When to Commit to a College

Hey guys, it’s Eric at Solution Prep and college acceptances are starting to come in. If you applied early through rolling admissions, Early Action, or even Early Decision, we’re starting to see a trickle of those acceptances. That’s going to turn into a flood in December, finishing up by about January 15th for all of those colleges.

Once a college has accepted you, they want you to commit. They want you to send a deposit so they know they’ve got you. But for rolling admissions and for Early Action, you have until May 1st to make a decision. And you want to hold. Don’t let them try to get that money out of you by saying you’re going to lose out on housing if they guarantee housing. Don’t let them put you into a group chat where students there are trying to peer pressure you into making that decision: “Come on, we’ll all be friends.” You want to make sure that you’ve reviewed all of the acceptances, and most importantly, your award letters before you commit.

Why would you ever agree to something before they tell you the price? And yes, accepting before you get the award letter can reduce the amount of award that you’re going to get. Now, of course, Early Decision is a little different because it’s a binding commitment. And if you apply to a college Early Decision, the only reason that you can withdraw from that is if you just cannot afford it. And you may have to make that deposit sometime in January. So of course, read that fine print carefully.

But the most important reason why you should not make a deposit too soon is that you agreed when you applied to all these colleges that you would only make a deposit to one college. And that once you did, you would withdraw your application from every other college and let them all know that you won’t be coming there. Now, is it a law? Are they going to come break down your door and drag you out in handcuffs? No. But ethically, you should do the right thing.

And of course, your guidance counselor is not going to abide by you having committed to multiple colleges, and multiple colleges reaching out and saying, “Hey, this student is now guaranteed to come with us. Send us some more stuff.” So read the fine print carefully. Make sure you’re living up to your agreements. Hold until you know what the award letter looks like.

And if you have questions, call us at 732-556-8220. We are here to help.