Students who applied with a binding early decision admissions program will be notified. The best advice is to soak up the acceptances, celebrate a little, but don’t chill out too much.

A study from the National Association of College Admission Counseling (NACAC) found that almost one-quarter of colleges revoked an offer of admission. The most common reasons cited were: inconsistent grades – 65 percent of students were impacted by senioritis; disciplinary issues – 35 percent of students were found to have participated in questionable behavior and dishonesty – 29 percent were found to have provided false information on their applications. Wow, that’s sobering.

When there’s been “bad behavior,” how do colleges find out?

You guessed it … social media and reports from other applicants. It’s unfortunate that college admissions has become so competitive that it is typically parents (even a little sadder) who are reporting this bad behavior.

Tattling on some other student who is vying for an admit to the same school where their children have applied is fair game.

Assuming it is not a behavior/social media post or comment that sparked the ire of the admissions office, it is far more typical that a student whose admission was revoked, had started sliding academically.

I once worked with a student who was accepted via single choice early action to an Ivy League school. She had been very successful in her freshman, sophomore and junior years in high school and never had a single B. She did receive a B in one course her first semester senior year. The colleges were notified because they receive what’s called a mid-year report. All was well, but she received three B’s in her second semester senior year, because she had gotten involved in the theater department.

She was a nervous wreck because she didn’t know if she was going to be allowed to attend or if there were consequences, etc. It all ended up fine, but it convinced me that many schools are vigilant about following up on mid-year grading reports as well as end-of-year grading reports.