Can colleges revoke admissions offers? What behaviors can cause this, and how can students protect themselves?

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Can colleges revoke admissions offers? What behaviors can cause this, and how can students protect themselves?

Mark GathercoleUniversity AdvisorIndependent University Advising

Can colleges revoke admissions offers? What behaviors can cause this, and how can students protect themselves?

When you’re accepted to a college, it is actually a “conditional” offer. Essentially all you have to do to keep it is to maintain the efforts and grades that got you accepted in the first place. If your grades slip a bit, some schools will ask you to explain that, and may put you on probation or require study periods when you get to the college. Or they may accept your explanation if there is a legitimate one, usually backed up by your counselor. But deciding that you’ve worked hard enough for 3 1/2 years and coasting in the second semester of grade 12 could get your college acceptance revoked. It’s not common, but it does happen.

Frank DonPartnerEast West College Counseling LLP

Can colleges revoke admissions offers? What behaviors can cause this, and how can students protect themselves?

It’s important that you recognize that your acceptance at a college is PROVISIONAL based upon you completing your high school requirements and finishing your senior year successfully. NO SENIORITIS! No slacking off and assuming that because you’re in, you’re in.
DISCLOSE & DON’T SCREW UP. College admissions is highly competitive. If you have had some behavior problems or gotten into trouble, it is far better to disclose it and explain it rather than trying to hide it. If you get accepted to a college that someone you know was rejected by and that person might know some nasty detail about you that you have not disclosed, an anonymous note to the admissions office at that college could create some real problems for you. And the person sending that note might assume that if you’re out, they could be in.
As part of the senioritis bug, don’t screw up. Hearty partying may be all fun and good times while it’s happening but an instagram of you being drunk as a skunk or engaged in lewd behavior could revoke your admissions offer.
To protect yourself, you don’t have to hew the straight and narrow but don’t make an ass of yourself.

Lynda McGeeCollege CounselorDowntown Magnets High School

Can colleges revoke admissions offers? What behaviors can cause this, and how can students protect themselves?

Colleges absolutely do revoke admissions, and I’ve seen it happen too many times. These revocations are completely avoidable, however, and it’s not difficult for students to do. The number one reason for students losing their place in the freshman class is a change in either senior classload or grades. If you applied as an “A” student, you can’t slide through senior year with “C’s”, or by dropping all your AP classes.
Your behavior also matters. This is not the year to get suspended from school for misbehavior. Follow the rules, keep your grades at approximately the same level as when you were accepted, and be sure to make all deadlines for deposits, orientation, registration, and whatever else the school has requested you to do. If you are doing these things, then relax, you’ll be fine.

Kiersten MurphyExecutive Director and FounderMurphy College Consultants LLC

Can colleges revoke admissions offers? What behaviors can cause this, and how can students protect themselves?

While it is well within a college’s right to do so, I have not seen it happen. I like to think that is because the students that I counsel are well aware of the repercussions of not performing senior year. Probable cause for revoking admission may include failing grades, suspension, dishonesty or criminal activity.

Shoshana Krieger

Can colleges revoke admissions offers? What behaviors can cause this, and how can students protect themselves?

Colleges CAN revoke admissions offers, so it’s important to know what might cause that to happen.

1) Not honoring your Early Decision agreement. If you were admitted to a school Early Decision, and then decide you don’t want to go, and are not released from the binding agreement by the college, that could cause problems later on. Other colleges can choose not to admit you if you don’t honor an Early Decision agreement. And those that do admit you, if they find out you backed out an an Early Decision agreement, could very likely rescind their offer.

2) Plagiarism. Cheating and plagiarism are a big deal. If you are caught cheating or plagiarizing in high school, and your school notifies the colleges you applied to, you will likely lose your spot.

3) Poor grades. If your grades drop significantly during senior year, colleges may decide that you aren’t ready to attend, and rescind their offer. However, some colleges will choose to send a warning letter instead.

4) Violent or illegal behavior. This is fairly self explanatory, but if you are violent or commit illegal acts, and your school reports it to the colleges you applied to, you could have your admission rescinded.

However, if you keep on doing what you normally do – behaving well in school, working hard in your classes, honoring your agreements, and treating others with respect, you will be fine.

Joyce Vining MorganFounder and college counselorEducational Transitions

Can colleges revoke admissions offers? What behaviors can cause this, and how can students protect themselves?

Colleges can and do revoke admissions offers, but not arbitrarily. If a student lets academic performance slide way below that of prior semesters – on which the college based their offer of admissions – should expect a stern response: anything from being put on academic probation upon matriculation to having their admission offer revoked entirely. Same goes for serious disciplinary infractions: if a student is suspended or expelled from their high school (or arrested and charged with a crime) after being accepted into college, the college(s) will certainly revisit the decision to accept. Students can protect themselves by keeping their grades up and staying on the right side of school rules and the law.

