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wHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU'VE ACCEPTED, BUT THEN WAITLIST COMES THROUGH?
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Anonymous
| Obviously, all school deadlines have past as to whether you accept or not, & part with your money. How do you handle if the school you really want accepts you off of the waitlist, but you've already accepted at your 2nd chosice? |
Anonymous
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Call the school to which you've accepted a slot and ask if they'll work with you. Know that school will probably say no.
What else can you do, except reject the offer off the wait list? Good luck! |
Anonymous
| It is more then likely that if you accept the waitlist spot, you'll be paying two tuitions. That aside, why would you want to go to a school that's just accepting your kid this late in the game? It's one thing if you move off the waitlist early on, but now is really late and probably means he/she was pretty far down on said waitlist. I'd go with the one that wanted my kid from the beginning rather then the one who didn't. |
Anonymous
| 15:39 That is not true in the least! Many classes are over or fully enrolled in the first round, then a few drop out when contracts lock in, traditionally in June. Parents move, divorce, lose jobs. You are complicating the matter for OP by insinuating such nonsense. I was ready to accept at my child's first choice school the day before school started. (We were in public, not locked into another private school contract.) |
Anonymous
| Accept your first choice, knowing that you'll probably lose your deposit at the previously-accepted school. Tell the school you are "leaving" ASAP, so they can ask someone from their waitlist. Given how much you'll spend on private education, the few hundred you lose in deposit is relatively insignificant if it means you get the school you want most. |
Anonymous
| It's not just a question of the deposit. If you leave the second school after the binding date, you are on the hook for the entire year's tuition--even if the school easily fills the space. |
Anonymous
| OP has to call the school to see if she can get out of the contract, some schools will work with families. If the first choice school is less expensive, plead for mercy along those lines. |
Anonymous
| I would suggest examining your reasons for thinking it's your first choice very, very carefully. Make sure your thinking is based on something substantive -- so many choices are based on impressions and "prestige" and the image of excellence, and many of the private schools in this city are essentially equivalent in that regard. Once you and your child are invested in a place, you will love it -- and comments on this board prove that! |
Anonymous
Are the binding dates really this early? (I think our school's is July 1st -- certainly all they have in hand before that date is your deposit). If you haven't already paid tuition and if it's still at a point where there are active waitlists it would seem like the school would have to sue you to recover (vs. refuse to refund) and in contact disputes, there's a duty to mitigate damages, so recovery shouldn't be for full tuition unless they can prove that your spot could not be filled. Obviously, reaching an agreement is preferable, but if that doesn't happen, "so sue me" isn't an insane response (assuming you're fairly certain you'd never want a second shot at second choice school). |
Anonymous
| I think most binding dates are July or August 1, but I'd be careful about the "sue me" option. Recently someone did this and lost. Apparently it doesn't matter whether or not the school can fill your spot. |
Anonymous
Read the contract carefully as many schools have actually moved or are moving to May 31 binding dates. |
Anonymous
What school? |
Anonymous
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Here's a write-up on the case from Arendt Fox's website:
Maryland Private Schools Can Recover Unpaid Tuition Balance When Student is Withdrawn In Breach of an Enrollment Agreement Samuel K. Charnoff 10/11/2007 An October 2007 decision by Maryland’s highest court upheld a private school’s right to enforce a liquidated damage clause in an enrollment agreement when a student is withdrawn in breach of that agreement. Barrie School v. Patch, __ Md. __ (Md. Ct. App. October 5, 2007). The Barrie School, a private not-for profit school in Silver Spring, Maryland, ad an enrollment agreement that provided for a $1,000 non-refundable deposit and payment of the remaining tuition balance in two equal installments. The agreement also allowed parents to withdraw a student (subject to the $1,000 deposit), provided notice of withdrawal was delivered by May 31st. Under Section 3 of the agreement (a liquidated damage clause), the parents were obligated to pay the full tuition if they withdrew a child after the May 31st deadline. After signing this enrollment agreement in 2004, a parent decided to withdraw a child in July 2004, long after the May 31 deadline. The Barrie School filed a breach of contract action seeking to recover the tuition balance for the 2004-05 academic year. At trial, the court found the liquidated damage clause enforceable but ruled for the parent. The court held that the Barrie School could not recover because it had failed to mitigate its damages by doing nothing to try and fill the space for this child once withdrawn. This decision was affirmed on appeal. The case was then appealed to Maryland’s highest Court. The Court of Appeals issued its decision in October 2007, ruling that the school had no duty to mitigate in the face of the clear liquidated damage clause of the enrollment contract. The Court of Appeals also concluded that using the tuition balance as a fair estimate of damages was reasonable. This Barrie School decision should aid Maryland schools in the enforcement of liquidated damage provisions in enrollment contracts. The Barrie School case now means that schools will not have to address the complicated issue of mitigation to recover damages under a properly drafted enrollment agreement. All Maryland private schools should review their enrollment agreements carefully with counsel to determine if the contracts conform with the Court of Appeal’s reasoning. |
Anonymous
| Wow. Bye-bye interest in MD private schools. |
Anonymous
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I do not get this thread. All the OP has to do is call the school and get the answer. Yes or no. We can't answer it for OP. I do not think the school will release her. There was a story in the NYT about a couple who tried to get out of a private school contract, much earlier binding dates.
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