First choice indication to school - need to update?

[Anonymous]

We provided a first choice letter to our #1 school. We have now decided they may not be our first choice (long story I believe unimportant to the question at hand). Do we update them? Only if we send a letter to another school? Let it rest?

[Anonymous]

This may be a dumb question, but what is a first choice letter? Are they only upper school things?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This may be a dumb question, but what is a first choice letter? Are they only upper school things?

OP here - not dumb. I suspect most people do not do them around here. It is basically a letter telling the school that you would accept an offer of admission from them because that particular place is your first choice among your applications.

[Anonymous]

Just postulating, but if you send such an update letter, your DC will definitely not get in. But if you get in and don't go, depending on the school's interest in keeping track of such things, no child from your family may ever get it. If you would never re-apply for another child anyway, why rock the boat?

[Anonymous]

They're not binding. However I think it would look terrible to update them at this juncture. You are basically telegraphing that you won't accept an offer if another school admits. No school wants to be second fiddle. If both schools accept, decline. That's what wait lists are for.

[Anonymous]

Do lower schools expect to submit a first choice letter? Is it too late to do so?

[Anonymous]

Op, remember, admissions people talk. You don't want the school who received the letter to tell the school that is your new first choice. That could bite you in the back.

[Anonymous]

Agree. OP, don't send a letter to the other school.

As for timing, I think it's too late. I think schools have made their selections. Also, there have been threads about how meaningful the letters are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op, remember, admissions people talk. You don't want the school who received the letter to tell the school that is your new first choice. That could bite you in the back.

I'm not convinced that admissions people at different schools talk about the applicants, but if they do, I don't think it matters. My kid wrote a first choice letter and still got into all the other high schools that he applied to.

[Anonymous]

OP, it is too late. You may end up being relieved that your DC got one admit and from your first choice. I know a few families who were shut out when they applied for their first DCs. You don't have anything in the bank...until it is in the bank.

[Anonymous]

Schools have not made their final decisions. You should definitely let schools know that it is your first choice - but only if it is!

[Anonymous]

We have a definite first choice because it is our only choice. We indicated such on the application because it asked for other schools to which we are applying, but we never sent a separate letter.

[Anonymous]

NP here, we did not send a first choice letter. We have a clear first choice. Should we send a letter at this point?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NP here, we did not send a first choice letter. We have a clear first choice. Should we send a letter at this point?

I have no special insight here but this type of letter seems a bit much to me. I think if you have a clear first choice it would be better for your current school's head/outplacement person to send that signal for you. Are these letters actually common? First I am hearing of it. I have only been through the process with one child, however.

[Anonymous]

We haven't sent any first choice letter. We sort of have 3 first choices at this point - there is our reach first choice (applied to 2 reach schools), our "love to go but not getting our hopes up" first choice, and our realistic first choice. If we get wait listed at any of our reach/hopes schools, we may give the first choice letter a shot at that point.