Are You Being Pressured to Send a Deposit Before May 1?

<p>^^^ Exactly! Are you trying to tell me in this day and age that Res Life can’t assign housing between May 1st and the second week of August? Please…</p>

<p>Schools don’t have to have ED or ED II or EA either. They do it to get commits, to attract the students they want. This is another way to get commits, by offering a bonus for committing early. The people who get in ED or get the best dorm rooms like the system, those who don’t complain that there is no reason to do everything early. If the deposits are non-refundable (my daughter’s is) then you need to think more carefully before committing, or take the time allowed and take your chances of not getting the housing you want. It is not unethical as they aren’t trying to cheat you or trick you - they tell you outright that if you make a deposit you can go to the admitted student program in the spring and get on the dorm list, and if you want to wait and see if there is a better offer from another school, you are free to do that. Not unethical or even unfair, it’s just that you don’t like it. Why shouldn’t it be ‘first come, first served’ as long as everyone has the option to make a deposit as soon as he is accepted?</p>

<p>My daughter’s school starts Aug 12, so they have less time to assign housing, but of course they could do it. They don’t WANT to do it. They use the early dorm assignement as a BONUS, just like they use honor college getting to register first for classes as a BONUS. They aren’t making anyone register early, but there are benefits to doing it, and there is no penalty to not doing it unless you really want the bonuses.</p>

<p>And don’t you think students who don’t find out their dorm assignments until Aug 15 are complaining that the school is taking too long and should have had the assignments done in June?</p>

<p>I agree with much of your post. I just would rather the schools be up front and tell everyone that this practice is a gimmick to persuade students and families to register early. This is NOT necessary because housing assignments are so cumbersome and too much for the school to handle in 21/2 months. Also, if it’s not unethical or unfair to play this game, the it MUST work both ways. Kids and families should have no qualms having multiple deposits in at the same time. </p>

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<p>Early decision, you mean? Because poor families, more than anyone, can’t do that if they need to know what their least $$ deal will be before committing money they may not have.</p>

<p>This is an excellent issue to bring up. I’ve been seeing it happen increasingly. If you don’t send in a commitment to some schools, you don’t get a place in line for housing, and having had 2 kids who waited till the 11th hour to commit at schools where it was first come, first served, I can tell you that you can get your kid assigned to temporary accommodations, a room in the outer Siberia part of campus, a triple or quad even or no room assignment. For those schools that have returnable housing deposits that do not require an admissions commitment, fine. But some don’t. </p>

<p>Some also do the same for other goodies, most notoriously for financial aid. You have to commit before you get your aid package? Some audition based programs also put on the pressure.</p>

<p>None of this should be allowed and anyone so pressured should report such schools to NACAC. It’s not right. The only exceptions should be committed athletes and ED and very special circumstances that should be run though NACAC first.</p>

<p>I do believe that there is some stipulation one signs, is there not about not committing with admissions deposits to more than one school? But just like with the ED exclusivity, there are schools that don’t care and don’t support those “promises”.</p>

<p>There is a stipulation that you sign regarding having multiple deposits at the same time. Many folks believe the clause refers to having multiple deposits on or after May 1. The only reason we don’t have several housing deposits in is the two schools “pressuring” us also guarantee honors housing for my D. So no need to panic. I would also say that several other schools where D has been accepted have applied no pressure to deposit early. So this is not a universal practice. Shoot, we still have two schools to hear from still. So, I’m not waiting to see where I will get the best deal. </p>

<p>The state flagship wanted large housing deposit. If son had attended that school, he would want to be in Honors housing, with his friends. I did feel forced to give them the money. Could I have written this off as charity?</p>

<p>Theft losses are deductible under section 165 of the Code. </p>

<p>LOL, someold guy. I need a good laugh. Happy V day!</p>

<p>DS’14’s flagship safety wants $200 bucks to hold his preferred dorm room. (We sent the check). We think of it as insurance.</p>

<p>@momofthreeboys: I strongly disagree that making two deposits simultaneously is unethical. You may be uncomfortable with this practice but I have zero problem making two deposits simultaneously. As mentioned upthread, many schools use the housing deposit as a pressure tactic and or a carrot. Spygirl is undecided between several schools. Merit packages will most likely be the deciding factor. </p>

<p>You know what is unethical? Using pressure tactics and offering special housing, tour and admitted day privileges for those financially able to commit before the May deadline.</p>

