Informing Colleges of Your Decision

Seniors, heads up! Terry Cowdrey, Vice President and Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid at Colby College in Waterville, Maine, issued this plea -- which is excellent advice -- for high school counselors and the seniors of the Class of 2013.  

 A plea to school counselors: please encourage your students to respond to all of the schools where they were offered admission. College admissions offices are scrambling to determine if we can make offers to students on the wait list and dozens--no, hundreds--of admitted students have not confirmed their plans. We can assume they are going elsewhere but it would certainly be nice to know for sure. And it's just good manners.

Just because it’s after May 1 does not mean it’s too late to extend this courtesy to the colleges that took the time to admit you. Think, as well, about your friends on wait lists and how happy and relieved they may feel to know sooner rather than later that they have been admitted from a wait list. A simple email will do the job. So, please just do it!