<p>I don’t think that it is anyone’s intention to make you depressed and unsure about the situation. </p>
<p>At this stage of the game, if you really in your heart feel that the LAC is not for you, contact them and your GC and withdraw your application - pain and simple. But by the same token, if you are having second thoughts because of "what it’ put it out of your mind. Just keep in moving and don’t look back.</p>
<p>However, don’t withdraw with the thoughts that you will attend Harvard, as Courier is correct in stating that well over 90% of the applicant pool is going to be denied admission.</p>
<p>You will also have limited options as attending any other school outside of your local state U as many schools do share ED applicant lists and they will honor your commitment to the other school (even if you do not). </p>
<p>This is probably all very hard for you and a bit overwhelming right now. It would be easy to dismiss what everyone is saying and do what you want to do but you also know in your heart, that there is no right way to do something you know is wrong.</p>
<p>cogit: don’t feel like this is the end of the world. theres a very high chance you’ll really enjoy the LAC. I’m a student too, and although I got into my first choice, I couldn’t attend for financial reasons. I actually ended up at my last choice, even though I’d been accepted everywhere else (once again, money). I’m having a good time though, and I’m sure you will too at the LAC. Always remember that you can transfer, even after your first quarter/semester. </p>
<p>Also, idk what you think about this, but has anyone suggested a gap year? If you feel this trapped, maybe taking a year to work, do a study abroad trip, volunteer, etc, will give you more time to think about your options. plus, everyone needs a break from school every once in a while.</p>
<p>I don’t think the LAC would force this student to attend. Students accepted ED DO make decisions not to attend their ED school of acceptance and that is fine. </p>
<p>BUT the ED school should NOT be releasing a student from an ED CONTRACT because the student violated the rules of that contract and submitted or didn’t withdraw other applications AFTER the ED acceptance came through. </p>
<p>If the OP really does NOT want to attend that LAC, that is a personal decision. He/she could write a nice letter stating that they have reconsidered and will not be taking the offer of acceptance. BUT…that would mean that this student would also not be taking an offer of acceptance to any similar school. The student could enroll at a community college for the year, or take a gap year, and apply to schools next year again.</p>
<p>No one is implying that this student is required to attend the ED LAC. What folks are saying is that if the student wants out of the ED contract, it can’t be to attend a school accepting them in the RD round.</p>
<p>cogit, Northstarmom is a Harvard alum and she regularily interviews applicants, so believe her when she says that Harvard honors ED commitments at other colleges. Your ONLY HONORABLE option now is to notify Harvard, and any other colleges where you still have applications open, that you have been accepted elsewhere and are withdrawing you application.</p>
<p>It doesn’t MATTER what what a adcom ONCE SAID. What matters is the present. Northstarmom KNOWS what Harvard’s current policy is. So forget Harvard, go to the LAC that accepted you and bloom where you’re planted.</p>
<p>This statement by an adcom is in NO WAY the policy of Harvard. Clearly there is a lot of sentiment for ED being not used and several Ivies have eliminated it. BUT that doesn’t mean that Harvard’s policy is not to uphold this agreement. While the adcom may have said “it stinks”, it is still a policy that Harvard upholds.</p>
<p>And even if/when Harvard makes a decision to do away with ED in its application process, that does NOT mean that Harvard would not honor the ED commitments made by its applicants to schools which continue to have ED in their application process.</p>
<p>Harvard KNOWS that there are still schools that have ED applications. Harvard would NOT knowingly accept a student who has already been accepted ED at another school. The reality is that the Harvard application should have been withdrawn once the ED acceptance was in hand at the other school.</p>
<p>“Second, I would HIGHLY doubt that Harvard or any other school will find out about an ED cancellation especially from a non-ivy league school.”.
