campus. You can make it work.
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I’m trying to think of someone who’d have wanted Vassar but applied ED to Vanderbilt or someone who wanted Michigan but applied ED to UChicago or someone who wanted Notre Dame but ED’d Wesleyan.
Surely there was a reason you applied to one and not the other? Was it purely ranking? Is your top school higher ranked than your ED school?
Have you attended student days at your ED college?
Imagine you get out of your ED promise. Next year you apply to your 1st choice and don’t get in. You end up going to your state flagship. Is that scenario better - is your flagship better *for you* than your current college?
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What originally caused you to apply ED to this particular school? What did you like about the school?
What is your intended major?
Is your ED school affordable? Can you attend without taking on debt?
Have you visited your ED school?
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I honestly applied because I thought I’d have a better shot of getting in than what I now think is my dream school. Not a great reason to ED, I know. Maybe I’m just having success bias, but now I feel like I might’ve had a shot at other schools and had more options to choose from. The scenario you described is probably not better for me, so thanks for putting things into perspective
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I’m torn between extreme empathy (I have real doubts about ED in general, largely for reasons you described), and feeling a bit parental in saying that decisions have consequences. You knew the ramifications of your ED choice and are having buyers remorse, not after you submitted (when you could have changed it), but after getting in. Both are true but I hope and genuinely think it will work out for you.
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Parent here. I suggest giving this school a real fair chance. You could end up loving it. Nothing is forever. If you find that this college really is not your cup of tea, you can transfer (assuming you don’t need incoming freshman status for need based aid).
Sample of one…my second kid was very sure about her college choice…but even she said “I hope I made the right choice” after she hit the button to send the deposit.
Many high school students have second thoughts…as noted above, think about all the positive reasons you applied to this college. Those are important.
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Anyone who applies ED has this. Short of a few majors like engineering or business, you can study the same things at most schools.
I wish we could show your post to everyone who wants to apply ED because they think it gives them the best chance.
Unless you want to go to a school still taking apps (not a top 10), think of the larger ramifications of taking a year off school if you all along intended to be in school next year.
So go with it. Hope it’s great. The rank will be irrelevant as to whether you love it or not. And from there, if you love it, you’ll forget this post. And if you don’t, you can consider a transfer to a better fit (which likely would be a lower rank).
You, not your school rank, will ultimately make your success. So go, kick butt and don’t look back.
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There are many posts like this on CC where students panic that their school ranked #7 somewhere just is not as good as the school ranked #4. A US News & World Report ranking is not a guarantee of life success. Warren Buffett transferred out of UPenn to finish at UNebraska. You determine your path, not your school.
There is no guarantee you will get in anywhere after a gap year. The best option is to attend the school you got into. If you want to transfer, apply to transfer. If your don’t get in, you are still in a great school. If you really don’t like your school, then also apply to transfer to some colleges where you stand a good chance of acceptance.
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But if the OP is depending on merit aid or need-based aid, that is often much more generous for freshmen than transfer students. This is probably not an issue for T10 schools but always good to check.
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Just to touch on this. You don’t have a dream school. It doesn’t exist. There’s likely many schools that you can have an equally wonderful experience at, regardless of what we all tell ourselves - and all have bad roomies or profs or dorms or foods, etc. There’s lots of I went to my dream school and am miserable threads.
The school you got into and the other you are panicked about - both have flaws. I promise.
Best of luck.
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It is generally a bad idea to even have a “dream school”. Every college and university has its strengths and its imperfections. Generally speaking there are a lot of very, very good universities in the US, hundreds of them, but nowhere is perfect.
Any university ranked in the top 200 in the US is a very good university, with a wide range of very good programs. Anything in the top 10 is likely to be academically challenging, but also a very good school with quite a few very strong professors, a lot of very good programs, and quite a few very academically strong students. No school is a good fit for every student, but any university ranked in the top 10 is very good, and is a good fit for many academically very strong students.
