Resigning after confirming enrollment

[alloy]

Hi, 

 

Did anyone resigned from pursuing the degree after confirming enrollment (e.g. because of getting out of the waitlist at another university)? I understand that is such a situation I will lose the deposit but I am wondering whether there can be any other problems associated with that. 

[MPAallday]

Hey alloy! I had a thread on this topic a while back -- deciding whether or not to enroll while waiting it out at another school. Basically, the consensus I got from the thread was that it's been done before (withdrawing from another university to attend your first choice), but it's generally frowned upon. Apparently schools do not want you there if you do not want to be there anyways, so I'm assuming they will understand that that's how the game works. Of course, it depends highly on the programs involved. Which one are you withdrawing from?

[alloy]

I am still thinking which school should I choose. My heart says Georgetown, my head says SAIS

[hedong123]

Since both schools are amazing I say go with your heart!

[MPAallday]

Did any schools offer funding? If not, do you think you'd be able to finance your education at either university?

[levo99p]

hey guys... related to this question, can we defer enrollment after accepting an offer? I'm sure schools have different policies, but was wondering generally speaking what their policies are... 

[uncgrad2009]

hey guys... related to this question, can we defer enrollment after accepting an offer? I'm sure schools have different policies, but was wondering generally speaking what their policies are... 

I believe that policies related to deferring your offer of admission would vary widely from school to school.   I have applied to schools that don't allow you to defer your offer of admission while other schools allow you to defer your offer of admission.  In any event, you should definitely speak to an admissions representative from the school that you are planning on attending to see what the individual school's policy is and your individual extenuating circumstances.

[Gov2School]

I believe that policies related to deferring your offer of admission would vary widely from school to school.   I have applied to schools that don't allow you to defer your offer of admission while other schools allow you to defer your offer of admission.  In any event, you should definitely speak to an admissions representative from the school that you are planning on attending to see what the individual school's policy is and your individual extenuating circumstances.

 As unc says, the process varies a lot school to school.  Most schools have an option to request deferral when you reply to their admissions offer.  Then you usually have to upload a letter explaining why you want to defer, and the school adjudicates it and gets back to you with a decision.  Some schools make it easy, others make it harder.  At HKS for example, you can defer, but you have to reapply for financial aid the winter before you enroll (and you lose any aid that they may have offered you initially), so you're taking a risk. You might get offered money again, you might not.    Many schools have similar policies, it's easy to defer, but you have to reapply for aid.  SIPA's policy is more strict, if you defer you can lose all fellowship money and you aren't allowed to reapply for financial aid in the winter.  They encourage you to instead decline your offer and re-apply, they look very favorably on reapplicants and you can re-apply for aid at that time.  WWS lets you defer without impacting your financial aid.  It can also vary depending on what type of scholarship you get awarded, as certain scholarships can have specific strings attached that would make it impossible to defer, while others could be deferrable. 

Some schools have these policies posted on their sites, but for most it's very unclear, so you just have to email or call the admissions office and ask (or ask at an admissions event).  Don't worry about them putting a black mark against you, they understand that situations change and you're well within your rights to know what your options are.   Once I got my offers I immediately started contacting schools to find out what their policies were and how a deferral would impact me, and they were all very helpful.  Just keep in mind that they want you to be deferring for a legitimate reason, like pursuing a professional opportunity, and not just because you got cold feet. 

[alloy]

And georgetown mspp allows to defer for one year without any explanation and whenever you want to do it (before or after accepting admission), which is quite nice policy. On the other hand you are loosing all the fellowship money and you are considered for it once more together with next incoming class.

[alloy]

Did any schools offer funding? If not, do you think you'd be able to finance your education at either university?

most probably i will be fully funded so there is no need to worry about aid from schools.