Eric DoblerPresidentDobler College Consulting

Can colleges revoke admissions offers? What behaviors can cause this, and how can students protect themselves?

Colleges can, and will, revoke admissions offers but typically you are only going to see this in extreme cases. Let’s say you contract a severe case of senioritis and end up failing several of your courses senior year – this would be one instance where a college may consider revoking their offer of admission. Why? Well, when you completely check out of your courses, the school may call into question your abilities, your potential and even your integrity. Remember, offers of admission are contingent upon you successfully completing your senior year. This means continue going to class, work hard and earn the grades that you initially set your sights on back in the beginning of the school year. Besides making sure your offer of admission is not revoked, there are other benefits of finishing your senior year strong – a topic I blogged about just the other day which you can read here: http://www.doblercollegeconsulting.com/1/post/2012/02/seniors-are-you-finishing-strong.html.

Zahir RobbCollege CounselorThe Right Fit College

Can colleges revoke admissions offers? What behaviors can cause this, and how can students protect themselves?

Colleges can revoke offers of admission. If you fail senior level courses, do not complete your reported coursework, change your schedule from what was reported, complete applications incorrectly, etc. There are quite a few ways. The easiest way to avoid this, is to make sure you double check all information and fulfill all obligations. While it is easy to “coast” once you receive your acceptance, do not thing you can stop doing work. You also want to avoid the development of bad habits prior to starting college.

Nina BerlerFounderunCommon Apps

Revoking Offers of Admission

Yes, colleges certainly can revoke offers of admissions. I remember hearing Brown’s Dean of Admission Jim Miller telling students that, once admitted, they should not go wild on band trips – meaning that behavioral violations could mean a decision could be revoked. Students should know what constitutes reasonable – not to mention legal – behavior. Criminal actions, underage drinking and involvement with narcotics won’t be tolerated. Also on the list are honor code infractions. Students can protect themselves by watching what groups they choose to be part of and keeping a pleasant distance away from trouble.

Carita Del ValleFounderAcademic Decisions

Can colleges revoke admissions offers? What behaviors can cause this, and how can students protect themselves?

Yes your offer and/or scholarships can be revoked in the event of the “student” you represented at admissions time is changes. What can change this? Of course anything illegal, even a car accident if not handles properly, grades slipping, underage drinking, cheating, etc.

Although we know young people make mistakes in their youth, when a college puts their name behind you they expect you to hold up their mission in everything you do. Revoking your admissions offer all depends on how devastating your youthful mistake really becomes.

Andrea Van Niekerk

When colleges fold up the welcome mat

Colleges revoke offers of admission reluctantly, but it happens: NACAC says in 2009 22 percent of colleges did so. The most obvious cause is a severe case of senioritis after acceptance, when seniors are required to keep grades and courses on par with their application transcripts. Colleges also assume their offers are contingent on students’ behavior and integrity during and after the application process, and lying about Early Decision pledges, cheating in school or committing crimes can encourage a college to cut an accepted student loose. Notice that most colleges cannily phrase their offer of admission as a conditional one!

Suzan ReznickIndependent Educational ConsultantThe College Connection

College can revoke at any time before you enroll!

When a college offers you admission, it is based on your present academic performance. If your grades significantly take a nose-dive because of- so-called “seniortits” many colleges will ask you why. If you cannot offer them a real reason- i.e. health or family issues etc, they have the right to revoke your offer. So, it is not a good idea to feel that you no longer have to do the required work. One college has a policy, for those students with poor year-end grades, to offer required summer readings followed with a 20 page paper. This is the students’ only option if they want the option to enroll in September . Additionally – getting into serious trouble- drugs/drinking/cheating can also cause a college to revoke admissions.

Hamilton GreggEducational ConsultantPrivate Practice

Can colleges revoke admissions offers? What behaviors can cause this, and how can students protect themselves?

Absolutely! Schools can definitely rescind decisions. What is not written in the letter of admission is the condition that the student completes the year in good standing and with the hopes the student’s academic performance matches or exceeds the performance they presented when they applied.

I tell my students there is no such thing as Senior Slump/Slack. Students are not finished with school until school is over. Given the competition for places at schools, there are plenty of students who are in the wings working hard seeking a place. Don’t assume that just because you have been accepted that they stop looking at you. The Final Report sent by your school is what truly seals the deal. So work hard until all your last exams or requirements are completed.

Other events can easily derail your acceptance – disciplinary actions, criminal actions and poor academic performance can easily cause schools to drop you like a rock. Also, any thing on your Social Network sites – Facebook and the like, that shows you in any behavior that compromises your integrity can be cause for a school to contact you for an explanation or worse. Most students, incorrectly assume, that Facebook is personal. In truth, it is a public persona and one that needs to be free of pictures showing you partying (when you are underage), or any situation that raises untoward questions about you.

