Why do people hold onto more than one 13+ school offer?

[splatsplat101]

Offers for many of the independent London boys schools went out a few weeks ago and the deadline for acceptances is around about now. I was quite surprised to find out that many of the parents in DS' prep school were accepting offers from more than one school....most of these schools don't require a deposit at the moment (or will refund them with enough notice) so in effect, they have nothing to lose....their argument is that they need longer to decide....but surely this means that waitlists will be tied up for longer than necessary. Is it normal to hold on to offers until hefty deposits are required?

My son , in year 7, has been holding two conditional offers for 13+ places for a year now , as is common, for the fairly obvious reason that we haven't decided which school will suit him best, particularly as he is changing so much as he grows.
Why would we rush such a big decision just to ease the waiting list, putting it brutally. The conditional places are offered in some cases 8 terms before the start date - so much can change.

It does seem quite common for parents to hold onto more than one offer. Often there's a dilemma re: boarding or day, or there might be siblings coming along behind and a family tries to work out whether to have all the kids based round Hammersmith, Wimbledon or Dulwich etc. Or as Michaela says the child's changing a lot so they're waiting to see what their interests, independence etc are like nearer the time. Lots of possible reasons.

We (DS1 in Year 7) quickly disposed of day offers at his request, weighed up the boarding ones and selected the one we hoped would offer him the biggest space to grow into whoever he's going to be - we wanted surety and direction for him through Yr7 & 8 but lots at our prep haven't yet decided. It's a major decision.

FWIW no-one has been offered 13+ for waiting list yet in DS's Yr 7, a full year after the pretests so I figure that there are far more families undecided than not.

Are you waitlisted for your preference?

Sorry, that should say 'FROM waiting list' ....

Totally agree with Michaelah and TRL. We applied to 3 indies, have offers from 2 so far, waiting for what is probably no 1 choice (should know next week!) but it's far from straightforward and DS will need some time to decide - obviously more so if he has a choice of 3. Local, vs 45 min commute each way, vs boarding. School most friends will go to vs two schools with much more of a "wow" factor (for DS and for us). Very different sports facilities. Greatly varying fee implications (especially boarding or not, but also with regards to possible scholarships). Possibility of IB or not. Lots to consider!

We will hopefully be releasing one place if we get the third offer as DS has agreed that it wouldn't be fair to hold on to more than two, however our current no 3 choice doesn't operate a waiting list so it won't really make a difference to anyone.

On the contrary - DS has 3 offers from highly selective London schools....We're agonising over making the decision by the " deadline"for many of the reasons mentioned above......sounds like we are being too virtuous!!