Taxguy, NSM and others like sybbie has repeatedly said over the years that top colleges, not just Ivy’s, share their list of ED acceptances. Your “assumption” is wrong and not based on fact.</p>
<p>As an aside, no student should ever apply Ed if financial considerations are important. Kids forget this under the pressure of wanted to be accepted as fast as possible.</p>
<p>There was a very sharp girl in our high school who did very well on the ACT (34)… She applied to a number of good schools but applied ED to University of Rochester despite being from a one-parent household whose mom didn’t make that much money. She was accepted and given a paultry $10,000 per year in scholarships. Yes, $10,000 per year is nice,but she is on the hook for the remaining $25,000 a year PLUS room and board. </p>
<p>Morale: DON"T apply ED UNLESS the school guarantees affordable payments, such as Harvard, or you have no financial need whatsover.</p>
<p>"I don’t want to argue but it is a big deal.’ Cogit you are hanging on to false hope inspite of all the advise from parents in this forum who know what Harvards current policies are. The longer you cling to false hope, they harder it will be for you to accept the reality of your situation and move on.</p>
<p>Don’t hold your breath. Harvard does not go against contracts. I have given my last bit of advice on this thread. Cogit, in my opinion you are grasping at straws. </p>
<p>I would agree that this thread be closed. This OP is asking for the posters to agree that what he/she is attempting to do is honest, ethical and above board. It isn’t.</p>
<p>Why did someone at Harvard say that ED stinks? Probably because he believed it. Harvard used ED for a while and didn’t like it at all – too many applications, too unbalanced socioeconomically, not enough thought behind them. That’s why it abandoned ED and went to SCEA, and then (perhaps as a result of Derek Bok’s caretaker presidency, since he had been very critical of ED) abandoned early admissions altogether.</p>
<p>A lot of people, I included, feel ambivalent about ED. EA seems a lot more fair. But EA doesn’t help colleges predict their class sizes and composition anywhere near as well, and lots of colleges, especially LACs, really think they need an ED option.</p>
<p>Harvard (and Yale, etc.) is in a funny position. It doesn’t get any benefit out of the ED system at all. It doesn’t need ED to manage its enrollment, since its yield is almost completely predictable. So it stands to reason that no one at Harvard is really going to care much for ED. But, on the other hand, in the elite-college admissions world, Harvard (and Yale, etc.) is like an 800-pound gorilla in a room full of much smaller, more fragile animals. If it ACTS like an 800-pound gorilla, it can do some serious damage to the ecosystem, which wouldn’t be good for anyone long term. So it has to be careful not to throw its weight around too much. And publicly disregarding ED commitments by students it accepts – that would be throwing its weight around a lot.</p>
<p>Long-term, it’s in Harvard’s interest that there be lots of high-quality options in higher education, including great LACs. Harvard does NOT want to be the only game in town. It’s going to compete vigorously with other colleges to attract the students it wants, but it probably wouldn’t want to be seen as abusing its power by breaking rules that help its competitors. And, in the end, one or one dozen great students mean very little to Harvard, which has an almost unlimited supply of them.</p>
<p>I think Harvard and other top schools are also looking for prospective students with character and integrity. Backing out of ED in a way described by the OP clearly shows lack of both. Why would a school like Harvard “settle” for such a student, when they have thousands others to choose from?</p>
<p>",May be Harvard doesn’t want to look arrogant by saying it wouldn’t uphold ED officially. "</p>
<p>You’re kidding yourself. I’ve been a regional alum interviewer and have been on the national committee of alum interviewers. Harvard wants students who stand by their commitments, and Harvard will rescind the admission of students whom it learns were accepted ED elsewhere.</p>
<p>There are plenty of outstanding students who apply to Harvard. It has no reason to bother accepting those who aren’t ethical. It doesn’t want to accept students with red flags indicating they’d be cheaters as students and embarassments as alum.</p>
<p>In addition, the admissions officers are friends with admissions officers at other colleges, including less competitive ones. They want their friends to value their integrity.</p>
<p>LOL, thumper. You have had much more patience with the OP than I . I answered the hypothetical question in post 2 and had no more advice to give.</p>
<p>“^My only doubt is that a Harvard adcom once said “ED stinks”.Why do you think he said that?”</p>
<p>More grasping at straws. Harvard doesn’t like ED, which is why it doesn’t offer ED. It does, however, expect that students to stand by any ED commitments they make.</p>