Thanks
bb I think I agree with you that they should allow accepted candidates to defer a year, however I haven't heard of anyone successfully doing so. I have heard of people flat out declining business school as a whole after deposit simply because they felt that they could achieve their goals without an MBA. I don't think that's wrong at all, in fact I believe it is fairly admirable.
I also see how waiting to see other schools' decisions can be desirable simply to satisfy my personal curiosity. However, I also think that "not withdrawing" immediately is somewhat "unfair" to waitlist applicants. Ultimately though, only qualified applicants will get admitted and if someone is truly qualified and deserving, they will get admitted off the waitlist when someone declines an offer.
According to the language for early decision, I believe someone has fulfilled their moral obligation to the early decision/early action commitment as long as they eventually decline other offers or withdraw their application. The commitment does not indicate a specific time after receiving acceptance. Although, I personally would withdraw immediately to allow for other applicants to have a better shot at schools I would clearly no longer be interested in.
It'd be interesting to hear from other users with unique dilemmas however regarding the early decision binding statements (
Shakandbake)...