<p>I'm not sure how this works. S1 is getting his AA and transferring to a 4-year college in the Fall. Out of his top 2 schools, one accepted him, and the other hasn't decided yet. Either school would be a good match, although the 2nd school is S's first pick. </p>
<p>What happens if he says "yes" to the school that has accepted him (he would like to be on the early part of the housing lottery list), and then gets accepted to the school he'd rather go to? </p>
<p>In other words, can you accept and then change your mind without being struck down by lightening?</p>
<p>It is my understanding the only problem would be losing deposits. I think this is quite common actually. For example, people who have been wait-listed generally do not find out if they have been accepted until after the deadline date for accepting to other schools. </p>
<p>The big no-no would be to double deposit–say yes to both schools and keep them both on the hook until you decide. Kids get off waitlists or change their minds and there is movement throughout the summer (called “the summer melt”).</p>
<p>My daughter switched schools after making a deposit. She got better financial aid at her second choice school. The first even sent back her deposit (that was promised in the acceptance letter, by the way).</p>
<p>In transferring, this is a much more common and thorny problem than with Freshman Admissions (because they have wildly varying decision dates; unlike the common date for Freshman Admissions). You can go to our Transfer Forum and look at the Transfer 101 sticky thread which covers this among many other topics (you might have to slog through posts on other topics until you get to this issue… but it is there).</p>
<p>Sometimes the second school will cooperate in a request to provide a decision a little sooner than they planned (you/your S simply have to call) due to his need to provide a response/deposit to the first school. Often the first school will grant an extension to the time required for his deposit - but that isn’t really relevant here because he doesn’t want to lose out on better housing options.</p>
<p>Housing deposits are sometimes separate from enrollment deposits. They are also often refundable (YMMV). So had can go ahead and make the housing deposit. If he’s lucky, this is a school which will refund it if he decides to take another acceptance. If he’s unlucky, it will be a lost few hundred $$.</p>
<p>If it’s an enrollment deposit, it might also be refundable it he is lucky. If not, and he decides to go to school #2, he’ll lose the $$ but that’s the only bad thing that will happen. He should just notify the school that he has received a late acceptance to a better fit (no need for a long explanation or awkward phone call; it can be done by phone, email or letter) and will not be attending.</p>
<p>Congratulations to him. He will not be struck by lightning, so you can relax and enjoy Acceptance #1 and keep fingers crossed for #2.</p>