Finish the year strong. Think of school like a job. Even though you have been accepted to a school does not mean they don’t want you to finish strong. If you slack off, get in trouble etc… expect your university to react. Be outstanding until the very end!

Joe OraveczSenior Student Affairs OfficerLocated in Nebraska

Can colleges revoke admissions offers? What behaviors can cause this, and how can students protect themselves?

Absolutely. More and more colleges are placing “morals” clauses on their applications or acceptance letters. If you lie, cheat, steal, violate the law (even as a juvenile), you can expect at least one college will say “thanks, but no thanks”. What can you do to protect yourself? Stay on the straight and narrow and move towards being an upstanding citizen. If you’re not there yet – get there fast.

Annie ReznikCounselor/CEOCollege Guidance Coach

Slackers Beware

Colleges can and do revoke admission offers for two primary reasons. First, serious disciplinary infractions that involve suspension, expulsion or criminal charges will be carefully evaluated by college officials and can jeopardize admission offers. Secondly, significantly diminished academic performance can prompt a college to revoke an offer of admission. Students can protect themselves by abiding by all school policies and maintaining academic performance.

Helen H. ChoiOwnerAdmissions Mavens

Can colleges revoke admissions offers? What behaviors can cause this, and how can students protect themselves?

Colleges can and do revoke admissions offers for poor academic performance during 12th grade, violations of school rules, violations of laws, and other behaviors for which the admissions committee has grave concerns.

Stay the course your senior year with respect to your conduct and your grades, and you won’t have anything to worry about with regards to your admissions offer(s).

Karen Ekman-BaurDirector of College CounselingLeysin American School

Revocation of Admissions Offers

Colleges can indeed revoke admissions offers. The revocation could be as a result of a student’s final semester high school grades dropping radically. Counselors are required to send in a final grade report to the college a student has selected, so the student should make sure that that report shows consistent effort on his/her part. Other grounds for revocation could be behaviors of a student which have required serious disciplinary action on the part of the student’s high school – notably suspension or expulsion. As a matter of ethics, counselors are expected to report these types of transgressions to the college to which a student has been accepted. Depending on the circumstances, the college in question might or might not choose to revoke the admissions offer. If I were a student, I would also be very careful of what gets posted on Facebook and other social media platforms. Some of these postings can be extremely compromising of a student’s integrity. Finally, going to the extreme, criminal activity on the part of the student would be, as might be expected, grounds for the revocation of a college admission offer.

Corey FischerPresidentCollegeClarity

Do well and be smart

Yes, colleges can and do rescind offers of admission. They will do so for poor grades on your final transcript and/or for school expulsions, suspensions, honor violations, and tangles with the law depending on the situation. They will want to know the circumstances and will evaluate the situation case by case. Colleges tend to take a hard line with illegal substances, violent crimes, and honor violations.

How can you protect yourself? Be smart. The offer of admission is not permission to go crazy. Your grades need to stay at your usual level of performance and you can’t do anything dishonorable or illegal.

Rana SlosbergOwnerSlosberg College Solutions LLC

Can colleges revoke admissions offers? What behaviors can cause this, and how can students protect themselves?

Colleges can revoke admissions for a number of reasons including a significant change in grades in the senior year or finding out that an applicant has lied or plagiarised on their application. Don’t let senioritis set in and always be truthful on your application.

Lora LewisEducational ConsultantLora Lewis Consulting

Can colleges revoke admissions offers? What behaviors can cause this, and how can students protect themselves?

Colleges can indeed revoke admissions offers. Reasons an offer may be withdrawn include failing grades senior year, failure to complete coursework indicated on one’s application, the discovery of falsified information or plagiarism on one’s application, and disciplinary actions such as suspension from school.

Protect yourself by:

* Reporting accurate information on your applications and composing your own essays.
* Maintaining average grades of C or higher in all classes.
* Completing all coursework reported on your applications.
* Steering clear of behavior that could land you in trouble with your school or law enforcement.

Getting into college is a challenge and an achievement! Don’t let lapses in judgment or laziness jeopardize your admission. If you do run into trouble, be sure to contact the admissions office at your (hopefully) future college as soon as possible; they can give you a clear picture of how your admissions offer will be impacted and what, if anything, you can do to maintain your spot in the freshman class.

Benjamin CaldarelliPartnerPrinceton College Consulting, LLC

Can colleges revoke admissions offers? What behaviors can cause this, and how can students protect themselves?

Yes they can and they will if a students behaviors are less than becoming academically or socially. Beyond letting grades slip, evidence of unlawful or unethical activities can cause a college to revoke an offer. Keeping your facebook page private and not being deceptive in your application should protect most students.

