One question that comes up from time to time in college admissions counseling is whether it’s true that schools sometimes revoke admissions offers.
It’s probably natural that some applicants are skeptical about that scenario. It does sound like a college admissions version of a bogeyman story, cooked up to keep high school seniors glued to their books and computer screens throughout their final semester.
But it’s true. And there’s some anecdotal evidence that it may be becoming more common.
The University of Massachusetts sent out a number of warning letters to admits whose grades had fallen off sharply after they submitted their applications. The University of Washington is said to have recently rescinded admission offers to over 20 students, and the University of Colorado to over 40. Northwestern University and the University of Michigan have also issued warnings in the past.
There’s actually nothing new about a college or a university contacting an admitted high school senior to ask what’s going on with C’s and incompletes on a spring transcript. Schools have always reserved the right to revoke admissions offers to applicants who fail to maintain their academic performance.
What is new, however, is that today’s record-setting applicant pools give admissions offices more incentive to go through with these threats.
At some schools, unexpectedly high applicant yield has left officials scrambling to try to control the number of freshmen arriving on campus in the fall. One way to trim the size of an incoming class is to crack down on admits who have let their grades slide.
In addition, almost any school today has a long waitlist of well-qualified applicants who will be only too happy to accept an admissions offer. Colleges have little to lose by rescinding an admissions offer when they know they can easily find someone else to fill the vacated seat.
This is yet another example of how today’s record-setting applicant volume is changing the college admissions landscape.