Dilemma with Early Decision (binding)

Question

Hi, I was accepted to a school (lets call it school B) in early decision which is binding. I am having second thought about going to this school since my wife didn't get into this school despite applying early admissions. We want to go to the same school or at least be close by. Both of us have at this point secured interview invitations from top 5 US schools and feel that we can secure an offer from these schools. These five schools are relatively close by and even if we don't get into the same school we will not be too far off. However, if I choose to go to school B and she goes to one of the 5 schools that she got interview from, we will be very far off and will not be able to see each other as frequently as we would like.

I am curious to know if someone can comment on what happens if i break the binding decision. Will the school understand my situation or will they retaliate in any manner?

I am curious to know if someone can comment on what happens if i break the binding decision. Will the school understand my situation or will they retaliate in any manner?

politricks · Answer

You will likely just lose your deposit money. I have a friend who was recently accepeted into Columbia via ED, but is still going full-steam ahead with the Wharton interview.

There have been a few posts on this topic. The consensus has been that schools have better things to do with their time than exact vengeance against you. They'll just take your deposit money and run.

https://gmatclub.com/static/posted_from.png     Posted from    GMAT ToolKit

Shakandbake · Answer

hi politricks, thanks for your response. Just for clarity, is your friend in the situation right now? My fear is that admissions committee community is very small and the school I got accepted to might retaliate. Have you heard of any such instances? Is there any post you could refer me to? Has your friend put his deposit down at CBS?

politricks · Answer

That's the threat adcoms make, "Community is small, we all talk." But again, I would think they have more important things to do than to go after applicants. I don't know if there has been a confirmed case on the message boards of someone doing this, but I know there has been a lot of chatter.

My friend is currently in your position.

Posted from GMAT ToolKit

My friend is currently in your position.

https://gmatclub.com/static/posted_from.png     Posted from    GMAT ToolKit

Shakandbake · Answer

thanks for your comment! I am going through a lot of anxiety due to this.

If you hear more from your friend, I would love for you to keep me posted.

dtse86 · Answer

Shakandbake,

You sound like you have a fairly legitimate reason to be considering another school. I'm surprised they did not take that into account when they evaluated yours and your wife's application.

I however find it very interesting that people like politricks' friend still continue on with applications at other schools although they are technically bound with an early admit.

I've started a poll discussion about this topic if you'd like to add your thoughts to it as well. I think you certainly have an interesting situation that I would personally feel justifies your reason to attend another school.

The poll is here:  https://gmatclub.com/forum/to-withdraw-or-not-withdraw-187969.html#p1437476

BazingAu · Answer

Just make your deposits as you continue with your applications elsewhere. However, have you considered calling the school? You can let them know that your wife also applied and that she was denied in early decision, and it would be a huge hardship if you had to go to a different school in another state as your wife. See what they say. Maybe they will consider a re-eval for R1 or R2.

Shakandbake · Answer

dtse86 ........ thanks for your comment. Have you heard of anyone being in similar situation to mine? What can school do if I am unable to uphold my commitment as circumstances have changed? Would love your candid insight.

@BazingAu.......thank you for responding. I did talk to the admissions people and they said that they are unable to do much at this point, but will look at the class profile overall after R2 and see whether they can give her a seat. However, from my wife's perspective, it feels like a charity case for her and she won't be pursuing her candidacy at that school. This puts me in a bind. Can you comment as to what school can do if I renege on my binding admissions?

dtse86 · Answer

Unfortunately, I haven't really heard of anyone being in the exact same situation as you. Your situation is somewhat unique. I have heard that they really can't do much if you decide to go elsewhere except resent you and some people do say that the b-school admissions community is "small". I have seen various school admissions officers talk with each other at MBA fairs as if they knew each other very well and so, you wouldn't really want to upset them too much because word can travel. However, I think that if you were to explain to them as politely and professionally as possible they won't be too upset. Admissions officers are people too, and it would be inhuman to expect someone to move away from their spouse just because of a "binding" agreement.

On a slightly different note, I do know of a friend that declined an early admit however he chose not to go to b-school at all and the admissions officers were not too upset about that. I think what would upset them was an applicant that applied early decision/early action but never held that school as their number one choice and decided to go to another school after being accepted.

Once again, your scenario is different and I think it's very apparent that you (and your spouse) felt that the school was both of your first picks only if you both could attend simultaneously. Now that you can't your preference has changed.

BazingAu · Answer

Why does it matter if your wife would be a charity case or not? It's what she does with the program once she gets in that matters. I'll take a charity acceptance from a top 5 school any day! In any case, if you are wondering if there is a blackbook that the adcoms pass around from school to school, there isn't. At least not at the school I worked at. They will take your deposit though.

