A Higher Offer: When Should I Wait To Commit To A College?

Each year, high school seniors look forward to May 1 as an informal culmination of the college applications season. It’s the day that decisions are due back to colleges, the deadline by which seniors must decide and commit to the institution they’ll attend in the fall.

 

But these decisions aren’t binding and more and more often, colleges are starting to vie for candidates even after this deadline has passed. As reported by The New York Times, in 2017, at least four private liberal arts schools reached out to students from whom they did not hear a response by May 1st. Though their promises were vague, each hinted at the possibility of increased financial aid packages available, should the students choose to attend.

 

The ethical questions raised by this practice are many. Is it all right to lure students away from one school with the promise of more money at another? Are rising college freshmen fair game up until they move on campus? And for the students, should they hold out for higher offers, or even play schools against one another to get the best deal? There are no easy answers, and it’s likely that only time will reveal the new standards of practice in this changing landscape of the college admissions game.

 

If you’re a high school senior looking forward to choosing a college this spring, you may be wondering if you should still commit to a school before May 1st. Perhaps you’re tempted to hold out for a better offer, or even withdraw your committal to attend another school if they have more financial aid available. Is this practice going to become the new normal? Should you give it a try?

 

In this post, we’ll outline the pros and cons of waiting for a better offer, and we’ll lend some insight towards how to make your choice if another college reaches out to you — even after you’ve committed somewhere else. These complicated issues are bound to become more and more common over the years to come, so don’t miss this important insight.

 

What are the advantages of waiting to commit to a college?

Most colleges will tell you that the deadline to commit is May 1st, but as we discuss above, this isn’t hard and fast. Perhaps your top-choice school has offered a financial aid package that doesn’t meet your needs. Maybe you are considering a better package at a school that isn’t so appealing to you for other reasons. In many cases, finances are a primary consideration in choosing a college, so rather than choosing your top choice, you’re selecting a school based on the financial package it offers.

 

If you wait, there’s a chance that you could be offered a better package at a more appealing school. You never know.

 

While this might seem like a pipe dream, it’s not impossible. In 2017, several competitive private schools reached out to students after May 1st, including Hampshire College, Elizabethtown College, Washington & Jefferson College, and Ursinus College. But can you count on this happening to you?

 

What are the disadvantages of waiting to commit to a college?

Ultimately, you can never count on a better offer coming your way, so if you don’t commit to a school by May 1st, you may lose your place entirely. In fact, after May 1st, many colleges start accepting students off their waitlists if they still have spaces to fill. By waiting to commit to a college, you risk losing your place to another student who has anxiously stayed on the waitlist in hopes of someone else not taking a place.

 

In addition, the ethical questions raised by the practice of poaching students away from one college to another are not insignificant. Often, the new offers aren’t cut and dry and may require significant bargaining on your part. Even then, you’ve put yourself in a difficult situation by potentially reneging on a written agreement you’ve made with another school. It’s important to ask yourself how comfortable you are with this situation and whether it represents a moral line you’re not willing to cross.