Please reject offers you will not take TODAY, if you can (by phone/email)

[NWgirls]

Can you please reject by email or phone the offers you will not take?

Many London independent secondary schools have acceptance deadline at noon on Weds 5 March. Tuesday the 4th will be crazy for registrars and parents. Yes, I know state offers are not until on 3 March, but you can at least reject the independent offers that are no longer relevant now - and please be quick on 3 March as well.

We all like to agonise, compare and post on MN about the various schools, and it is a great and flattering feeling to have multiple offers. But please help the kids on waiting lists! (And their parents who would rather not waste deposit money or have the uncertainty drag on). We had 2 offers and 2 interesting waiting list spaces for DD, and did our little bit by rejecting one offer yesterday.

Just do it - it will also make you feel better - it is today's good deed!

[LiftWantedAroundTheWorld]

Bloody hell this sounds like a nightmare! Why doesn't everyone just send their DC to the nearest school with room for them? For once I am glad we live in the arse end of nowhere with no 'choice' to agonise over

[NWgirls]

Crunchtime for many London independents - only 48 hours and 9 minutes to go to the acceptance deadline! I am likely to hand the paperwork and cheque in personally in the last minute, after calling the two waiting list schools on my mobile...

We don't yet know DD's state offer (tonight?), but we promise to reject it swiftly. (Otherwise please see the original post)

[VQSV]

Not sure if relevant to schools you are interested in...
but my take on current state of play from circle of friends with multiple-offers is that:

Highgate: acceptance rate high...popular choice this year.

City + NLCS: usual mixture of acceptances / declines in line with recent years

SHHS: probably slightly higher than normal decline rate (issues surrounding new head / new buildings...maybe creating a little uncertainty)
Also a few on SHHS waiting list who might normally expect to get offer: so maybe they were tighter about making offers this year.
Just a gut feeling...but if SHHS is your clear 1st choice...and you are wait-listed....this might be one school that is worth persevering with.
(i.e. incur extra expense of paying deposit at 2nd choice school)
Also SHHS fees very reasonable...so if SHHS comes through...there will be a longer-term saving.

SPGS: usual very high acceptance rate.

Probably 2/3 of parents at my DDs school decided...but not sure if all responded yet. 1/3 still wavering....wondering about strategy for wait-lists etc.

[barbosska]

How interesting re: SHHS. I've heard the opposite- they have made offers to girls this year who in other years would have been on a waiting list. Also, I've got estimated fees from SHHS for 2014/2015. They are 9% higher than last year and are expected to grow at this rate, as they were historically low and the Head wants to move them closer to market rates.

[VQSV]

Would fees be a matter for head or board of governors / GDST ??

SHHS is always a difficult school to call...as it appears on so many people's lists as either 1st choice or a popular 2nd/3rd choice.

I would think that SHHS has a harder time than virtually any other school in Consortium in making judgements about how many offers to make etc.

In a few tight calls...I know a few girls opting for Channing / Highgate over either SHHS offer or SHHS wait-list.

[NameChangaroo]

So basically, only the very fortunate know for sure that their child has a place at this early stage.

I have one place for my dd already at an all girls school, and I secured it with the deposit. There are letters going out today to offer places at a mixed comp. I will have until the second deposit is due in (and I miss that deadline) before that place goes. It's a tough decision. I'm in Ireland btw so I'm not taking the place of anybody's child on this thread!

I was about to start a thread actually. I really need help. Would you all consider an all girls school unsuitable for a girl with no father (around). I don't understand the reasoning but some people have reacted with surprise that I am considering it. Not sure I understand the logic. The alternative school is mixed, but further away and the results aren't quite as good.

[GoldenBeagle]

Just a reminder that the advice in the thread title should NOT be taken by people who get an offer at a state school that they are not happy with. DO NOT TURN DOWN THE STATE OFFER YOU HAVE unless you know you have a place at a private school and are prepared to step out of the state sector.

There is no disadvantage to accepting the allocated space, you will still be put on the waiting lists for the schools you preferred, and you can still appeal. The accpetance of the place does not imply that your appeal is half hearted. If you refuse your stae place the LA will take the view that it has met it's legal obligation by finding you a place. And if you turn it down you may well end up with an equally or even more unpopular choice but further away!

[Whereisegg]

we want to appeal, do I reject or accept the offer we got in the meantime?

[NWgirls]

GoldenBeagle, thanks for helping to clarify!