Tam Warner MintonConsultantCollege Adventures

Colleges rescinding offers

YES, colleges can rescind offers of acceptance. It is unusual, but it happens. Reasons can include a dramatic drop in your senior year grades, being convicted of a crime, lying on your application, being expelled for cheating/poor choices, or drawing unfavorable or unsavory attention to yourself and therefore to the college. Watch your behavior, keep up your grades, and don’t get into major trouble!

Jill KaratkewiczCounselorEast Hampton High School

Proceed With Caution!

Yes, colleges can revoke admissions offers when given just reason to do so! The most common reasons for which a college will revoke an offer include: 1. A major decline in academic performance (usually during the second half of the student’s senior year), 2. A significant disciplinary infraction at school (such as suspensions/expulsions, instances of cheating, or acts that are considered morally questionable), or 3. Discovering that information on the student’s original application was fraudulent. While it is not very common for admission offers to be revoked, students should be aware of the reasons WHY this may happen – if they are honest on their application, keep their grades up even after being accepted, and stay out of disciplinary trouble they should be just fine!

Nancy MilneOwnerMilne Collegiate Consulting

Now you’re in, now you’re not!

An offer of admission is based on the facts presented in the application. If your circumstances change, you must realize that your offer may be in jeopardy. A typical situation may involve senior year grades. If you were borderline in the first place, you can be sure that the school will be requesting your final year grades. Depending on your high school’s policy and the college’s policy, you may be denied admission for legal violations that occur after the fact. Bottom line, keep up your hard work, don’t be tempted to slack off and you’ll be packing for school as planned.

王文君 June ScortinoPresidentIVY Counselors Network

Yes, the offer is conditioned

if you did not satisfy the final year grade requirement and produced false documentations for admissions purpose, your acceptance can be revoked by the college.
students can protect themselves by reading the contract carefully and understanding the their student’s right.

Patricia KrahnkePresident/PartnerGlobal College Search Associates, LLC

Can colleges revoke admissions offers? What behaviors can cause this, and how can students protect themselves?

Short Answer:

If you make a mess of your senior year, a college absolutely will revoke an offer of admission. It’s called “rescinding the offer.”

Detailed Answer:

The last thing an admissions office wants to do is rescind an offer of admission. It is an enormous disappointment to have to reject a student after all the work a student put into his/her application and all the excitement that was generated by the offer of admission.

But here’s the point: Colleges only rescind an offer of admission if the applicant’s final high school transcript shows evidence of “senioritis.”

I have spent hours in the summers with rescinded students/families in my office crying about how “everyone gets senioritis!” No. Not everyone gets senioritis, and colleges do not buy into that nonsense. The fact is that most students don’t get senioritis, so why should a college continue to hold a space for those few students who succumb to laziness and fun in the senior year simply because “that’s what everyone does.”

Colleges want to see that the applicant is serious about his/her academics and that they will be able to continue on an increasingly challenging academic path straight through high school and into college.

SO DON’T GET SENIORITIS!!!!!

(NOTE: If you have a legitimate reason for a serious grade downtrend in your senior year – and you have solid evidence in the form of documentation to support that reason – you should approach the admissions office with that information before the end of the school year to see if you can affect a potential rescind decision.)

Laura O’Brien GatzionisFounderEducational Advisory Services

Revoking Admissions Offers

Final grades (failing classes or not keeping the standards that were indicated on your application), falsifying application information, disciplinary infractions, and double depositing have all been behaviors cited by public and private colleges as reasons for revoking offers of admission. Keep working hard through senior year and it will pay off for you when you enter college as a freshman.

Hamilton GreggEducational ConsultantPrivate Practice

Can colleges revoke admissions offers? What behaviors can cause this, and how can students protect themselves?

Absolutely! Schools can definitely rescind decisions. What is not written in the letter of admission is the condition that the student completes the year in good standing and with the hopes the student’s academic performance matches or exceeds the performance they presented when they applied.

I tell my students there is no such thing as Senior Slump/Slack. Students are not finished with school until school is over. Given the competition for places at schools, there are plenty of students who are in the wings working hard seeking a place. Don’t assume that just because you have been accepted that they stop looking at you. The Final Report sent by your school is what truly seals the deal. So work hard until all your last exams or requirements are completed.

Other events can easily derail your acceptance – disciplinary actions, criminal actions and poor academic performance can easily cause schools to drop you like a rock. Also, any thing on your Social Network sites – Facebook and the like, that shows you in any behavior that compromises your integrity can be cause for a school to contact you for an explanation or worse. Most students, incorrectly assume, that Facebook is personal. In truth, it is a public persona and one that needs to be free of pictures showing you partying (when you are underage), or any situation that raises untoward questions about you.

