Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
OH, in THAT case : Do NOT call your 1st choice school and tell them that you have another offer. Some schools will honor their Assoc. of Indep. Schools agreement and not accept your WL accept if you tell them that you have made a deposit to another school. It is an honor bound thing. So, be very careful here. I would not raise attention with either school, just mail in the deposit and contract and see of you hear about 2nd school before June 1st (May 31st being last day to cancel a contract without owing full tuition for year. Send in the contract and wait. If you do not hear from 1st choice by late May, no loss.

Bo NOT turn down an accept hoping for a WL to work out. Many times it will not. Do not assume that the school is looking at your DC in isolation. The AD's in this town have to have good working relationships. No AD can make it for long if she lets other schools get sent up the river. Keep your deliberations to yourself.

What agreement are you talking about? I thought that you still have the right to withdraw after you pay a deposit (though you lose it), but before the drop dead date in May, June or July. I know in NYC, the schools will not accept a student off a waitlist after they put down a deposit, so you have to use subterfuge, but I wasn't aware of anything like that in DC or the AISGW.

On June 1st, if you have not cancelled a contract at a school at which you accepted an offer, and done so in writing, you will be held to the full tuition for the year whether DC attends or not.

DC is same as NYC in regards to other schools refusing a deposit and/or contract from a parent if they know that parent has signed a contract /given a deposit to another school. It is a gentleman's agreement, but I have seen AD's turn down a child after the parent let it slip that they had signed a contract elsewhere.

Anonymous wrote:Given the comments above, can someone please clarify if there is an agreement among local schools (that are part of the AISGW) not to accept a child off a waitlist if the family has put a deposit down at another school? Let's assume this is before the contract binding date (June 1st). Thank you!

No, there is no such agreement with respect to acceptances off a waiting list, either before or after the binding date.

However, schools do agree with each other not to allow families to attend their schools if the family is in breach of its contractual obligations to another school. So, with respect to the binding date--suppose you have signed a contract with one school (School A), the binding date passes, and then your child is accepted off the WL at another school (School B), and you decide to send your child to School B. If School A demands payment of full tuition as they are entitled to do under the contract once the binding date has passed, and you refuse to pay it, School A can inform School B and School B is then obligated not to allow your child to attend until your financial obligation to School A has been satisfied.

Given the comments above, can someone please clarify if there is an agreement among local schools (that are part of the AISGW) not to accept a child off a waitlist if the family has put a deposit down at another school? Let's assume this is before the contract binding date (June 1st). Thank you!