Shakandbake · Answer

BazingAu ...... i recognize what you are saying, but from my wife's perspective it is about pride. She has worked hard all her life to put herself in a position to succeed. If she gets admitted to a school after the school has rejected her in EA, she knows that only reason the school took her is because of me and she is not willing to comprise her personal value.

Shakandbake · Answer

@BazingAu........do you have any insight into what the school can do if I renege on the offer? Should I be candid and tell them the situation i am in?

BazingAu · Answer

They will keep your deposit, and then have the option of suing you for the remaining full value of your spot (i.e. tuition and fees for the entire program). I haven't seen it done, but they could.

As for your wife, it sounds like she's getting stubbornness confused with pride. The entire business world depends on leveraging connections and networks, analyzing costs and benefits, and making decisions based on all of the above. Steve Jobs - fired from Apple. If he let his "pride" get in the way, he would not have returned, and history would not have been made. Just IMHO.

Shakandbake · Answer

Wouldn't the adcom committee have the chance of taking someone off the waitlist? I was searching the web and I have never heard of them suing anyone. Are you making this up?

BazingAu · Answer

I am confused by your question. What am I making up? You are contemplating breaching a contract. They can sue to enforce the contract, which would be equal to the payment of the full performance of the contract. Like I said, I've never seen it done, but that's the legal remedy for any breach of contract. It's just basic contract law.

dtse86 · Answer

Shakandbake

I believe BazingAu is correct. They technically have the right to sue you as you "signed" a commitment as a condition of early admission, however it is rarely enforced.

As for your other question, yes actually admissions committees admit people off of the waitlist every year. If your wife is on the waitlist she should not feel like she is out of the running quite yet. And if she does eventually get an admit and your admission/commitment to the school helps with that she shouldn't feel like the admit is a "charity" case. I don't think a school will ever admit a student they don't think is qualified to attend. The only issue with some of the really competitive schools is that many times there are more qualified students applying than there are spots available and perhaps for the early rounds they thought that she just wasn't competitive enough compared to some of the other outstanding applicants. If when the review her application for a second time and your commitment to the school is apparent, it'll only help make her slightly more competitive. Ultimately what I'm trying to get at here is that if she's admitted she'll have earned it on her own merit as well because at that point the admissions committee believes that she'll be successful in the program.

And like I posted earlier, if you explain that you'd like to decline their offer because your wife wasn't admitted, then I think they would understand. I hope this helps you and your wife make a decision. Let us know how things turn out.

abdc99 · Answer

Hi Shakandbake,

I really feel for you, specially in such a position where your selection criteria is tighter than many other applicants. I have read somewhere that schools expect some serious excuses when you reject the EA admission offer. If you look at the positive side, this means they are expecting some applicants to do that and, from what I read here, you have a real convincing case to withdraw the application. Also, as an admitted EA applicant, I have seen on my confirmation card (Which I need to return with my reply enclosed) the reply options as either 1. Yes, I accept 2. I decline the offere because... and you need to put your reason. This tells you that they are expecting some candid response as to why you would want to do that, something I believe you won't have problem explaining.

While the contract language gives the school the right to react as they believe appropriate, no one really knows what they will be able to do. But I think schools don't have the time or will to run after students when they have much more important work to do during this time of the year. They will definitely take the deposit which is really hurtful and enough of a punishment on its own

My suggestion:  I don't think (I'm not sure about that) the binding nature of the application forbids you from continuing to conduct interviews and hear back from other schools but it may be just an obligation of ultimately joining the school. If so, you should be able to have some good float time until the first deposit deadline (and if it's not enough and it got too serious, pay the first deposit and extend the "deciding" period a few months ahead) to wait and think of what's good for you and your wife. Do not inform them about anything during the next a few days/weeks until you have come down to a final decision.

Lastly, as a rule of thumb, EAs are there to help very committed students get into their dream schools. They're not there to worsen anyone's life

All the best making the best decision for you and your wife. Please keep us posted here

Shakandbake · Answer

dtse86  and @abdc99...........thank you so much for your comments. This is indeed a very challenging time as I am trying to balance my happiness and commitment I made. I will definitely keep you posted.

brandon432 · Answer

All of the "legal" advice in this thread is very, very bad. Breaching an early admission commitment is a serious ethical dilemma, but I have never heard of civil consequences for doing so.

Shakandbake · Answer

brandon432 ....... thanks for your input.. can you comment a bit more on the ethical aspect of my challenge... I fear that school that I got into in EA will communicate to other schools that I didn't keep my commitment to enroll in that program and the other school will rescind my offer as well... when my wife and I applied in EA we thought that we both had strong profile and we are showing our commitment to going to this school.... do you know whether schools communicate such matters to each other? some one said on this forum that admissions world is very small and they will most likely communicate such things.....

Dilemma with Early Decision (binding)

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