Finish the year strong. Think of school like a job. Even though you have been accepted to a school does not mean they don’t want you to finish strong. If you slack off, get in trouble etc… expect your university to react. Be outstanding until the very end!

Reecy ArestyCollege Admissions/Financial Aid Expert & AuthorPayless For College, Inc.

Can colleges revoke admissions offers? What behaviors can cause this, and how can students protect themselves?

Yes. Criminal behavior could certainly factor in. Calling the college and using foul language when complaining about a lack of financial aid or a conflict about taking a course could surely be grounds, so always be on your best behavior before you enroll or during your college career.

Diana HansonCommon Sense College CounselingCollege Mentors

Can colleges revoke admissions offers? What behaviors can cause this, and how can students protect themselves?

Yes, in rare cases, colleges can and do revoke admissions offers, for a variety of reasons that roughly fall into two general categories: failing to inform a college of a change to the information you reported in your application and unethical behavior. Let’s look at some of the specific behaviors in each category that could affect an admission offer.

Forgetting to Inform Colleges of Schedule Changes:
Sometimes students change their schedule in the second semester of senior year, choosing, for example, to drop a class or move from an honors/AP course to a regular course (or vice versa). Whenever you change your schedule, you need to inform colleges of the change. It’s good to be proactive and explain what’s happening and why. For example, a student may have an opportunity to be involved in a special program (play, internship, athletics) and in order to do so needs to drop or change a class. A student may need to help out at home and have to drop an afternoon class. Most of the time, colleges will understand.

Grade Shifts:
Sometimes a student’s grades in senior year might go down–“senioritis” anyone? Of course, I would advise you NOT to let that happen, but what do you do if you find yourself getting a D in a class as the semester ends? You should, of course, make sure that doesn’t happen, by getting help from your teachers, tutors, parents, etc. However, if you find yourself facing a dramatic shift in grades, especially in a class that is required for college admission, you should contact the colleges and let them know what you’re doing to ameliorate the problem (retaking the class online or at adult school, for example).

Unethical Behavior:
Simply speaking, most unethical behavior means that you lied in some way on your application–from saying you were involved in extracurricular activities that you were not involved in to failing to disclose a disciplinary issue. Colleges take ethical behavior very seriously, and if you lie on your application, you would be subject to your admission offer being revoked.

Honesty is always the best policy.

Shelley KrauseCo-Director of College CounselingRutgers Preparatory School

Can colleges revoke admissions offers? What behaviors can cause this, and how can students protect themselves?

Colleges can absolutely revoke offers of admission. Most acceptance letters include a sentence that runs along the lines of, “We are making this offer with the understanding that you will continue to be the kind of student we look for here at Such-and-so University.” If your grades drop precipitously, you get in some kind of disciplinary trouble, or you double-deposit (letting more than one school think you’ll be joining them in the fall), colleges are within their rights to send you a “You know what? We changed our minds,’ letter. Most of the time they’ll reach out to you for an explanation first, and sometimes you’ll be able to bring them back to seeing the you they were excited about initially, but the best way to protect yourself is this: continue to be be the high-achieving, service-oriented, honest student they thought they were making the offer to in the first place. And if you DO make a mistake, get out in front and reach out to the college BEFORE they get nervous about which “you” is the real one.

Kris HintzFounderPosition U 4 College LLC

Can colleges revoke admissions offers? What behaviors can cause this, and how can students protect themselves?

Of course they can. A letter of acceptance usually includes a provisional statement, saying that the offer of acceptance is contingent upon academic performance consistent with the student’s performance to date (that earned the acceptance at this school). If a student gets a bad case of “senioritis” and stops working in second semester of the senior year, the student needs to be aware that the college acceptance might get pulled. They get midterm and final year grades from your high school, for this very reason.

Admissions can also be revoked if a student does something unethical. For example, if I student is accepted at a binding Early Decision school, but does not withdraw applications at other institutions, and then gets into one of them and decides to go there instead of the ED school. Both schools will probably find out through the high school guidance department, and the admissions world is a small world anyway.

Of course, if a student does something illegal, such as shoplifting, being arrested for underage drinking, drug use or DUI, all of these behaviors can cause an admissions offer to be pulled. How does the college find out? From your high school, of course. Your high school guidance department is honor-bound to deal with the colleges in an upfront, honest way. If they know that an accepted student has done something unethical or illegal, they will feel obligated to tell the college.

So, if you’re fortunate enough to be accepted to the school of your dreams, don’t blow it by doing anything stupid.

Greer BevelUniversity Counselor/IBDP History TeacherInternational School of Latvia

Can colleges revoke admissions offers? What behaviors can cause this, and how can students protect themselves?

Absolutely, but revocation happens rarely.

