I am in a tough situation right now, I got into my dream school and I enrolled there. Then I got a letter from them saying that I had to pay the remaining amount of tuition in order to go there. So my dream school is out of state (Indiana University) and I can’t afford to pay about $33,000 up front, so I can’t go there anymore. Then I was placed on the waitlist for James Madison University, and I will not know my decision until at least June. Then, I applied to George Mason University and I got in, but I can’t afford the enrollment and housing deposits. So they told me that they can waive my deposits only if I go there, and if they waive my deposits, I can’t go to any other school. Are they allowed to do that? I was thinking about applying to West Virginia University because they have rolling admissions and a cheaper out of state tuition. But all in all, I’m really confused and don’t know what to do.
It is incentive to go, so I do not see why not. It’s essentially a binding decision if you wanted to take advantage of their generosities, so yes, they should be able to.
I’m sorry, but I am very confused as well. You keep on bringing up out-of-state public institutes (they’re all in Virginia, and you seem to be saying that you’re not from Virginia). Why are you applying out of state to colleges if you can’t afford the enrollment/housing deposit? All of your colleges seem to have similar costs, with your waitlisted and cheapest one (JMU) still around $26K per annum for tuition alone, considering no merit aid.
Have you considered any in-state alternatives; I’m not saying that these universities are not at least good ones, but the grass is always greener, as they say: In-state ones may very well offer you a better bang for the buck, as they say.
What can you afford to pay for college? Did you apply to any in-state schools? You say you got into George Mason but can’t afford the deposit so they may waive it if you go- how will you pay tuition, room and board? I am confused by your post.
They can keep the deposit that you already made. They can require that you pay their tuition and fees in order to go there. However, they can’t make you go there and can’t make you pay more than you have already deposited if you aren’t going there.
However, there is something even more important. You said:
“I can’t afford to pay about $33,000 up front, so I can’t go there anymore.”
$33,000 might be what they want now, but it is not even close to full pay for four years. If you can’t afford to pay the full cost of four years, then you shouldn’t start off there either. If you can’t pay $33,000 now, then how do you intend to pay nearly $200,000 for four years? This is WAY to much debt to even think about.
I have talked to a few people, and heard about more, who started at a university and had to quit part way through without finishing because they ran out of money. You should not start at any university unless you can afford the entire four years.
Given how late it is in the application process, if you haven’t applied to an affordable university then you might need to take a gap year and apply to more affordable options next year.
OP, you received some good advice in another thread from @austinmshauri that I am reposting here:
Another option is to start at a community college and transfer. If you start at a cc the tuition and fees would be ~$3500/year. You could cover that with the Pell grant and still have money for books and travel. You’d still be able to take the $5500/year federal student loan if you need it. As a junior and senior you can borrow $7500/year, so GMU would be more affordable.
"I’m sorry, but I am very confused as well. You keep on bringing up out-of-state public institutes (they’re all in Virginia, and you seem to be saying that you’re not from Virginia). "
OP only refers to Indiana and West Virginia State as OOS options for him/her. He/s
Sorry, it cut off the end of my posst.
OP may well be from Virginia at least based on this thread.
from the OP’s previous post in August 2016,
At that time, you were advised by several posters that OOS tuition was extremely expensive.
So, if you don’t have money to attend these schools your options are limited: CC, gap year, or instate option.
OP I just read through your first thread. You made some poor choices, “planning to get merit scholarships” and then talking about how out of state would be affordable even though your parents didn’t support your desire to go there.
I think you need to re-evaluate this whole process. What exactly will your parents be able to pay per year?