Pros and Cons of applying twice

[Daria]

DS is on the fence as to whether he wants to go to college as a freshman after he finishes HS in fall of 2017, or whether he wants to do another year or two at CC before going as a transfer.  Given some of the issues with his transcripts, such as low grades, interruptions due to medical issues, there's also a chance that he won't get into college and the decision will be made for him.  

 

I'm wondering how we strategize this. If we apply for him this year, and he decides not to go, could that come back to bite him?  I'm particularly wondering about 2 scenarios.

 

1) He applies, gets in, and decides he's not ready.  A year later he does feel ready and reapplies.  Will they hold the fact that he declined against him?

 

2) He applies and doesn't get in.  A year later he reapplies.  He now has enough transfer credits that he doesn't need to submit all his high school transcripts and test scores. But, of course, they already have his transcripts and test scores.  Will those things be held against him?

 

How do we strategize this?

[regentrude]

I think the answer would depend on whether you are talking about a highly selective school or a college that accepts most of its applicants. It really isn't hard to "get into college"; what can be hard is getting into a specific college.

If he is accepted, he can ask for a deferral instead of reapplying a year later.

Edited July 15, 2016 by regentrude

[J-rap]

I can only give our personal experience.  My dd applied at a college, was accepted and offered a good scholarship, then declined it all and went to another college instead.  The next spring, she changed her mind and decided she wanted to go to the first college after all.  She got in touch with the college, which still had her application from the year before on hand and was happy to help her.  They just needed recent information/transcript from her present college, and then the whole application was re-submitted again.  She was accepted and offered the same scholarship as a transfer.

[Daria]

I think the answer would depend on whether you are talking about a highly selective school or a college that accepts most of its applicants. It really isn't hard to "get into college"; what can be hard is getting into a specific college.

If he is accepted, he can ask for a deferral instead of reapplying a year later.

 

So, I think the answer to this is confusing.  The schools he's looking at tend to be pretty easy to get into academically accepting 60 - 80% of applicants.  On the other hand, he's looking at a theater major that requires an audition/portfolio review, which makes things more complicated.  In general, the performing arts programs at most of these schools are harder to get into than the schools overall, but those statistics are hard to find because many applicants who are rejected from a specific major but are offered general admissions.   So, a school may say that they accept 80% of applicants, but a student who wanted theater but got liberal arts is included in that 80%.

 

I thought you couldn't defer if you were planning on taking courses elsewhere.  The point of taking another year would be to enter with gen eds taken care of to allow for a lighter course load.  Can he defer and do that?

[justasque]

Might be worth running your questions past the admissions office.  They can give you school-specific, and more importantly major-specific answers.  

They will also have advice as to which courses at the cc will transfer, and which ones are the best choice in terms of meshing well with his major classes schedule.  For example, he may or may not be able to shorten his years at the uni by strategically choosing cc classes; in some cases the major-required classes must be taken in a certain sequence which can't be shortened.  The answers to these questions will also help with the decision-making process regarding which route he'll choose (assuming he has both options!).  

[Lanny]

OP in Post #1 you included this possibility:   "1) He applies, gets in, and decides he's not ready"    I believe he should not apply, unless and until he knows that he is "ready".  

[Daria]

OP in Post #1 you included this possibility: "1) He applies, gets in, and decides he's not ready" I believe he should not apply, unless and until he knows that he is "ready".

The problem is that the process for programs that require portfolio interviews is a long one. He'll need to get the ball rolling by November, when it may be difficult to predict how his health and skills will develop over those 6 months.

[katilac]

If he gets into a specific, competitive program and declines, I do think it's possible they will hold that against him on the next go-round. At best, there's no guarantee that he would get in again. 

 

Can he plan on another year with dual enrollment at CC rather than graduating? 

[Lanny]

Hopefully his health and his academic skills will stabilize soon.  If it is  competitive program, and he is accepted, and then he turns it down, I suspect that if he applies again, in the future, they will remember him and the time they wasted on him, the first time.  I believe that he should not apply, until he is sure that he is ready academically and as far as his medical problems.  If he is accepted and then he declines, he should be fully prepared to attend a different school.  GL to him

[Corraleno]

If he gets into a specific, competitive program and declines, I do think it's possible they will hold that against him on the next go-round. At best, there's no guarantee that he would get in again. 

 

Can he plan on another year with dual enrollment at CC rather than graduating? 

 

I think that is a great idea. OP can you redefine him as a rising Junior instead of Senior and let him do a year of CC as dual enrollment? That would give him a much stronger transcript, allow him to get some of the GenEds out of the way, and still allow him to apply as a freshman. If he had medical issues that affected his schoolwork, that is a perfectly good reason to delay his graduation. If the colleges he's applying to allow you to do a transcript by subject instead of by year, that's the easiest way to handle it. Otherwise, you can make 9th grade the new 8th grade, and still use any math or foreign language credits that were HS level.

[GoodGrief]

If he's applying to competitive programs (and certainly theatre is competitive), I would plan to hold off, unless he is sure he will be ready to enroll somewhere if admitted. He'd have a chance to build a stronger performing resume too.