Accepting Two Offers

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CherokeeBC2016

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Sep 5, 2015
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Hey, all, I just have a quick question regarding accepting college offers. I recently got accepted into Texas A&M University; however, that is only my plan B. My plan A is to (hopefully) attend the USAFA. So my question is...if I accept the Texas A&M offer as my plan B, would I be able to cancel my admission there if USAFA were to accept me? Or do I have to wait until May 1st to officially decide?
 
Our son accepted an offer of admission to his plan B, paid the enrollment fee, and kept that option open until he got through Beast. Until the day he was officially accepted into the Corps of Cadets on A-Day, that plan B could still have become plan A.
 
CherokeeBC2016 said:
Hey, all, I just have a quick question regarding accepting college offers. I recently got accepted into Texas A&M University; however, that is only my plan B. My plan A is to (hopefully) attend the USAFA. So my question is...if I accept the Texas A&M offer as my plan B, would I be able to cancel my admission there if USAFA were to accept me? Or do I have to wait until May 1st to officially decide?
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Cherokee, there are a few other posts on this very subject, you can start here:
http://www.serviceacademyforums.com...-cancel-free-school-visits.37276/#post-364713

You should not burn any bridges and yes, it is Okay to wait until May (or whatever their cut-off date is) to accept any school offers, however, I would go ahead and put down a deposit so that you can sign up for freshman housing. It is 100 percent refundable.

My DD was also accepted to A&M. She signed up for the August orientation, paid her housing deposit and selected freshmen housing just in case she is not appointed or if something happens during BCT. She will then decline if all goes well. She did the same for Baylor University. We are waiting on NMS finalist announcements in February to select the #1 college.

1+ VelveteenR. I would accept your plan B and pay deposit until BCT is over. You never know what will happen. If you get a medical turn back, you could be out of a spot if you decline and any scholarships as well. If you read over some of the other threads, some colleges are willing to work with students regarding SAs and some are not. You have nothing to lose by calling the bursar and discussing your situation. The way we see it, is losing a deposit due to an academy appointment is a small price to pay as none of us has a crystal ball.
 
I have a different point of view. Nothing wrong with waiting until the deadline to accept or decline an offer from your Plan B school if you don't hear from your Plan A school or even accepting the offer from your Plan B now and declining it after you get an offer from Plan A.

It comes down to what kind of commitment you are making when you accept an offer from a college? Is it a simple contract that can be broken by forfeiting whatever deposit you make? Is it a promise that you will attend that college?

There are many arguments why its okay to accept two offers - not illegal, SA is different, you are not taking an opportunity from someone else, and etc.

However, would you accept two invites to your prom?
 
There is another reason to accept it now. Many colleges use that acceptance and deposit as a holding spot for not only the housing list, but also orientation.

I know TAMU will require their cadets to live in the Corps dorm, but other colleges with ROTC do not all have a "ROTC" dorm. The ROTC cadets are housed across the campus with traditional students. Paying early means that if the schools have some really great dorms, and some that are eh, than when they start handing out the assignments you will have a higher chance of getting the great dorm because you paid earlier than the others.

The same may also be true for the orientations. Orientation time slots are important because at orientation you get to sign up for your classes. Some class times will fill up faster than others. As soon as you accept than they will send you their information and you can sign up for orientation.

Now for the prom analogy. I think it is a good analogy, but I see it a little differently, maybe because my DD had some very close male friends. They made deals with each other months in advance...if neither of them had a prom date by X day they would go with each other.
~ Basically that is the same deal we are talking about here. Colleges, especially an SMC knows if the student is going to join the Corps. They know that many will use them as plan B for the SAs.

I get it if they were saying they are paying deposits to every single college accepted to, but if they know that this is their honest to goodness number 1 plan B than I am in the accept and pay the deposit now camp.
~ If it is I need to see the merit package from them to make sure I can afford to attend than wait until the merit package drops.
 
I'd wait for the deadlines only if you will not be getting last picks of housing, missing orientation opportunities, etcetera. Otherwise, if you can afford it I recommend paying the deposit and securing your spot. Good-Luck.
 
My DD accepted her acceptance to her Plan B college (private) and then deferred for a year when she got her USAFA acceptance. When she told them why, they were pretty understanding about it. Seeing as she is very happy at the academy, I think we are going to need to cancel that. We will lose our deposit but I am fine with that.

Note that most public universities will not allow you to defer. We even asked how late we could delay the housing deposit (a lot more money than the original deposit that I wasn't willing to lose) and they wouldn't let us do that even when I explained that she was going to basic training and would like to attend their university if something happened.
 
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