Yes, my request is only to people who have several private / independent school offers. (These families, if they definitely will go private and already have an acceptable firm private offer, should ideally also swiftly reply not only to unwanted private offers but also on their state offers, to help families waiting for schools of both types.)

Hope that is clear now.

[Blu]

Whereisegg - the resounding advice from the admissions experts on these boards is accept by the deadline. And make sure you are on all the waiting lists you want to be on, and get on with any appeals.

With any luck you will get a place at a school you listed higher in the second round. This is when all the first acceptances and refusals come in.

Good luck!

[Whereisegg]

Blu thank you, for the advice and the luck

I just feel lost with all this, we just fed from school to school when I was going through this, I don't quite feel grown up enough to be dealing with it

[NWgirls]

Hurrah! We received an offer off the waiting list! And it is my DD's favourite of the remaining possibilities, which we have previously told her that she can and will go to if she gets it, so I think we are all set! Now just awaiting the paperwork to make it official.

This is DD, me & my better half today:

In the spirit of this thread I have also spoken with the school we will now NOT be taking (even if we really appreciated it and were happy with it!) and told them that it is almost certain that we will decline.

So if you are waiting for Queen's College London (independent school in Harley Street), there is now one more space available! (Very friendly and good school, improving every year, happy to PM, see separate thread)

[alpha2014]

Congratulations and good luck, NWgirls!

Did you do anything to improve the chances, or just waited?

[NWgirls]

Alpha:

(Having MN-problems - site stability? - trying to post again)

Thanks! Yes, I told registrar by phone last week that it is our first preference (classic waiting list advice, important, of course true!) and that we would take an offer immediately which I think might also have helped.

Best of luck!

[ClaraMaugham]

Well done NW! First of many good news stories lets hope. Which school is your DD off to?

[alpha2014]

thank you, NWgirls!

[PottyLottie123]

So pleased for you, NWgirls! My DD is on the waiting list for Kimbolton in Cambridgeshire (only indie she applied to) and really, really wants to go. Acceptance for firm offers deadline passed on Monday and her letter said that they would be in touch at this point, still had nothing official. I did ring on Monday afternoon to see if anyone off the list had got in, but she said this year has been highly unusual (just our luck!) and all who had replied so far had accepted. She said that a few needed chasing up and she would be in touch, but we've heard nothing yet. Can't be a pest and keep phoning, but really want to know what the situation is and I expected something official about what happens next.

Are deadlines extendable or is it an impossibility now? Have no idea how the private sector works and don't know if by ringing intermittently I am showing how keen we are or being a pain?

I was a teacher and have a horror of being seen as a "pushy" or irritating parent, but the polite waiting is driving me nuts!!!!!

[lottysmum]

I'm surprised that Kimbolton have not had a few drop out its normally a backup to some of the Bedford Indies ....so applications must have been high at the Bedford schools this year too....

[somanyschools]

Congrats NWgirls ! So happy that it all worked out !

and time :)

[PottyLottie123]

Me too, Lottysmum, some years the reserve list all get in but I was told that they were way over subscribed this year. This year's first form wasn't full, as one of DDs older friends got in mid-term and hadn't applied to go originally, so last years' reserves must have all got in and there was still a place left. Just our luck, but still hoping!

[NWgirls]

Many thanks, everybody!

ClaraM, the school is Francis Holland NW1, and we are now all signed up with the deposit paid! I celebrated with a coffee and sandwich in the sunshine at the cafe in Regent's Park. And DD has enjoyed reading the brochure about the many extracurricular activities which I picked up.

I am sure more spaces at (most) schools will be offered also over the next couple of days when they know their acceptance numbers.

In our offer letter I also see that the deadline to withdraw to avoid being liable for a term's fees is 20 April, and this is certain to free up more places from people who are still weighing up schools e.g. whether to take their state or private offer; some will have paid the deposit just to keep their options open. And of course, offers from waiting lists will lead to "chain reactions" affecting many.

We had decided to wait "until the cows came home" for Francis Holland, and if you read the posts by IHeart and snice above, you will appreciate that it can make sense to be very very patient, including (if necessary) potentially until the september term has started.

BTW, we will probably also shorten the waiting list at Notting Hill & Ealing by one girl. I believe it is a fantastic school with great results and facilities, but it is hard to see us ditching DD's favourite now, that would be a tough sell...

Best of luck to all waiters!