<p>I’m not uncomfortable with the practice if it’s a housing deposit. Through three kids and many acceptances I have never seen a letter that was unclear about the difference in a housing deposit and the little card or e-mail link that says you accept the offer of admissions. There was always (privates and publics) a difference. And yes, some college and large universities do not have dorm space available for all the kids that might show up in the fall so yes I think putting a dorm deposit down or committing to the college should be awarded with a bed that isn’t a converted lounge. If a better offer comes along…ask for the refund and put it somewhere else. Perhaps this doesn’t happen elsewhere except at Michigan’s two big publics so it’s a non-issue. But the minute my last kid even voiced the fact he might stay in-state I had that (refundable) housing deposit submitted in December, long before he made his final decision. Like Glido says it’s insurance…and small, small change compared to $25,000 or $30,000 or more in the annual cost of college or frigging around trying to get your kid out of the lounge converted to bedroom or a local hotel and into a real dorm room in August. It happens. </p>

<p>Villanova did this a couple years ago - if you sent in your deposit early, you got to live in a double room, instead of a double converted into a triple. If you waited until you received a financial aid offer, you were in a triple.</p>

<p>My daughter’s college requires an early deposit to keep your seat in the RN program. If they run out of space, you are accepted as a non-nursing major, and it is almost impossible to transfer into it.</p>

<p>My son was admitted to Penn State’s and the University of Alabama’s engineering schools last fall. Both schools require that you accept your offer of admission and pay a non-refundable deposit BEFORE you can put a deposit down for housing. </p>

<p>The housing deposit at Bama is refundable (not sure about PSU), but the bottom line is you have to actually ENROLL in order to place a housing deposit. </p>

<p>We’re still waiting for decisions from a number of private schools that we may not hear back from until 4/1. By that time, there’s a good chance my son will be shut out of honors housing at Bama and anything decent at Penn State, but we refuse to put non-refundable deposits down on schools we’re not sure he will attend. We’ve already paid application fees to both schools, paid an extra fee to apply to Schreyer, paid to have SATs scores sent, etc. How many schools are people paying deposits to? These aren’t small fees, BTW. They’re several hundred dollars EACH.</p>

<p>Our son also signed the Common App pledge not to enroll in any college he didn’t plan to attend. I guess there are ways to skirt that pledge, particularly with schools that aren’t part of the Common App, but is that really what schools like Penn State and Bama want us to do?</p>

<p>When I contacted our admissions rep from Bama about the conundrrum, this was the response I received:</p>

<p>"******** will not be able to put down a Housing Deposit or submit a Housing Application until the Enrollment Application is submitted. This is done so we can gage how many students do truly plan to attend so we can then gage how many we can continue to accept (as we have Rolling admission)."</p>

<p>But, of course, that makes absolutely no sense. If they really wanted to “gage” how many students plan to attend, their ENROLLMENT figures would be a lot more reliable if folks didn’t enroll just to secure housing. I absolutely believe these big state schools use the housing situation as a way to push families into making a commitment earlier than May 1 and the non-refundable enrollment fees must add up to some nice gravy over time.</p>

<p>But back to the original question, does this constitute “pressure”? Only if I send in the money; thus far I’m sticking to my guns, but ask me in a month!</p>

<p>If they want to be able to “gage” how many students plan to attend, they should offer the final package much sooner than April. Tell people in February and we can let them know right away. I find this process totally backwards.</p>

<p>In defense of Bama (I have no child attending), they offer many scholarships based on numerical cutoffs for GPA and standardized test scores. So it is important for them to control their financial burden by not admitting a whole lot more students who automatically earn scholarships.</p>

<p>@concernedmom27
In our case, we do know what our “final package” is with Bama because S has already been awarded his scholarships, and we’re not going to be getting any FA; it’s the other schools we’re still waiting on, both final decisions and FA awards.</p>

<p>@texaspg
The cutoff for applying for Bama scholarships, I believe, was in early January, so I don’t think that’s what the problem is.</p>

<p>Depends on whether they are holding back admitting some people because they don’t know how many already admitted are going to commit. Not sure that is the process but if I was incharge of finances, I would control how many are admitted with a scholarship.</p>

<p>Aren’t scholarships and financial aid and yield and their effect on budget things that colleges that respect the May 1 deadline handle as well?</p>

<p>But I thought you couldn’t get the scholarship if you missed the Dec. 15 deadline (amended to early Jan. this year because of weather issues)? Maybe that’s changed since last fall when S applied. (Their website seems like it’s been updated since we went through the process, so maybe the scholarships are “rolling” now too?)</p>

<p>Just to be clear, while this part of the process is stressful, I don’t begrudge the University of Alabama anything. Their OOS merit scholarships are RIDICULOUSLY generous. If my S ends up in a lousy dorm because he couldn’t commit early enough, then “dems da breaks.” (And, frankly, I don’t think Bama even has any lousy dorms.) </p>

<p>Nonetheless, I do wish they just required a modest nonrefundable housing deposit to hold a room, rather than a $200 nonrefundable enrollment deposit, which also creates conflicts with the Common App agreement for many students.</p>