<p>KMCCrindle, we had the same situation, except that they originally gave us until May 1 to respond. But as I noted in an earlier post late in April they demanded the deposit before May 1 or lose the scholarship. We called and told them that his other choice school was still figuring his financial package and we would have to wait to compare – they said no dice, we MUST deposit before the 1st. We deposited reluctantly, then when his other school came across with a good package, he deposited there and withdrew from the first school BEFORE MAY !. They kept the deposit and pulled the scholarship.</p>
<p>Okay…so what about this? Daughter has been accepted as a theatre major at a highly competitive program (they accept about 4% of the hopefuls that audition). In the acceptance letter is this: “It is recommended that you secure a place for the 2011 class by submitting a deposit as soon as possible if you have not already done so. (Admittance to this program is 2-fold – had to be academically admitted; she was earlier in the fall, as well as a separate artistic decision.) Many Conservatory programs (rolling admissions/ongoing auditions) reach enrollment capacity prior to the University’s May 1 deadline. Students who submit their deposit after a Conservatory program has reached its enrollment capacity will be placed on a wait-list. Although a wait-list student may ultimately be admitted into the Conservatory, wait-listed students cannot be guaranteed a space in the program. Your deposit is fully refundable prior to May 1, 2011.” </p>
<p>So it looks like an accepted student could end up out in the cold if a deposit isn’t timed right… There is also a separate acceptance of admission letter that can be sent in (which includes a box for have/haven’t paid tuition deposit yet) and a scholarship contract to accept her talent and academic awards, with the caveat “Please be advised that due to numerous applicants, we will not be able to extend award deadlines (hers is May 1). Returning the included paperwork does not obligate you to attend XX University.” </p>
<p>This school is a strong contender for her, but she has other auditions to complete…also, if she returns the scholarship agreement accepting the award, does that totally eliminate her ability to try to negotiate additional scholarship dollars?</p>
<p>^^Sounds like the college is firm about students affirming their offer, but I see in your quote that two times they mention it is not binding and refundable up until May 1. </p>
<p>Others may have a different opinion, but if it’s a competitive program you may not have “negotiating” abilities regardless if you lock this one down or not. If the program has more students that want an admittance than places in the program there is less incentive for them to want to haggle about the costs.</p>
<p>Siglio mentions that it’s the students choice and it is the students choice. Look at it this way if your student likes this program and would be happy to attend you could be “done.” Funny as that sounds that is the other way to look at these early lock downs. That aspect has not really been pointed out as most people get nervous thinking about making that decision ahead of the time they may have mentally prepared for it. My oldest son made up his mind quickly and wanted to get the deposit sent in January and I felt stranger about it than he because I had anticipated this spring filled with decisions. He’d made up his mind and never looked back.</p>
<p>Another difficult point for parents is that nagging feeling that if they make a decision they might be leaving a “better offer” out there somewhere. Again, the refundable deposit (if it’s clearly refundable) leaves that option of waiting to see if there is a better financial deal someone. Much more difficult if the student and the parents are required to lose money by this tactic. These scenarios have nothing to do with double depositing and is more about institutions attempting to manage their offers and not over enrolling or under enrolling.</p>
<p>Mommafrog, if the university in question happens to be the same as my son’s (he is actually at a SOMTD- school of music, theatre and dance that has the dual app situation you described) and if we’re talking about the 10-of-each-gender way they have to makeup the class, you could likely, with comment, deposit as a conditional acceptance and cancel if you determined later that an alternate was a better package. If it’s the program I am thinking of, that’s what I would do, and I suspect the conservatory admissions office would be fine with that. If you PM me the name of the school I can give better (or NO) advice.</p>
<p>I should note that if you did this that you are not “dual depositing,” you are merely securing a very hard won spot and then later confirming or altering your decision. The ethical issues about dual depositing only come into play when you are actually depositing at two separate schools, to my mind.</p>
<p>EDIT - Okay,I checked your other threads and I suspect that you have not actually heard yet from my son’s school and that you are referring to another. Either way, candor may be the best bet. My son’s school is notoriously late in the season with its MT admissions and usually presents a cliff-hanger experience. Best wishes for a wild ride ;)</p>
<p>
Only if that’s what the fine print actually says, so read the fine print. There may be more situations where you will lose the deposit if you don’t go, of course.</p>
<p>One school that my son was very interested in was really pushing for the deposit to be in by March. The perks were early registration when visiting in March (after they have the deposit) and priority in choice of freshmen housing. We really felt pressured. The money was refundable by May 1. We ended up doing all of this because the school was high on son’s list. Had he gone to another school, we would have spent a lot of money and time on that accepted student visit. We risked that, knowing it was a real possibility.</p>
<p>BTW, I was given a tip by someone who worked in an admission’s office. You can negotiate the amount of the deposit by stating that you cannot afford the xyz dollars (in our case it was $300). This can be worked out with the FA office and admissions. The person told me that this is wise because sometimes refunds are not given as promptly as one might expect.</p>
<p>Do colleges even have the right to overfill the class, leading to accepted students being denied admission on grounds of deposits? I was accepted to my flagship public (my safety school), however, on the Admitted Students screen, there is a little bar saying that places in the class are available on a first come, first serve basis based on the time of the deposits. </p>
<p>I’m not depositing anywhere until at least April 1 (I’m applying to 9 schools and I believe 6 of them I won’t even hear back from until around April 1 anyway), but I’m worried that I’ll lose my spot at my state school unless I deposit right away in April, which gives me no time to make a decision.</p>
<p>Sure colleges can over enroll…they could be targeting for x numbers of students and end up with x+. It’s an imprecise system trying to guesstimate how many students will actually arrive. Look at you, you applied to 9 schools…if you were to be acccepted at all 9 that’s 9 schools that won’t know until some future point if you are showing up or not 3 months later. This can lead to full classrooms, overflowing dorms, etc. if more kids decide at the last minute they are showing up than the college may have guesstimated. If you notice above, one of the carrots that colleges dangle to get families to make a decision early is to have “early registration” or “first choice housing” etc. </p>
<p>If your flagship has a housing deposit you might be wise to secure that if housing will be an issues and there is any chance that is where you might be in August. Just make sure it’s refundable, separate from acceptance and you only need to do so if housing at that particular school is tough to get.</p>
<p>It’s one thing for colleges to slightly over-enroll, with the expectation that some will decline. But to deliberately over-enroll so that students who have been admitted must submit a deposit on a “first-come, first-served” basis in order to secure a spot in the class? If they want “first-come, first serve” admissions, they might as well switch to open enrollment! What’s the point of having a rigorous, selective, and holistic admissions process is a school will potentially shut out their best candidates just because they don’t submit an admissions deposit immediately?</p>
<p>Just like some of their marketing tactics, schools have their games and gimmics and so do parents. Sometimes, you gotta do what you gotta do.</p>
<p>I’ve seen this question asked a couple of times, read and don’t see a clear answer. I apologize for asking again.
