"Accepting" 2 offers

I’ve been accepted to both my top and second choice grad schools. However, due to work, I must defer by at least one semester for any program I accept. My top choice does not offer the traditional defer, but allow us to update our application to a future term (subject to review again like a new applicant).

My problem now is that I will not know whether the update will be successful until Sep/Oct, way past the usual April deadlines for accepting and making deposits. Can I then accept my second choice first and make the deposit? If the update is successful for my top choice, I would not mind losing the deposit I made for my second choice.

You can do this - it’s not the most ethical choice, but it is possible to do if you don’t mind losing your deposit.