Think it couldn’t happen to you? Think again! It’s rare, but colleges, especially highly selective colleges, will rescind applications following exceptional circumstances, including a significant drop in grades, a disciplinary infraction, or an arrest. Rescinded offers of admission are entirely avoidable. Don’t be the student who squandered a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity because you wanted to take the easy road for the second half of senior year.

Let’s unpack how college acceptances can be rescinded and discuss how this unfortunate fate can be avoided.

An F is Certainly Grounds for a Rescinded Application to a Top School!

Every offer of admission comes with the implicit assumption that the admitted student will maintain their academic performance throughout their senior year. Don’t believe us? Take a look at that acceptance letter. The odds are that you will see a clause with some version of the following: “Your acceptance is conditional upon the successful completion of the final year of high school.” Maybe they aren’t so blunt and phrase it like this: “We expect that you remain fully engaged in your studies and other pursuits for the remainder of your secondary school career.” Either way, you better believe that this rhetoric means that your future alma mater is well within its right to rescind your admission should your grades falter in your senior spring.

But how much of an academic lapse is grounds for your admission being rescinded? One B is not likely to do it. A B- likely won’t either, although your prospective school may ask you to explain this lapse once you’re on campus, and you’d better have a valid reason! Getting a C sends you into murky territory, and a D or F will likely draw an extreme response. If you can’t maintain the GPA upon which Harvard or UChicago admitted you, why should they believe you will stay afloat once you enroll in their rigorous college-level classes?

Moreover, once you secure that acceptance letter, stay enrolled in higher-level coursework. Don’t switch these courses out for easier electives. If your future college sees that you dropped out of AP Bio the second you were admitted, they’ll see this move for precisely what it was — a cop-out! High school seniors are responsible for maintaining the image upon which they were accepted, including the rigor of their courses.

Bad Behavior and Legal Infractions are Also Grounds for a Rescinded Application

We at Ivy Coach get it. Once you have that acceptance letter under your belt, it’s human nature to want to goof around for your last few months of high school. You should be proud of yourself and reduce your stress level, which was likely high during your successful college admissions cycle. However, under no circumstances should you do anything that could draw the disciplinary ire of your school or, worse, the authorities. This means no cheating, no string of absenteeism, no DUIs, and no violence! 

Students intent on pursuing an elite undergraduate education should always hold themselves to this standard, no matter the stakes, and this is never truer than after securing a college acceptance.

You’ve Worked Hard to Gain Acceptance to the School of Your Dreams. Don’t Waste This Opportunity!

Everyone makes mistakes. However, a relatively minor error such as failing a class or skipping a few days of school rarely costs as much as during those precious few months following a college acceptance. If the worst does come to pass, and the school of your dreams contacts you to rescind your admission, you should always reply to the college and explain the circumstances of your academic or personal lapse. Sometimes, such as when you’ve experienced a death in the family or a significant illness, colleges will be understanding and give you a second chance. However, this is much less likely if you’ve committed a disciplinary or legal infraction. So stay out of trouble!

For what it’s worth, we at Ivy Coach do not have extensive experience with clients who have had their applications rescinded. In fact, we can recall only one instance in which a client had an acceptance rescinded.