<p>There is much pressure on schools to achieve their enrollment early. It is becoming increasingly difficult for schools as they compete for students. I don’t condone the practice at all, but I understand that it is often done in response to pressure from top administration or from the Board of Governors.</p>
<p>Was on a tour at Sacred Heart University today. Although my D is a jr., there were many accepted srs. taking the tour. Several times they said there are double and triple rooms. Doubles go to early deposits and honors. Once the doubles are full, the later deposits get triples. One Mom we saw on the tour kept saying she was feeling “lots of pressure” since she was waiting to hear from 3 other colleges still.</p>
<p>After reading this and an earlier post I had written I went back to look at my daughter’s request’s for deposits. All three were listed as acceptance deposits. One mentioned that housing was determined in the order the deposit was received, one we had not yet received a merit package from and they were asking for $350. So yeah, there lots of pressure.</p>
<p>Have experienced this pressure from two schools my d has been accepted to. The first school pressures you to deposit because they only accept a limited # of students into the nursing program, and if that fills up, you are then put into the second track which will take you 4 1/2 years to complete. That track also takes a limited # of students and both tracksl fill up by Jan/Feb, we were told. Deposit is only partially refundable. Second school says the earlier you get housing deposit in, the better because they do not guarantee housing for all freshman. Very frustrating! </p>
<p>HogHornDad, private dorms can do as they please. The one I wanted to stay in was where my mom had lived. Beautiful swimming pool, gorgeous building, and sit-down meals with male waiters. My parents had to put down a deposit for me when I was still a high school sophomore! It was worth it - I lived there all four years.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Here is what my son’s admission letter (RD) from RIT says:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>They are clearly requiring an enrollment deposit for housing priority. </p>
<p>On a quick scan, I do not see anything in the acceptance letter (from which the above is drawn) or the form to send in with the deposit (if not doing it online) that says the deposit is refundable until May 1. In fact, the acceptance form clearly states that the deposit is non-refundable. Probably somewhere in this package is the fine-print that it is (as required) refundable until May 1, but they sure aren’t making that obvious!</p>
<p>University of Tampa encourages you to send a $500 deposit ($200 tuition, $300 housing) within 30 days of acceptance. Housing assignments are first come, first served, and there’s overflow housing at a local Howard Johnson’s where kids get stuck if they don’t send in their deposits early.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Where did you go to school Maine? I think I need to go back to college…</p>
<p>She was a longhorn of course!</p>
<p>Wherever it was, I’m ready to go. Someone to cook for me, handsome men to wait on me and a pool? Definitely worth the tuition.</p>
<p>I want to live in that dorm … </p>
<p>I am hearing tales of students being pressured to commit early at the grad level, too. Schools that offer funding and have signed the CGS agreement have promised not to make any student who has been offered funding commit before April 15. One student told me she has been pressured to commit by February 28 for an assistantship … the school had signed the CGS agreement. It is getting hard to fill classes, and admissions folks are pushing to get things wrapped up early.</p>
<p>The easiest way to get grad students to commit early would be to hand out the research assistantships before the teaching assistantships, since most students would prefer a research assistantship to a teaching assistantship. </p>
<p>That would be nice … if we had assistantships. We don’t have an undergrad program, so there is no funding for us.</p>
<p>I’m confused about the grad school choice. RA or TA. I think my son had to teach everywhere, and question was, How many courses? Where he matriculated, requirement was 2 classes, and each time with another grad student. Even with NSF, it was a requirement for the PhD.</p>
<p>bookworm - I thought the school he went to did not allow grad students to teach actual classes? Are you speaking of tutoring sessions?</p>
<p>texaspg, yes, just help with problem sets.</p>
<p>We are in a similar situation. The state uni my dd was accepted at wants the refundable deposit sent in early to get her major and to get housing. We are tempted to send the deposit in next week. She will go to this school unless we get a really good fa offer from one of the privates she has applied to. It’s really hard to beat the cost of the state uni. And so far the cheapest private will be 9k more than the state one and not offer all of the classes that she wants but it’s in a much better location. It sounds like it’s ok to send the deposit in before we are sure.</p>
<p>Well this is interesting. WE are quoted in this article :)</p>
<p>"Colleges are asking students for untold thousands of dollars in nonrefundable fees for dorm rooms they may never live in.</p>
<p>Some of the fees, which recently caught the eye of the college admissions officials, may fall in an ethical gray area.</p>
<p>At times, would-be students are asked to pay money to save a spot in dorm rooms they will never have the chance to live in because they are subsequently rejected, without a refund. At other times, according to the head of National Association for College Admission Counseling’s Admissions Practices Committee, a deposit request could be considered an attempt to manipulate the admissions process."</p>
<p>Read more: <a href=“Some dorm room deposits are called unethical”>Some dorm room deposits are called unethical;
<p>Iowa does this same thing - $75 non-refundable deposit in order to get priority housing. I think the deadline was Feb 1st. You don’t have to accept admission in order to do this. Many other large Midwest universities require you to accept admission before you can do the housing step. </p>
<p>Perhaps public illumination on this practice will help stop it?</p>