Each college has its own conditions for revoking admission offers. Sometimes, they provide these conditions on their website. Usually a revocation happens when a student:

• does not graduate from high school
• has a drastic drop in grades
• submits false information
• has submitted forged academic credentials
• omitted key information (i.e. certain felony convictions) within the application
• has a drastic drop in high school attendance
• lists rigorous classes on the application and drops those courses once admitted

There is a middle ground, however. Some colleges will write students of concern and ask for an explanation prior to issuing a revocation.

Remember, colleges expect that students continue the level of academic work that they have presented in their application.

Also, remember that your high school is required to send mid-year and end-of-year reports of your academic performance. Colleges do read these reports and will notice any discrepancies.

Do not trade three long years of hard academic work for six short months of academic decline after gaining admission to your college of choice.

Jessica BrondoFounder and CEOThe Edge in College Prep

Can colleges revoke admissions offers? What behaviors can cause this, and how can students protect themselves?

Colleges do reserve the right to revoke offers of admission, but this is usually contingent on only a few factors. If a student’s grades drop dramatically after admission that might be a reason to revoke admission, as the student is expected to maintain the academic level of excellence of which they displayed they were capable when applying. This occurs only in extreme cases of grades dropping, such as double letter grades in several classes, for example. To prevent this, a student need only keep up the work they have been doing for the past three years in high school!

If a student is arrested between the time of admission and matriculation this can be another reason a school may rescind admission. Again, this is an easy situation to avoid. Don’t break the law, and keep your ticket to college!

Renee Boone

Can colleges revoke admissions offers? What behaviors can cause this, and how can students protect themselves?

Colleges reserve the right to withdraw an offer of admission. Students should choose a senior year course load that is similar to if not more rigorous than the sophomore and junior year programs. Avoid “senioritis” by maintaining a high work ethic, a seriousness of purpose and a commitment to excellence. Make level-headed decisions during the robust days of senior activities and celebrations…now is not the time to be arrested, expelled or otherwise subjected to chaos or mayhem!

Aurora BonnerEducational ConsultantBonner Educational Consultants

Can colleges revoke admissions offers? What behaviors can cause this, and how can students protect themselves?

Yes, absolutely. If a student begins exhibiting behavior that was not apparent when offered admissions a college may revoke admissions offers. For instance, if a student’s grades were to dramatically drop, if a student fails to complete required high school courses for their major, if a student is arrested or does something that requires severe disciplinary actions, a college may revoke or change their admission decision.

Also, if a college finds that a student purposely supplied any misinformation or purposely concealed information on their application, they may revoke admissions.

The best way to protect yourself from this happening is to be honest throughout the admissions process and to not give up your senior year. Your senior year of high school will be a very stressful time and its easy to say “I got in, I’m going to relax.”

By all means, relax, but don’t get lax. Don’t change your study habits, don’t drop your classes or drop out of your regular activities. Just keep doing and acting as you have been and you should be fine.

Chip LawCo-founder Managing Director Educational Avenues

Can colleges revoke admissions offers? What behaviors can cause this, and how can students protect themselves?

You bet! They CAN and WILL rescind admissions offers when a student demonstrates that they would put themselves or the college at risk due to post-acceptance circumstances. The rejection may seem like a bombshell out of the blue, but close examination of the situation usually reveals that the student has dropped markedly in their academic work, engaged in risky behavior and/or been arrested or publicly reported for their misbehavior, Some psychiatric circumstances may also come into play as well.

The things students MUST remember is that their high school has an ongoing virtual conversation with admissions departments right through the end of the school year. They send formal mid and end of year reports to the schools. Students are REQUIRED to let the schools know if they have been in trouble with the law or had other reportable offenses BEFORE they matriculate in the fall.

Protecting oneself is really quite simple:
* Continue to study and earn your grades as you have previously (keep up the good work!)
* Choose your activities and friends carefully. Keep away from ANY risky activity and be disciplined in your approach: you don’t HAVE to always to do what your friends do.
* Think before you act. If what you are about to do has ANY chance of affecting your future negatively, run away from it as fast as you can.
* Avoid “senioritis”. Contrary to popular opinion, the leeway you think you SHOULD get because you are a senior (grades or behavior), may be far less generous than you feel it should be.

Patricia KrahnkePresident/PartnerGlobal College Search Associates, LLC

Can colleges revoke admissions offers? What behaviors can cause this, and how can students protect themselves?

Short Answer:

If you make a mess of your senior year, a college absolutely will revoke an offer of admission. It’s called “rescinding the offer.”

Detailed Answer:

The last thing an admissions office wants to do is rescind an offer of admission. It is an enormous disappointment to have to reject a student after all the work a student put into his/her application and all the excitement that was generated by the offer of admission.

