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[retupmoc12]

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[cavalier1138]

Well, I'm going to ignore my complete confusion over what job you have and just go to the simple answer: No.

You cannot back out of an ED acceptance. You committed to go to that school, and while you can legally back out without any financial penalties, word gets around (just like it would through undergraduate institutions). Other schools' admissions offices will know, and they will not look kindly on it.

Now, I don't know about whether an ED student can defer their admission for a year. I'm guessing that the answer is also no, but that would likely be your only possibility here.

[Shootin]

I am also guessing that you already broke that agreement? Applying to schools this late won't be fruitful. If you already applied and recently got accepted then you already broke the ED contract, since once you are accepted you have to withdraw from other schools and not initiate new apps.

[stego]

Now, I don't know about whether an ED student can defer their admission for a year. I'm guessing that the answer is also no, but that would likely be your only possibility here.

If you don't go to law school at all this year, I'm pretty sure for the following admission cycle you're free and clear to apply to any law school you want to. It's not a binding contract that says you can only ever go to that one law school ever*.

*This is not legal admissions advice. Please consult the relevant language of the contract in question.

[michlaw]

Just talk to them and tell them your circumstance. I am sure you will find them reasonable.

[lawalum]

I agree - call the school. I suspect withdrawing from a full time program to go elsewhere part-time due to change in financial circumstances is not an issue. If you were withdrawing from full time to attend full time elsewhere,that would be problematic - you would run the risk that both schools revoke your acceptances.

[retupmoc12]

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[cavalier1138]

Lawalum and Michlaw...I was thinking the same thing. Cavalier, you present a much more harsh (but possible) reality. I just would hope they are not too anal considering the full time to part time switch.

I think that they're totally incorrect, and I think you could end up in a lot of hot water if you go forward with this. You can just withdraw and not go to school. But if you tell this school that you applied to (or failed to withdraw your application from) another school for the fall, you're admitting that you broke the ED contract. That is not a good thing.

If you're going to talk to the school, I would try to just hold off on law school altogether for a year. You could be torpedoing your admissions chances for the future if you admit to breaking the contract you signed.

[emkay625]

Call the school and explain your situation. if you're close by, it might be better to go in person and explain. Be sincere, apologetic, and polite.

My guess is their reaction will depend on what your situation is. "I need to be able to work because my Dad has cancer and I need to care for my younger siblings" or "I need to work because I found out my girlfriend/wife is pregnant" will probably be met with much more sympathy and accommodation than "I need to work because I realized student loans don't pay very much" or something similar.

[michlaw]

Lawalum and Michlaw...I was thinking the same thing. Cavalier, you present a much more harsh (but possible) reality. I just would hope they are not too anal considering the full time to part time switch.

I think that they're totally incorrect, and I think you could end up in a lot of hot water if you go forward with this. You can just withdraw and not go to school. But if you tell this school that you applied to (or failed to withdraw your application from) another school for the fall, you're admitting that you broke the ED contract. That is not a good thing.

If you're going to talk to the school, I would try to just hold off on law school altogether for a year. You could be torpedoing your admissions chances for the future if you admit to breaking the contract you signed.

I did this myself and the school I withdrew from could not have been nicer. They are much more interested in your honesty and character than having some unquenchable burning desire that you attend their school. I mean I doubt they ever recovered from my not being there but they bravely soldiered on. I actually think my not attending caused them to drop a couple places in the rankings.

You agreed to something with them under the ED parameters, but that being said slavery is illegal in the US. They neither can nor want to force you to attend. Check out Dean Z's A2Z blog. See has written on early decision. If you simply want out because a better school accepted you then you might have an issue. Even then they will likely let you out.

The only thing not to do is lie.

[cavalier1138]

Lawalum and Michlaw...I was thinking the same thing. Cavalier, you present a much more harsh (but possible) reality. I just would hope they are not too anal considering the full time to part time switch.

I think that they're totally incorrect, and I think you could end up in a lot of hot water if you go forward with this. You can just withdraw and not go to school. But if you tell this school that you applied to (or failed to withdraw your application from) another school for the fall, you're admitting that you broke the ED contract. That is not a good thing.

If you're going to talk to the school, I would try to just hold off on law school altogether for a year. You could be torpedoing your admissions chances for the future if you admit to breaking the contract you signed.

I did this myself and the school I withdrew from could not have been nicer. They are much more interested in your honesty and character than having some unquenchable burning desire that you attend their school. I mean I doubt they ever recovered from my not being there but they bravely soldiered on. I actually think my not attending caused them to drop a couple places in the rankings.

You agreed to something with them under the ED parameters, but that being said slavery is illegal in the US. They neither can nor want to force you to attend. Check out Dean Z's A2Z blog. See has written on early decision. If you simply want out because a better school accepted you then you might have an issue. Even then they will likely let you out.

The only thing not to do is lie.

