Congratulations on getting accepted to your top choice school! What a smart college to recognize what a great addition you would make to their campus!
If you are like increasing numbers of college applicants, you decided to apply to your top choice college under a binding, early decision agreement. If you were accepted during the early decision round, that’s where you will be next fall. Here’s what you need to do next:
- Pay the matriculation deposit.
- Withdraw your applications from all other schools.
- Submit the necessary housing and health forms.
- Go back to your recommenders and share the good news with them. If you haven’t already, send them a proper thank you note and, possibly, a small gift to acknowledge their support and effort.
- Send a note to your admissions officer telling him how excited you are and thanking him for his support (at this time, he is getting lots of angry phone calls and letters so you will be the bright spot in his day and he will remember the gesture).
- Consider sending a note to admissions officers of schools to which you have withdrawn, thanking them for their support and letting them know why you will not be attending their school. Not only is this polite, it is smart. You never know what will happen in a year so it’s always a good idea to keep doors open at different colleges in case you decide to transfer.
- Submit financial aid forms and scholarship applications.
- Remember that all acceptances are conditional on your senior year performance so don’t let senioritis kick in. Schools WILL reneg an offer of admissions if grades fall below a C. Be sure to keep your grades up.
- Celebrate.
If you were either deferred from your early decision school or accepted to your non-binding early action schools, the offer is not binding. You will have until May 1 to decide where you will matriculate. So, sit back, relax and see what other offers (academic and financial) you receive. However, once you have a made a decision, there is no advantage to waiting to commit. And, for some schools, there may be a disadvantage as housing options fill up.