But here’s the point: Colleges only rescind an offer of admission if the applicant’s final high school transcript shows evidence of “senioritis.”

I have spent hours in the summers with rescinded students/families in my office crying about how “everyone gets senioritis!” No. Not everyone gets senioritis, and colleges do not buy into that nonsense. The fact is that most students don’t get senioritis, so why should a college continue to hold a space for those few students who succumb to laziness and fun in the senior year simply because “that’s what everyone does.”

Colleges want to see that the applicant is serious about his/her academics and that they will be able to continue on an increasingly challenging academic path straight through high school and into college.

SO DON’T GET SENIORITIS!!!!!

(NOTE: If you have a legitimate reason for a serious grade downtrend in your senior year – and you have solid evidence in the form of documentation to support that reason – you should approach the admissions office with that information before the end of the school year to see if you can affect a potential rescind decision.)

Bill PrudenHead of Upper School, College CounselorRavenscroft School

Can colleges revoke admissions offers? What behaviors can cause this, and how can students protect themselves?

They can and they have. Every acceptance is contingent on the maintenance of one’s performance and record. A minimal drop-off in the classroom is permissible–you are human–but given the competitiveness of the process, anyone who chooses to simply phone it in during the second half of their senior year runs the risk of having the school revoke their decision and go back to their pool of motivated and consistent students, many of whom would gladly revise their plans and take the spot. Too, legal issues or the like can also pose a problem. Senior slump is an overhyped, no value concept. Don’t fall into the trap and jeopardize something you have worked so hard to achieve.

Eric Beers, Ph.D.College and Career CounselorAir Academy High School

Can colleges revoke admissions offers? What behaviors can cause this, and how can students protect themselves?

Colleges can, and do, revoke offers of admission. The reasons generally fit into two categories; academic decline in performance and behavioral issues that make you a security risk for the college/university. I have seen students who completely blow off their senior year (or even the last semester of their senior year), we send in the 7th semester (or even 8th semester) transcripts, and even though the student has received an offer of acceptance, they send a revocation of that offer. Take care of your classes and grades all the way up to graduation.
The second reason is a suspension or expulsion that popped up on that student’s discipline record. Security is a huge issue on college campuses and for college’s Public Relations. They do not want any incidents that would turn prospective students off from their college. If you have had a significant fight or altercation, that could significantly impact your admissions to a college. Drugs and alcohol use can also raise red flags for admission officers.

Geoff BroomeAssistant Director of AdmissionsWidener University

Can colleges revoke admissions offers? What behaviors can cause this, and how can students protect themselves?

Yes! Lying on your application, be expelled from school, a legal matter, and failing grades your senior year are some reasons that your admissions offer may be revoked. How to avoid this: Stay the course. Stay strong academically. Keep your nose clean. Graduate! You will be just fine.

Dr. Bruce NeimeyerCEO/PartnerGlobal College Search Associates, LLC

Can colleges revoke admissions offers? What behaviors can cause this, and how can students protect themselves?

In most instances, colleges will place their right to revoke admissions on the admit letter or somewhere on their website or in admissions materials so that the reasons are clear. In all my years in admissions, the most common is due to the student academic performance. Should a students grades drop after their admissions has been offered the admitting school usually reserves the right to revoke the admission because the student is demonstrating an inability to handle the level of academic work necessary to be successful at the respective college. In some instances, the college may choose to put the student on academic probation coming in with a certain level of academic achievement at the end of their first semester freshman year in order register again for the second semester of the freshman year. Usually those criteria are to complete at least 12 or more college level credits with a 2.5 or 3.0 GPA depending on how sever the decline in grades where in high school. It is always a good idea to keep up the grades through to the end of the senior year. Many colleges dislike when this happens.

Eric ChancySchool CounselorApex High School – 9-12

Can colleges revoke admissions offers? What behaviors can cause this, and how can students protect themselves?

The answer is yes. Admissions offers are conditional, meaning that colleges reserve the right to revoke them based on a student satisfactorily meeting certain conditions. Several years ago, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill revoked a student’s admission because he basically tanked his second semester of senior year. He sued, and he lost. UNC’s policy can be seen here, under Appendix A: http://www.unc.edu/ugradbulletin/admissions.html

Failure to complete high school curriculum, failure to complete high school curriculum at an acceptable level, and being convicted of a crime that you do not report to the university (which is usually part of the application) may result in recision.

Rebecca JosephExecutive Director & Foundergetmetocollege.org

Can colleges revoke admissions offers? What behaviors can cause this, and how can students protect themselves?