This does not match what admissions departments have said in the past about the very nature of ED. Plenty of people back out of ED to not go to school at all, but reneging on a contract to go to a different school? Everything I've ever read/heard on the subject is that both schools revoke your admission offers, and you often are not going to be offered a slot there in the future.

You're right (and overly dramatic). The school can't compel you to attend. But they can talk with the other school and basically ensure that you never attend either institution because you decided to be a dick and exploit the ED system (which is, in fact, what deciding to attend another institution in the same application cycle is doing).

[michlaw]

Lawalum and Michlaw...I was thinking the same thing. Cavalier, you present a much more harsh (but possible) reality. I just would hope they are not too anal considering the full time to part time switch.

I think that they're totally incorrect, and I think you could end up in a lot of hot water if you go forward with this. You can just withdraw and not go to school. But if you tell this school that you applied to (or failed to withdraw your application from) another school for the fall, you're admitting that you broke the ED contract. That is not a good thing.

If you're going to talk to the school, I would try to just hold off on law school altogether for a year. You could be torpedoing your admissions chances for the future if you admit to breaking the contract you signed.

I did this myself and the school I withdrew from could not have been nicer. They are much more interested in your honesty and character than having some unquenchable burning desire that you attend their school. I mean I doubt they ever recovered from my not being there but they bravely soldiered on. I actually think my not attending caused them to drop a couple places in the rankings.

You agreed to something with them under the ED parameters, but that being said slavery is illegal in the US. They neither can nor want to force you to attend. Check out Dean Z's A2Z blog. See has written on early decision. If you simply want out because a better school accepted you then you might have an issue. Even then they will likely let you out.

The only thing not to do is lie.

This does not match what admissions departments have said in the past about the very nature of ED. Plenty of people back out of ED to not go to school at all, but reneging on a contract to go to a different school? Everything I've ever read/heard on the subject is that both schools revoke your admission offers, and you often are not going to be offered a slot there in the future.

You're right (and overly dramatic). The school can't compel you to attend. But they can talk with the other school and basically ensure that you never attend either institution because you decided to be a dick and exploit the ED system (which is, in fact, what deciding to attend another institution in the same application cycle is doing).

You are ignoring the OP's situation. They need, at least in their mind which is the important consideration, to attend a part time program. They didn't ED Michigan and then want out to go to Harvard. 99.9% of us apply and attend during one admissions cycle. The admission's offices do this for a living. They have seen it all. I simply can not envision any ad comm feeling you were being dishonest or duplicitous and then wanting to punish you given the OP's specific fact pattern. Be human and they will reciprocate in kind.

[cavalier1138]

You are ignoring the OP's situation. They need, at least in their mind which is the important consideration, to attend a part time program. They didn't ED Michigan and then want out to go to Harvard. 99.9% of us apply and attend during one admissions cycle. The admission's offices do this for a living. They have seen it all. I simply can not envision any ad comm feeling you were being dishonest or duplicitous and then wanting to punish you given the OP's specific fact pattern. Be human and they will reciprocate in kind.

And again, I'm saying it doesn't matter.

If you back out of ED, you generally need to be doing so to not attend school at all. It wouldn't matter if you did ED at Michigan and then decided you really wanted to go to Cooley. The whole point of ED is that you are literally signing a contract saying that if you go to school this year, it's at that school. Even failing to withdraw your applications from another school is a breach of that contract, and I don't see it ending well for the OP. There's a massive difference between not attending school at all because of [insert reason here] and wanting to go to a different program.

I don't think the part-time nature of the program will be enough of a factor, and I think the risks far outweigh the potential benefits.

[michlaw]

Well you are wrong. Most admission officers are really good lawyers. They understand contracts far better than you and I. But first and foremost they are, at least in my experience, really fine people. The OP did not try to game the system, or scam them. Circumstances changed. Talk to them. Never lie. It is almost always the cover-up that gets people in trouble.

[Shootin]

I agree with cavalier here. You don't need to be a good lawyer to understand terms of ED contract. If upon his acceptance he failed to withdraw from other schools and not initiate new apps he already broke the terms of contract. It really doesn't matter that circumstances changed. You can ED to Cornell and then if your circumstances change and you must be in Atlanta then Cornell should be fine with you going to Emory? Regardless of circumstances/program preferences, you are at the mercy of the ad coms the moment you break the contract. Maybe they will be nice and let you loose, or maybe not. Either way, probably not a good way to begin your legal career by violating an admissions contract. That's the caveat of the ED. That's why you sign a paper and give your word for it. Its part of the integrity that is so important in the legal field.

Now, if his circumstances changed and he contacted the admissions office PRIOR to initiating new apps (and not breaking other terms of the contract) to ask for their permission to break the contract, then its a different story. In this case he did not break the contract and all is good. But if he already violated the contract then its too late. I really don't see what is debatable about any of that. Its like coming to a professor asking what you can do to improve your grade after your final grade has already been posted..

[bmathers]

Your only going to get"I thinks" on here. Cali them or send an email and find out for sure. It's that easy