Can I accept another schools admission and reject it later if I get into an SA?

A

ashley1spear

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Feb 14, 2022
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I have my backup school ready to go, they’re just waiting for my acceptance of admission. Am I able to accept my admission to the school and later decline then if I get into USAFA? I want to make sure my spot isn’t given away but I don’t want to accept if it’s legally binding and I later receive a decision from USAFA
 
If your backup is a college/university, you have until their deadline to accept (usually May 1). They can't and won't give away your spot until their deadline. You can accept elsewhere then change your mind, but you would lose your deposit at that school. Good luck!!
 
That would be fine. Quite a few SA appointees hold a place in a civilian school until I/A/R Day. Some hold a place even longer, in case anything happens during summer training.

From your perspective, the main issue is whether you’re willing to lose your deposit (usually a few hundred dollars). For us, that was a small premium to pay for an “insurance policy” on an SA. You may lose it by going to an SA, but you’ll recoup it in spades with the “free” education.

From the school’s perspective, they care mainly about that deposit. You won’t hurt any feelings or burn any bridges by not showing up in the fall. In fact, schools plan for this attrition. They even have a name for it: “summer melt.” That said, it doesn’t hurt to send an email prior to the school year, saying “thanks but no thanks.”
 
A word to the wise. Make sure that you provide your eventual decline IN WRITING and keep copies where you can refer to it later. One of my daughters had a deposit in at Arizona State and later declined them to go to a school in Boston. We thought that the $500 deposit was all that we were risking/losing here but ASU started billing her for the rest of the entire year's tuition plus room and board. They claimed that she owed over twenty thousand dollars and billed her incessantly until they sent it to a collection agency which hounded her for years afterward. They refused to deal with me and would not budge on any of it even when I had legal representation. My daughter eventually just rode it out with the massive hit to her credit record because as far as she was concerned, they got $500 more from us then they should have and she didn't want to waste more time or money on them afterward.
By the way, she HAD emailed them to decline
 
Adding, you can also inquire about getting the deposit back, should you receive your appointment. Worst they can say is no. My youngest received his deposit back. Later in May.
 
Yes you can, but be sure you are aware of what may be binding or nonrefundable. We put down housing deposits at his top 2 schools while we were waiting to see if he was offered an appointment. They were nonrefundable but we felt like it was a good insurance policy. One of them we even held after May 1 and a week or two into BCT. (We were very transparent with the university about what was going on.) In the event that my son got sick or injured or otherwise did not complete BCT, we wanted to know he would have a place to "land."
 
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