Yes, yes, yes. I have seen it happen. Colleges do revoke admissions if you do something to break their faith in you. 1. A huge drop in grades senior year has led to colleges revoking admissions. 2. An arrest or a huge behavior problem at school can also lead to problems. 3. Lying on applications can lead to colleges taking back offers. Schools understand senioritis, but they don’t understand kids who enter what I term “black holes” senior year. So PLEASE, please make sure you don’t collapse. I have seen kids get offers revoked and then have no place to attend other than a community college. Don’t let that happen to you.

Daniel KramerCollege AdvisorThe Wight Foundation

Can colleges revoke admissions offers? What behaviors can cause this, and how can students protect themselves?

Absolutely a college or university can withdraw their offer of admission. Here are a couple of reasons:
1. Poor grades in the final semester: Acceptance letters normally have a phrase within their agreement of admission that states something to the effect of, “Your acceptance is contingent upon your successful completion of your high school academic career.” Depending on the selectivity of a college or university, if the A’s that got you in turn into D’s by the end of the year, don’t be surprised to get at least a phone call or possibly even a rescinding of your admission.
2. Breaking an Early Decision agreement: Remember, the language in the Common Application Early Decision Agreement Form is very specific regarding the withdrawal of outstanding applications after a financial aid award has been granted. Refusing to do so could cause the accepting college to withdraw that offer.
3. Disciplinary Infractions: Infractions such as violence, drug offenses, and cheating that result in disciplinary action from your school or outside law enforcement are also reasons for revoking admissions.
Bottom line: Finish strong and smart to be the best prepared for your next educational adventure.

Elizabeth PhDEducational ConsultantThe Education Planner

College applicants be warned- new software available to fight plagiarism

Fierce competition in college admissions could tempt an otherwise honest student to copy someone else’s personal essay or in haste simply share essay writing with a friend who is applying to a different college. Neither act is permitted in college admissions, and colleges are using new technology to catch cheaters.

Turnitin, a software company located in the Bay Area, has for a long time provided tools to high schools and colleges for catching plagiarism in research papers. Now, Turnitin has entered the college admissions arena to assist universities in identifying cheaters. About 100 undergraduate admissions offices have already signed up for the service.

Jeff Lorton, Product and Business Development Manager for Turnitin, in a recent interview explained how the software works. A plagiarist is caught by an admissions department through a process of scanning essays into a computer data base shared by participating colleges. Within minutes, an essay is given a score–a percentage of the document that is matched to another applicant’s essay. College admissions officials can then open a report and compare one essay to another. The essay of an applicant to College A might be a match for an essay submitted to College B, but the software doesn’t tell the university if one applicant copied another’s essay, or if two students collaborated on one essay and submitted it to different colleges. Turnitin is not used to inform either university, in this example, of the identity of the matched applicant or where that college that essay was submitted. One university admissions office wouldn’t be able to inform another office that there was a duplicate essay being circulated.

Lorton said, “Turnitin is one more tool to allow admissions to make better decisions.” Turnitin doesn’t disclose the colleges who subscribe to their service, and most colleges don’t inform students that they use this technology.

Not all universities are joining in, at least not for now. Stanford University is considering working with Turnitin in the future, or perhaps on a limited trial basis, according to Bob Patterson, Director of Admissions. Patterson commented that Stanford works under the assumption that students are honest. In fact, this year they randomly selected fifty students chosen for Early Admission. Stanford contacted each student’s high school counselor to verify that all the information a student provided about his or her activities and achievements were true. Patterson said not a single applicant from that random sample had been dishonest.

So as the college application season opens , here’s a bit of advice for students and counselors–don’t share essays on the internet, through email, or through any medium where it can be easily duplicated. Although that seems like simple common sense, last year a counselor sent out her own child’s University of California essay to the entire senior class of her high school, presumably to show them what she thought was an excellent writing sample. That essay could have easily been copied and submitted to thousands of universities, and perhaps it was. This time around, however, thousands of students could have their applications simply discarded.

Francine SchwartzFounder/ PresidentPathfinder Counseling LLC

Can an offer of admission be rescinded?

Unfortunately offers of admissions can be revoked, albeit rarely, for good cause. The biggest reason colleges take back offers of admission are due to involvement with the law i.e. the student is charged with a crime and a severe dip in academic performance. Colleges want to be assured that the student they admitted can perform the level of work at their institution and will be a solid citizen. Therefore do not succumb to senioritis and above all do not do anything illegal!

Reena Gold KaminsFounderCollege, Career & Life, LLC.

Yes, admission offers can be revoked!

When colleges admit students, they expect that they will finish their senior year with the same academic and social success that gained them admission. So, if a student submits a final transcript to the college he plans to attend and his grades have gone from all As to all Cs or Ds, his acceptance may be revoked. Disciplinary issues are another reason.
If a student is expelled from school, he can’t graduate. Without a high school diploma, he can’t begin college.

The best way to protect yourself is to keep your grades up and stay out of trouble!