How to politely rescind a nursing school acceptance?

Nursing Students Pre-Nursing

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Hello everyone,

So I have a slight dilemma. I applied to 4 nursing schools this application cycle and I was fortunate enough to be accepted into all of them. However, as these things tend to happen, the acceptance letters did not all come at the same time and some of the schools had a deadline for when I had to accept/decline my spot. I accepted my seat at one school because I had been wait listed at my first choice school and I did not want to not accept a seat and then be left out of nursing school in the fall. Now, my first choice school has offered me a seat in the fall class, so I need to rescind my original acceptance. How should I go about doing this? Has anyone else been in a similar situation? I did not have to provide a deposit or anything for the school I accepted so I don't need to worry about not getting a refund, I just need to know what the most polite and professional thing to say would be.

Thank you all for any advice you can provide!

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Specializes in NICU, ICU, PICU, Academia.

Well, first of all you are 'declining' not 'rescinding'.

"Dear XXX,

I am declining your offer of enrollment. Thank you."

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If I was in your position I would write a short gracious letter on nice paper thanking the nursing school for considering me as a candidate for their program and for offering me a place for the xyz term/semester which I had accepted, and then go on to state that I am withdrawing my acceptance of their kind offer and wished to notify them of my decision as soon as possible so that they can offer my place to another candidate. I would then close with Sincerely, Susie2310.

For the schools that have accepted you but where you have not yet accepted/declined a place and do not wish to accept a place, I would again write a short gracious letter as above stating that I will not be accepting their kind offer of a place in their program for the xyz term/semester.

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Well I kind of am rescinding, because I have formally accepted the seat, but now that my first choice school has notified me of my acceptance, I no longer would like to attend the school I had accepted. But thank you for all of your advice!

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Specializes in Cardiac ICU.

I was accepted into my second choice well before my first choice notified me. I accepted my second choice and let them know that I was expecting a notification as to whether or not I was accepted into my first choice. When I received my acceptance letter from my first choice I just notified the point of contact for my second choice school that I would not be attending their school and thanked them for offering me a spot in their program.

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Yes, you are rescinding not declining because you DID accept the spot, but most people would probably just call it "changing your decision" :)

Simply put, send a letter stating that you very much appreciate their consideration and were so pleased to be accepted but at this time your plans have changed and you will not be enrolling in their school as previously anticipated; you hope that this gives them enough notice to offer the seat to another prospective student. Thank them for their time and sign your name.

Oh and congrats to you :)

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I did this too and it was AFTER I had done the drug test/background check/paid the deposit. I wrote a gracious email thanking them for the opportunity but that financial concerns at the time made me not able to attend at that time (which was true--I had serious cold feet b/c of the price tag). They responded very kindly and told me that if I chose to re-apply, to remind them that I had already been accepted. I'm sure this happens to all schools every year and it's not that big of a deal.

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If I was in your position I would write a short gracious letter on nice paper thanking the nursing school for considering me as a candidate for their program and for offering me a place for the xyz term/semester which I had accepted, and then go on to state that I am withdrawing my acceptance of their kind offer and wished to notify them of my decision as soon as possible so that they can offer my place to another candidate. I would then close with Sincerely, Susie2310.

For the schools that have accepted you but where you have not yet accepted/declined a place and do not wish to accept a place, I would again write a short gracious letter as above stating that I will not be accepting their kind offer of a place in their program for the xyz term/semester.

.

This. The nursing world is small and you never know that you might be remembered for being polite.

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This happened to me with grad school. Applied to three schools, got in to all three but number one choice didn't get back to me until I had already accepted my seat in my second choice program. Main thing is being polite. Write a concise email or letter telling them you no longer plan to attend their program and thank them for the opportunity. You don't have to give them the details about getting accepted somewhere else or anything but the politeness is the important part. I ended up getting a job at a practice several of the people involved with admissions at my second choice school are also involved with and if I had been rude or not handled the original situation well, that may have not happened.

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Always send a thank you for your consideration email and let them know that are rescinding their offer. ...never burn a bridge. ...

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