Notifying Colleges About School/Curriculum Change
All the courses I was taking in senior year were extra courses. I had already fulfilled my required credits.
Whenever a student makes ANY sort of academic change after applying to college (even if it’s something minor– like switching from a cooking class into woodshop–and even if all graduation or college-entrance requirements have been completed), it’s imperative that colleges be informed right away.
Your change of plans is, of course, is significant, and so the college that admitted you should be notified right away. You need to explain exactly why you made the switch to the new school and how the differences in school calendar disrupted your schedule and caused you to lose a quarter’s worth of credit.
It is HIGHLY UNLIKELY that this will have any negative impact on your acceptance. I certainly don’t think that admission officials would rescind your acceptance based on this change UNLESS the classes you are now taking at your new school are much less demanding than those that you were taking at your old school. But, in any case, you must notify your college today. Likewise, if you have any other college decisions pending, you must notify those schools as well.
Again, assuming that the rigor of your current program is at least roughly equivalent to what you left behind, you should be fine … as long as you clearly explain your situation to admission officials immediately.
Sally Rubenstone
Sally Rubenstone knows the competitive and often convoluted college admission process inside out: From the first time the topic of college comes up at the dinner table until the last duffel bag is unloaded on a dorm room floor. She is the co-author of Panicked Parents’ Guide to College Admissions; The Transfer Student’s Guide to Changing Colleges and The International Student’s Guide to Going to College in America. Sally has appeared on NBC’s Today program and has been quoted in countless publications, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Weekend, USA Today, U.S. News & World Report, Newsweek, People and Seventeen. Sally has viewed the admissions world from many angles: As a Smith College admission counselor for 15 years, an independent college counselor serving students from a wide range of backgrounds and the author of College Confidential’s “Ask the Dean” column. She also taught language arts, social studies, study skills and test preparation in 10 schools, including American international schools in London, Paris, Geneva, Athens and Tel Aviv. As senior advisor to College Confidential since 2002, Sally has helped hundreds of students and parents navigate the college admissions maze. In 2008, she co-founded College Karma, a private college consulting firm, with her College Confidential colleague Dave Berry, and she continues to serve as a College Confidential advisor. Sally and her husband, Chris Petrides, became first-time parents in 1997 at the ripe-old age of 45. So Sally was nearly an official senior citizen when her son Jack began the college selection process, and when she was finally able to practice what she had preached for more than three decades.