School Reserves The Right to Rescind Offer Over Waitlist? Forum

[TheDapperDruid]

So I've been admitted at Cornell, however, it states in the acceptance email that they reserve the right to rescind their offer of admittance if I have an active reservation with another law school after June 15th. I'm currently on the Columbia Reserve list, and I'm scheduled to retake in June. I was looking to shoot for a higher score and leverage it to get an admittance out of Columbia, but I'm concerned that Cornell's terms of acceptance may throw a wrench into this plan.

When Cornell refers to "active reservation," does it refer to my being on a waitlist or does it refer to a deposit placed with another school? If it refers to a waitlist, as I presume it does, is it a realistic possibility that they will rescind their offer? Has this happened to anyone? If I need to withdraw from the Columbia Reserve list, then I feel that would take away most of the benefit I would see from retaking in June.

[DecisionMaker100]

Wouldn't you have to accept Cornell's offer and deposit there before that date anyway?

[TheDapperDruid]

Wouldn't you have to accept Cornell's offer and deposit there before that date anyway?

Yes. However, my question pertains to a scenario in which I accept Cornell's offer but remain on Columbia's Reserve list with the hope of leveraging a higher June score to possibly gain admittance off the Reserve list. The issue is that I would have to withdraw from the Reserve list before June 15th or else I risk having my offer rescinded, meanwhile, the score email date for the June LSAT is the 30th.

[Good Guy Gaud]

You should just call Cornell and ask.

[TheDapperDruid]

You should just call Cornell and ask.

I suppose I'll be doing that on Monday then...

[DecisionMaker100]

If you accept and deposit, I don't think they would be able to rescind your offer because you are on another school's waitlist.

In fact, they would not even know that you are on the waitlists of any other school. Schools can know if you deposit at another school, but not if you are waitlisted at any.

My 0.02.

[KiltedKicker]

Ya I think the standard is once you deposit you will withdraw from any school you already have a decision from, but can stay on wait lists. You would be able to stay on Columbia's wait list until you get a decision

[TheDapperDruid]

I'm inclined to agree with you guys, but I suppose it'd be best to call on Monday for clarification on what they mean by "active reservation." Better safe than sorry

[Tls2016]

You should just call Cornell and ask.

I suppose I'll be doing that on Monday then...

I wouldn't call. You have a long time between now and June 15. A wait list isn't an "active reservation." Active reservation means a seat deposit.

Edit to add: how will calling them benefit you? You are signaling to them you don't intend to attend if you get another offer. That will kill any negotiating power you might have.

[Good Guy Gaud]

You should just call Cornell and ask.

I suppose I'll be doing that on Monday then...

I wouldn't call. You have a long time between now and June 15. A wait list isn't an "active reservation." Active reservation means a seat deposit.

Edit to add: how will calling them benefit you? You are signaling to them you don't intend to attend if you get another offer. That will kill any negotiating power you might have.

I can see what you're saying and don't necessarily disagree with it but this is just one of those things where I tend to believe just asking would be easier than attempting to find the answer on TLS. I also doubt the person he/she would speak to is going to take the question so seriously as to kill any negotiating power. I think it's normal for someone to have serious reservations about decisions like this and that asking is a responsible way to resolve any issues.

Different strokes, though. Like I said, I can see the logic behind your position.

[TheDapperDruid]

You should just call Cornell and ask.

I suppose I'll be doing that on Monday then...

I wouldn't call. You have a long time between now and June 15. A wait list isn't an "active reservation." Active reservation means a seat deposit.

Edit to add: how will calling them benefit you? You are signaling to them you don't intend to attend if you get another offer. That will kill any negotiating power you might have.

I also agree with you on this. It's precisely why I posed this question. Any ideas on how to gain clarification on this without throwing away negotiating power? I don't see why they would require that I identify myself to answer such a question...

[Tls2016]

^^
Schools don't require you to withdraw from wait lists. Cornell is telling you their policy on multiple seat deposits.

My memory scares me sometimes but I recalled an LSAC rule about this and an Asha blog post about it. This discussion came up in the whole law school scam movement.

The applicable good practice rule from LSAC:

commitments:
A commitment is defined as an affirmative step taken by an applicant (e.g., submitting a seat deposit or an enrollment form) to indicate their intention to matriculate at an institution.
Member law schools should:
•
• allow applicants to freely accept a new offer from a law school even though a scholarship has been accepted, a deposit has been paid, or a commitment has been made to another school;

http://www.lsac.org/docs/default-source ... oodadm.pdf
(For some reason I can't get the link to work but it's linked in Asha's post.)
https://www.law.yale.edu/admissions/jd- ... hool-scams
https://www.law.yale.edu/admissions/jd- ... ruth-power

[TheDapperDruid]

^^
Schools don't require you to withdraw from wait lists. Cornell is telling you their policy on multiple seat deposits.

My memory scares me sometimes but I recalled an LSAC rule about this and an Asha blog post about it. This discussion came up in the whole law school scam movement.

The applicable good practice rule from LSAC:

commitments:
A commitment is defined as an affirmative step taken by an applicant (e.g., submitting a seat deposit or an enrollment form) to indicate their intention to matriculate at an institution.
Member law schools should:
•
• allow applicants to freely accept a new offer from a law school even though a scholarship has been accepted, a deposit has been paid, or a commitment has been made to another school;

http://www.lsac.org/docs/default-source ... oodadm.pdf
(For some reason I can't get the link to work but it's linked in Asha's post.)
https://www.law.yale.edu/admissions/jd- ... hool-scams
https://www.law.yale.edu/admissions/jd- ... ruth-power

Thank you for this information. It's nice to see some solid information come to the surface.

[Tls2016]

^^
Schools don't require you to withdraw from wait lists. Cornell is telling you their policy on multiple seat deposits.

My memory scares me sometimes but I recalled an LSAC rule about this and an Asha blog post about it. This discussion came up in the whole law school scam movement.

The applicable good practice rule from LSAC:

commitments:
A commitment is defined as an affirmative step taken by an applicant (e.g., submitting a seat deposit or an enrollment form) to indicate their intention to matriculate at an institution.
Member law schools should:
•
• allow applicants to freely accept a new offer from a law school even though a scholarship has been accepted, a deposit has been paid, or a commitment has been made to another school;

http://www.lsac.org/docs/default-source ... oodadm.pdf
(For some reason I can't get the link to work but it's linked in Asha's post.)
https://www.law.yale.edu/admissions/jd- ... hool-scams
https://www.law.yale.edu/admissions/jd- ... ruth-power

Thank you for this information. It's nice to see some solid information come to the surface.

No problem. I followed the law school scam movement and Prof Campos' blog closely years ago. ( There were schools who would threaten students with losing scholarships if they didn't withdraw from waitlists.) It's just crazy to me that I remember this.

[hairbear7]

Yeah I'm nearly positive they are talking about double depositing, not riding waitlists.