Although it’s rare for college acceptance to be rescinded, it does happen.
Eric Eng, founder and CEO of California-based college admissions consultancy AdmissionSight, says he worked with a student who lost their admissions offer from Yale University due to academic dishonesty. The proverbial “senioritis” kicked in and the student began struggling, resorted to cheating and got caught, he says.
In a well-publicized case in 2017, 10 prospective Harvard University students lost their admissions offers after participating in a private Facebook group chat where they shared obscene and racist memes and messages.
Experts say students should be aware that admissions offers are conditional and can be rescinded for a number of reasons.
First, students must commit and submit their deposit by the May 1 deadline. Failing to do so can lead to schools releasing that spot to another student on the waitlist.
It’s also crucial that students not let their guard down academically, behaviorally or ethically, as the decisions they make after receiving an acceptance letter could result in their offer being revoked, experts say.
[READ:What to Do While Waiting for College Admission Decisions]
“When we admit a student, we actually build into the acceptance letter — and I know other institutions do this as well — we include a statement that says this offer of admission is contingent on your continued satisfactory performance as evidenced in your application,” says Sacha Thieme, assistant vice provost and executive director of admissions at Indiana University–Bloomington. “In very extreme cases, we may say you are no longer eligible — basically we no longer believe you are ready to be successful here based on the evidence we see.”
Experts say there are several main reasons colleges might pull the plug on an admissions offer, and they advise students to adhere to these tips to ensure they arrive at college with no issues.
Behave Appropriately In Person and Online
In the last three years, Thieme says she can think of just two examples where a student’s admissions offer had to be rescinded, and both were related to behavior. One instance in particular involved a prospective student’s social media activity. The student was unwilling to remove the inappropriate content or change behavior in the future.
In general, if schools find evidence of behavior that isn’t consistent with their policies or code of conduct, they can decide to pull an offer. In 2019, Harvard reportedly revoked an admissions offer to a student for racist and offensive remarks made on social media two years prior. Prospective student-athletes have also lost scholarships and spots on teams due to social media posts, and some coaches have said publicly that they’ve stopped recruiting certain athletes due to online behavior.
For this generation of students who have grown up with cellphones and social media, experts say they’re more susceptible to issues related to inappropriate online behavior. A student’s social media profiles should reflect who they are in a positive way, says Dan Lee, cofounder of New York-based Solomon Admissions Consulting.
“Gen Z is very into sharing everything they do, so that can be dangerous in some respects,” he says, adding that it’s fine to share positive things or updates about work and research projects. “But if you have a social media page that shows you at different parties and partaking in substances, that is not something you want to share with colleges.”
It’s not just social media behavior that students should be cognizant of, however. Disciplinary issues that lead to suspensions or expulsion from school or run-ins with law enforcement could be grounds for a college to rescind an offer, experts say.
“It’s similar to how we have a process for students who are current students when they go through a behavior review and higher code of conduct process here,” Thieme says. “We hold our prospective students to a similar standard.”
Maintain Academic Success and Integrity
Because admissions offers are conditional, it means colleges still require students to submit their final transcript to ensure they’ve graduated and passed all required courses. Failing to do either can result in a rescinded admissions offer as well.
[READ: How Colleges Choose Which Students to Admit.]
In general, a significant drop in grades may also sound the alarm to an admissions office that potential academic issues are present.
“Ivy League and Top 20 schools want to see mostly A’s,” Lee says. “A couple B’s and ‘senioritis,’ that’s not a huge deal. But if you’re getting D’s and F’s and flunking out of courses, then that’s a huge deal.”
Where students typically have the most issues is when they get complacent, struggle and compound the issues by taking shortcuts and cheating, Lee says.
“Generally speaking, any type of academic dishonesty, whether it be plagiarism or cheating on an exam is, with very few exceptions, going to bar you from any top school,” he says.
Colleges are looking to see the same level of academic success and extracurricular involvement throughout the duration of a student’s high school career, explains Jenny Alessi, a principal counselor at admissions consulting company IvyWise.
“Maintaining that high level of academic rigor and performance is really important,” she says. That also includes not losing any motivation in extracurriculars. “If you’ve been the president of a club and suddenly you’re not showing up at meetings, that’s not good.”
Honor an Early Decision Commitment
Unlike other admissions deadlines — including early action, regular decision and rolling admissions — early decision is binding. If accepted, an early decision applicant is required to attend the college. Students might lose their admissions offer if they’re discovered to have violated that agreement by applying for early decision at multiple schools, Lee says.
[READ: How to Get Into College: 9 Strategies]
Some students operate under the misconception that a binding admissions offer “isn’t that big of a deal and they can just game it by simultaneously applying” to several schools, he says. But because there’s significant overlap in the applicant pool at Ivy League schools and other top universities, admissions offices share lists of early decision applicants, he says.
“If they find that out, you’re going to be blackballed everywhere,” he says. It ultimately comes down to being ethical and doing the right thing, he adds. “You want to be very careful how you conduct yourself. This is a job interview, and the admissions world is very small.”
Be Proactive and Truthful About Problems
Academic and behavioral problems may arise, both before and after admissions offers come. If so, it doesn’t always mean admission will be revoked, experts say, but it’s best if schools hear about issues directly from students.
“Basically, admissions officers are looking for red flags,” Lee says. “And any time you have a red flag, you want to bring it to the forefront and explain why it’s not a problem.”
Most colleges ask students to disclose on their application any academic or behavioral issues that the school needs to know about. The Common App, which is used by more than 1,000 schools, contains a clause students must sign that states that the information they’ve provided on the application is truthful. The repercussions of not including truthful information could result in loss of admissions, it warns.
If issues come up after students have been accepted to a university, they should contact the admissions office right away either by phone or email to alert them of potential problems, especially issues of academic dishonesty, experts say.
“Sometimes the worst thing that could happen is a school makes their own findings of a situation that might not be accurate,” Alessi says. “So I think it’s really good if a student can reach out and go ahead and preemptively explain what is happening and what’s going on in their lives so that there are no wrong conclusions that are drawn.”
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