Get your parents to go ahead & sign you up for campus housing “NOW”. Don’t wait! It’s a priority list based on when you signed-up (1st come, 1st serve). Registration costs $2-300 and all but $25 is FULLY refundable (if you decide to enroll somewhere else).
Take it from a parent who learned this lesson the “hard way”. We signed-up in Feb, which is apparently very late. Our Honor Program student ended up having to settle for non-honors housing.
No, the registration fee of $200 is not refundable. $25 of the housing fee of $300 is refundable. If you are not sure if you want to attend UA but want to apply so housing and time selection is guaranteed, be aware you are gambling $225 which you will not get back. For some people this is worth it; for others it is not. Only the parents of prospective seniors can decide this.
Kjcphmom is correct. While most of the HOUSING deposit is refundable, in order to make the housing deposit you must first make a non-refundable ENROLLMENT deposit. That said, my daughter didn’t decide to attend Alabama until March, but we made the enrollment and housing deposits in October to ensure that she’d have good housing choices. It was the right decision for us because dorm choice was important to my daughter, we thought there was at least a 50/50 chance she’d choose Alabama, and we could afford to lose the deposit. It might not be the right decision for others.
Done - but thanks for heads-up! We’re still not sure but didn’t want to leave that to chance.
Yes, if the housing choice is really important, then you will have to make the enrollment deposit first (non-refundable), but that allows you to make the housing deposit, which can avoid disappointment in housing choices.
An additional strategy is to use the roommate match to locate an upperclassman willing to room with freshmen students (everyone still has to have deposits paid on time, of course.) Upperclassmen get to choose rooms before new incoming students. My son was willing to add three freshmen to his suite, and he even found a room that met their preferences (he didn’t care as much about the particular honors housing building,as the freshmen did - he just wanted decent, sociable roommates.) Things turned out great for all involved, especially for the freshmen who knew where they were going to be living early on (in the exact building on the exact floor even that they wanted.)
I’ve got to say this is one of the things that I really, really dislike about Alabama. I do not like being artificially pressured into making a decision. I almost took Alabama off D’s list when I found this out. Of all the schools that D is applying to, this is the only one that uses a first come first serve method of housing assignments. I do not like being pressured in December to pay a non-refundable $225 in order to to keep the option open until May 1. That seems to go against the spirit of May 1 being the decision date.
It also seems dishonest to put down an enrollment deposit when you know that you haven’t made a decision yet and are still applying to other schools.
We didn’t pay a deposit until after March and my son still got into the Honors suite dorms.
There is no pressure, you can deposit late if you like, you just have to realize that the particular residence hall you wanted may not be available but your freshman student is guaranteed housing. There are some colleges/universities that do not even guarantee freshman housing, or are also on a first-come, first-served basis.
The issue of enrolling for housing early is not the issue. It is not right to have to pay a NON-REFUNDABLE enrollment deposit for housing.
UM-TC only asks for $25 and you do not need to pay enrollment deposit. Iowa State requests $330 ($295 enrollment + $35 housing) with only $35 not refundable if decide not to enroll.
$225 is a steep price to pay to keep your position in the housing cue at UA in case you decide to go there.
Why does UA charge such a high fee compared to others?
Demand? I don’t think most people realize how popular UA has become. It received over 35,000 applications for this Fall. High demand makes it less of a buyer’s market.
Our DD committed on May 1 and had no trouble getting the Honors dorm. If you are worried about spending the money before you are sure that your kid is attending, then don’t do it. I think you would have no problem getting an honors dorm (either directly, or by finding honors students who need 1 or 2 people to fill out their room)
BAMA is not the only school that is first come first served. Auburn also is first come first served and your freshman is not guaranteed housing. Of course for DS it wasn’t a decision, it’s been BAMA this whole process. He wants honors now to just convince two of the guys he had been talking to to go Ridgecrest instead of Presidential. 
This also a big reason why we are waiting and the one negative about UA. At Arkansas, it’s $240 but $200 is refundable. At Ole Miss and Miss St, it’s $75 non-refundable. So imagine what $$ UA is making in just the enrollment fees. 7000 freshman x $200 = wow! But demand is high due to generous merit pay, which is unbelievable. GPA and ACT - no questions asked!
@raven2016 I think the $200 deposit would be used toward other fees if the student actually matriculates.
I’m okay with the way UA does this. DD1 is in her 3rd year at UA, DD2 will start next Fall at UA.
Paid the deposits the second it opened on both.
I have friends with kids at Texas publics and they had to put their deposits in in October even for their 2nd year or they were SOL. Some schools, you rank which is more important: dorm or roommate. Then they let you know by end of June what dorm and roommate, way late, imho!
Ole Miss, I do not like what they do! While they have the deposit, it also depends on when your roommate made their deposit for when your room selection time slot will be. If you made your deposit on October 15th and their prespective roommate did not make their deposit until April 15th, they split the difference and you are given the date of say January 15th to use to assign your time slot. Really goofy!!!
Re: #13 and #14: Yes, the $200 enrollment fee shows up in the Student Account, as a credit towards room & board / tuition / fees for the first semester that they attend.
@TxNewCollegeMom - Thanks for sharing that about Ole Miss. That is really goofy and does not make sense.
Yes great advice! We signed up before deadline in February about two weeks I think and son got last honors style suite with the three suitemates he had connected to him (he had earliest dorm room choosing date of the four). He would’ve found a suite style room elsewhere but he wanted those three guys in his suite.
I love the way UA takes everyone thru the honors suite style dorms as if it’s a given when it’s not. Know many, many who were disappointed who couldn’t get in some were even assigned to traditional two person dorm rooms. Great if that’s what you want. If not there were kids seriously crying about it whose parents were exasperated. One poor mom was asking for help as her son didn’t want to even go if he didn’t get a suite style room.
I have a feeling many more freshmen next year will so housing will be tighter for sure.
@raven2016, it is the weirdest thing! It penalizes the ones that do make their deposit early, imho.
I can imagine that some kids intentionally look over potential roommates that have later deposit dates.