What should I put for reason to decline an acceptance?

[qmcat]

In the acceptance package, there's a slip of paper with two checkboxes, one for "accept" and the other for "decline offer", and at the bottom, it says if you are declining please state your reason.

One of my friends says to not put the name of the other school that you got accepted into because the school will start bothering you with why did you pick X school over us and etc.

So I was just wondering, how do I politely decline and what should I put for my reason? Can I just say something like thanks for the acceptance offer but I have decided not to attend (being really unspecific)?

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[ILikeFood]

I'd check "decline offer" and send it in. They don't need to know your reasons. They'll know enough to offer a spot to someone else.

 

[JackInTheBox]

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4KRDVsSsKE[/YOUTUBE]

 

[Rabbit36]

Maybe they'll reject your decline if you don't give a good enough reason

I agree you don't need to give any reason if you don't want to. Otherwise just say you decided on a different option that in the end was a better fit.

 

[qmcat]

[youtube]G4KRDVsSsKE[/youtube]

LOL.

Thanks for the advice everyone. I guess you're right... it probably doesn't matter since they can't "reject my decline" haha.

And thanks for the vid, Jackinthebox. Classic!

 

[drcarter77]

ya i went with some jsut like "thank you for your offer, but I must respectfully decline"

unless you want to be a real tool and go with something, like your school is ranked significantly lower than the other school i got into and i really hated the person I interviewed with. j/k

what are the rules regarding holding multiple offers, or at least at what point are you being a jerk to other people if you are holding more than one offer?

 

[Soccerdoc11]

haha yesss... wonderful clip

 

[JackInTheBox]

what are the rules regarding holding multiple offers, or at least at what point are you being a jerk to other people if you are holding more than one offer?

Hold onto as many as you want until May 15th. Considering that by that point schools will have interviewed and offered more acceptances than they have spots for, giving up your spot early isn't going to make any real difference.

 

[drcarter77]

Hold onto as many as you want until May 15th. Considering that by that point schools will have interviewed and offered more acceptances than they have spots for, giving up your spot early isn't going to make any real difference.

is that really the case? i thought that the majority of even average selectivity schools were only accepting up to the number of individuals they want in their classes. I.e. even temple told me at my interview there that they were taking extra precautions to ensure that only 190 (or whatever the number was) students were in next years class.

 

[EpiPEN]

Take your Harvard (assuming here) rejection letter, change Harvard Medical School with your name, and change your name with that school's name.

now send it back to them






yes and add the smilie too

 

[EpiPEN]

Hold onto as many as you want until May 15th. Considering that by that point schools will have interviewed and offered more acceptances than they have spots for, giving up your spot early isn't going to make any real difference.

this is kind of an ass thing to do, even though you have every right to. If you know you aren't going for the school, open the spot up for someone else who is dying to go to that school, so they won't be twiddling their thumbs getting ulcers in their stomach from worrying whether or not they have a spot. When I got my CA acceptance, I turned down all my out of state acceptances because I knew I won't be going out of state for them.

 

[DrYoda]

is that really the case? i thought that the majority of even average selectivity schools were only accepting up to the number of individuals they want in their classes. I.e. even temple told me at my interview there that they were taking extra precautions to ensure that only 190 (or whatever the number was) students were in next years class.

I allways thought they filled up to the class limit and then as people decline, they pull in folks off the waitlist. Seems to make the most sense.

 

[mmmcdowe]

this is kind of an ass thing to do, even though you have every right to. If you know you aren't going for the school, open the spot up for someone else who is dying to go to that school, so they won't be twiddling their thumbs getting ulcers in their stomach from worrying whether or not they have a spot. When I got my CA acceptance, I turned down all my out of state acceptances because I knew I won't be going out of state for them.

UNLESS financial aid could make a difference to your choice. If you wouldn't go there on full scholarship, then drop it.

 

[silverlining1]

ya i went with some jsut like "thank you for your offer, but I must respectfully decline"

Sounds good. There's no need to offer a reason.

UNLESS financial aid could make a difference to your choice. If you wouldn't go there on full scholarship, then drop it.

Agreed. You've earned the right to take the time to make a decision that you're satisfied with, but if you're not seriously considering an acceptance that you're holding, please do withdraw.

 

[unsung]

I allways thought they filled up to the class limit and then as people decline, they pull in folks off the waitlist. Seems to make the most sense.

It's standard practice to offer more acceptances than spots available at many schools. The idea being that they can count on a certain portion of applicants they offer acceptances to to decline since they hold other acceptances, etc. At some schools, they may offer between 2 to 3 acceptances for each eventual matriculant. I'm sure the ratio differs depending on the school. U of MN offered too many acceptances one year and ended up overfilling its class... I believe they ended up offering deferred admission (w/ some generous financial aid thrown in) to some students.

 

[JackInTheBox]

this is kind of an ass thing to do, even though you have every right to. If you know you aren't going for the school, open the spot up for someone else who is dying to go to that school, so they won't be twiddling their thumbs getting ulcers in their stomach from worrying whether or not they have a spot. When I got my CA acceptance, I turned down all my out of state acceptances because I knew I won't be going out of state for them.

I agree that it's a dick move to hold onto 15 acceptances when you'd honestly only consider a few, but I was thinking more along the lines of what mmmcdowe was talking about: hold onto any and all schools you would seriously consider until you hear their financial aid offers.