<p>Son 1 is waiting for April 1 and a couple of schools to announce if he is in or not. Meanwhile 3rd and 4th choices have honors and preferred housing filling up very rapidly. Sooooo do you eat a couple of $100 housing deposits to make sure you get the dorms you want where you are accepted and the $$ are right. Or do you cross your fingers and hope you get in, with the financial aid package you need, at the schools that announce April 1st.</p>
<p>sigh I paid one of the deposits tonight and perhaps kissed that $100 goodbye</p>
<p>Just make sure you are ALLOWED to send in two deposits. Some schools don't let you do that. My son's school sent us several notices us telling us that it was important to send in the deposit asap before my son had decided on a college. We ended up waiting until probably May to send the money, and guess what - he got the best Freshman dorm and he didn't even request it.</p>
<p>This school has a 30 day response requirement so we basically had no choice. The other schools that accepted her EA have sent requests for deposits but they all have a May 1 deadline so she will have to take her chances if she chooses one of them.</p>
<p>We sent $300 deposit to lock in certified housing at UIUC just in case - knew we'd forfeit $50 - they didn't return the other $250 until almost October!</p>
<p>Drizzit, I sympathize. The only thing I can say is that I would rationalize it thus: in the total scheme of the cost of four years, a $100 deposit is trivial, the barest amount of soft rain on a summer's day. In fact, even next to the cost of visiting the two "finalists" (same trip) for overnights before making a decision, similarly justified, the $100 would have weighed no more than a mild "ouch." </p>
<p>Yeah, this is an expensive business. Pardon me...I need to get back to my taxes because I'm approaching the FAFSA and Profile <em>for the last time</em>!!!! Happy happy happy.</p>
<p>You know, that is truly unnecessary and unfair of those colleges. They have no need to know in early March where kids might live next September, and could easily declare a later deadline for that item. I sympathize with you.</p>
<p>Actually...colleges DO need to know about housing for incoming freshmen as soon as possible. Remember, that in many cases freshmen are required to live on campus. They must be assigned housing first. Then upperclassmen are assigned housing. For very large schools, this can be a long and complicated process...and they must know how many housing places they can offer upperclassmen. Most schools requiring a housing deposit will return most if not all of that to you if requested by a certain date. You cannot send admissions deposits to more than one school...but I do know folks who have sent more than one housing deposit.</p>
<p>I'm pretty sure the year my D went through this that we DID send in more than one. I don't recall ever reading in the materials of the colleges involved that we were prohibited from that practice. </p>
<p>We based on decision on information we heard from others--ie one school was particularly notorious for filling up on designated freshmen. The late comers were relegated to housing pockets here and there. This was a big state school, by the way. But there were a couple of others where we hadn't heard the housing situation was quite so dire, so we decided to take a chance on waiting until all the final decisions were in. She was having a very difficult time weighing the pros/cons of the final handful of schools and waiting on a admissions decision from a top choice and a scholarship decision from another.</p>
<p>It is totally a juggling act. In the end, we did lose $100 or so. However, as another poster points out....small potatoes in the scheme of things.</p>
<p>It's funny how everything ultimately seems to work out.</p>
<p>
[quote]
You cannot send admissions deposits to more than one school...but I do know folks who have sent more than one housing deposit.
[/quote]
D's rolling admit requires admission deposit ($200) before allowing student to apply for housing ($250 deposit), and it is not clear either of these are refundable. Is it worth it? Not sure - housing can make a big difference at Big State U and its a 50:50 likelihood (at least) she'll be there. Her April 1 schools are mostly reaches, which will help ease the pain if she ends up not attending.</p>
<p>We sent in a housing deposit to University of Texas-Austin before my son even applied! We were told housing was first come first serve, so the night housing applications went up online (I believe it was in early September) I was online like a crazy person filling in the application.</p>
<p>The deposit was nonrefundable and my son did not even end up applying; he was out of state and figured he liked other schools better. I think Texas runs a racket with this housing due in September; maybe the in state families know better, but we didn't. We were really afraid if he didn't apply, he wouldn't get a room or not a prefered freshman room.</p>
<p>I agree, this system is flawed and it probably dates back to when students only turned in 1-3 applications, not 6-28 (D had a friend whose parents actually encouraged their child to submit 28 apps!). </p>
<p>We also sent in 2 deposits, and ended up forfeiting $100, which for this single mom, on a tight budget is huge. </p>
<p>snowball, no joke- if you don't send in that 50, the day housing apps open, your son won't get a room. However, the Honors houses see, to still have openings way into the year.</p>
<p>JaM, I don't dispute the $100 can be an ouch but look it as insurance: the consequences of needing it [the housing] and not having it are a far bigger ouch. Flawed? Certainly. Are the colleges complicit in this as a way to bank a little extra baksheesh? Possibly. </p>
<p>But the drip-drip-drip of extra expenses for one thing or another seems non-stop.</p>
<p>I feel your pain. I just pushed a button a couple of hours ago that cost me $300.00. That was a bargain though because if I waited until after May 1st, it would have cost me $500.00.</p>
<p>As Kathiep suggests, just read the "housing agreement" very carefully. I have seen at least two examples of schools that made it sound like it was a housing agreement ("Housing fills up fast so it is to your advantage to send the deposit") which, upon closer inspection, were actually Enrollment Deposits ("Your deposit will hold your spot in the freshman class"). Some schools are getting more testy about double depositing on enrollment agreements, so I thought I'd mention this as an FYI. Finally, you may want to ask how many freshman ended up without rooms last year before you send in the housing deposit. Obviously, it will change from year to year, but the cynic in me wonders if the "hurry, pay now!" approach for non-refundable deposits may be a money making venture.</p>
<p>Yep, it was UT that just got $300.00 richer from me today.</p>
<p>We had paid the $50.00 deposit before registering too, then the $250 to secure the contract. My s decided to live in a private dorm off campus (where we had also sent a deposit), so we forfeited the UT dorm deposit. </p>
<p>I can't believe it, but this deposit madness is even crazier with elementary schools!</p>
<p>My sister applied to enter my 4-year-old niece at many elementary schools, private and San Francisco public. She was just admitted to a very expensive private they like, but they haven't heard from the public magnets they like even more. In order to hold her spot at the private, they have to put down A FULL YEAR'S TUITION.</p>
<p>I mean, you can hold your spot in the freshman class at Stanford for far less! I think this is outrageous.</p>
<p>ag54, can't you get a refund of the housing deposit? We have a deposit at UT, Tech and A&M. Unfortunately, I think they need a letter to request a refund of the deposits BEFORE April 1st, when we hope to have our financial aid package from DS's first choice school. And since the deposits are large ($300, $400, etc) I sure as heck don't want to lose them - but it's impossible to know where he is going to school until we have all the financial aid data. It is a racket. I figure that UT makes LOADS of money off of all the non-refundable housing deposits kids make. And I'm trying to figure out how to get our housing deposits back without leaving my son without housing options if he ends up at a state U. :eek:</p>