Colleges and universities are looking for students who are a going to be a good fit for them, and they get it right very often. That is part of the reason that the highest ranked schools (including anything ranked in the top 10 in pretty much any ranking) have such low drop out rates.
And if your “dream school” is also ranked in the top 10 or even top 20 then admission is unlikely for even the strongest students. The list of students turned down by any top 20 school is an impressive list that includes many very, very well qualified students.
You could do this. Be aware that if you do this, then you are breaking an agreement that you signed, and there is a very good chance that you will be turned down by your “dream school”, and also turned down by the school that accepted you ED this year.
I am wondering the same thing.
I do not understand why not. Perhaps I am missing something.
There is one last thing that might be worth mentioning. Many years ago in applying to graduate programs I was turned down by my “dream” school. I attended my second choice. I LOVED IT! I also did very well. I eventually figured out that my second choice had always been a much better fit for me. The schools figured this out before I did. I am wondering whether you will find something similar if you give your ED school a chance. It is hard to know for sure, and hard to say much more without having more information.
Certainly if you do end up attending any university or college ranked in the top 10 in pretty much any ranking, you will want to show up in September ready to make a strong effort to stay well ahead in your class work. You will want to take advantage of this huge opportunity and put in the effort to do so.
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It’s only February. Relax. Buyers remorse is common but you have time to enjoy your acceptance. Remember the reasons (besides increased chance of acceptance) that you chose it.
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I still have not heard of a good enough reason not to go. Thinking you will get into someplace better is probably an illusion in the current college climate. Let’s face it. You got lucky. Yes, you had the GPA etc and are deserving. But with colleges getting hundred of thousands of application’s skill and luck happen. Congratulations!!
But don’t go to this or any school thinking about your end goal of transferring. Not the correct way to attack college. Give it your all and be proud of your accomplishments. As stated you could end up at your public university next year. Which for many is a great option.
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My short answer to your question is if they have a policy of allowing ED admits to take a gap year, then telling them you want to take a gap year will not likely lead to them voiding your ED agreement. If they don’t allow ED admits to take a gap year, then maybe.
My longer answer is similar to others. The only situation in which I would even think about this is if your ED school is the entirely wrong type of school. Like, say you applied ED to a school without an engineering program, and now you want to do engineering. Presumably this would be a surprising new development, but it could happen.
That doesn’t sound like your situation, though. From what you described, it isn’t the wrong type of school, you just now prefer another school.
In that case, I agree with others: give your ED college a try! Most people who go to a selective, well-regarded residential college in the US end up liking it, often in fact finding it hard to imagine having gone somewhere else that would actually have been better. Among other reasons, it quickly becomes obvious most such colleges provide many more desirable opportunities than you could possibly make use of, so the idea another college would do more for you doesn’t make much sense. You typically realize that the real key is choosing the best opportunities for you and making the most of them, which you can do at many colleges.
And in the rare case your first college really isn’t working for you, then you can transfer. But by that point, you will actually know something about what college is really like, what works for you as an individual and what doesn’t, and what else you actually need. And so you will be able to put together a reasonable list of transfer colleges, to make sure you get what you really need in a college.
As a final thought, I understand the pressures kids can be under and how all this can get them in a bad mental space, but from the perspective of an older adult who has seen a lot of people succeed in education, and succeed in life (and the second doesn’t always follow the first, by the way) . . . trust me, overall you are in a great position at this point in a very long process. You have been admitted to an excellent college, presumably it is affordable, and you can now relax and just enjoy finishing out your senior year.
And again, it is very likely that in a few years when you are looking back, you will realize your younger self had no reason to be concerned. And if not, it will be fixable.
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You are in a T10 school that is affordable and that you liked enough to apply to ED. Not really sure how you can materially improve your situation.
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Re the deferral/gap year suggestions, I don’t know the school but typically a deferral is granted on the condition that the ED commitment is still binding. I’m not sure that’s clear from some of the discussion here.
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