If your student has been accepted to a school (a safety) with a housing shortage you want to put the housing deposit down as soon as possible just in case. In my students case you have to make the admission deposit to receive information to make the housing deposit…
Thus my student currently has one school where he does have both an admission deposit and housing deposit. He will not hear from his other schools until spring.
I was under the impression he is doing nothing wrong. The intent is if he receives admits from other universities and decides to attend another, we are to contact the first school letting them know he will not be attending. At that time he is free to make a deposit at another school. Is this correct?
The thing that really irritates me (and DH has really reminded me is a ‘waste’ of $$) is that only one of the deposits is refundable. We didn’t have much of a choice. If he was attending, he needed housing which is not guaranteed for freshman.
Thanks for any clarification anyone can offer.</p>
<p>IMHO, no one is doing anything wrong, not the schools and not the families; it’s all part of the economics of the situation.</p>
<p>Deposits being refundable could be a tipping factor when choosing schools, all other things being equal, which they never are. ;)</p>
<p>On the one hand, while a multiple deposit could prevent a waitlisted student from getting into his/her top choice, there are scenarios where the schools actions encourage it. </p>
<p>If a school offers priority housing, registration etc the sooner you decide they are providing a big incentive to put in an early deposit, which could easily result in a double deposit. The schools that decouple the housing process and start it after May 1 do it the best.</p>
<p>Also, schools that don’t guarantee housing for freshman are also encouraging it. We know a family who’s son’s top choice was a school that only provides housing for about 70% of freshman. 30% chance of a reserved 18 yr old having to fend for himself finding his own apartment in another part of the country was tough, particularly since he knew almost nobody at the school going in. So what did they do? They hedged their bets and also put down a deposit at 2nd choice school. Sometime late in the summer, he found out he got housing at his first choice, so they walked away from the deposit at choice #2.</p>
<p>blue - I don’t see a problem with what you have described. The “double deposit” issue is when you have admission deposits in at 2 schools at the same time. What you have described is similar to a waitlist situation - you have a deposit in at school A - then school B comes through - so you deposit at school B and cancel the admission at school A. That’s more of a sequential situation than a simultaneous one.</p>
<p>I just want to add one more thought about double depositing. I think it is important to look at intent. Sometimes families get into a pickle over a housing issue or a financial aid issue that results in what could be considered unplanned double depositing - with no selfish or malicious intent. While that is still not ideal - I can understand how it might happen - and with the understanding that the family is trying to get out of the situation as quickly as possible.</p>
<p>The double depositing that really annoys me is when someone has multiple acceptances and simply can’t make up their mind. They deliberately and selfishly deposit at 2 schools in April - thus giving themselves a few extra weeks to revisit each school and make a final decision. This type of double depositing I detest and would happily see the schools find out and the student lose both acceptances.</p>
<p>^ Yes, but few enough students do this that it harms no one. After many years of experience, schools know how much “summer melt” to expect and adjust their yield formulas accordingly.</p>
<p>It’s really a choice of economics at times. If you don’t mind losing a few hundred dollars and need the extra time, then do what you’ve gotta do to take care of yourself. I wouldn’t say this is the right stance to take on all matters but this is a big decision that will potentially impact the rest of your life. If you’re waiting for a better offer from a better school or simply need some more time, then you’ve earned the right by getting accepted. People that were “wait listed” will just have to wait… that’s why it’s called being “wait listed”.</p>
<p>And selfishness/lack of consideration for others triumphs again.</p>
<p>[The</a> Answer Sheet - The problems with double depositing: Part 2](<a href=“http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/college-admissions/the-problems-with-double-depos.html]The”>http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/college-admissions/the-problems-with-double-depos.html)</p>
<p>The problems with double depositing: Part 2</p>
<p>Here is the view of Michael Sexton, vice president for enrollment management at Santa Clara University in California, on the practice of double depositing.</p>
<p>By Michael Sexton</p>
<p>Spring is college acceptance time, followed by decision time. In all of the strategizing and game-playing that have become the college selection process, we are down to the final decision this month. Or … are we?</p>
<p>I intentionally use the word “we” here as the student involved may, or may not, be part of the final act of scheming that sometimes commences later this month. For some, the national candidates’ reply date of May 1st is merely another calendar page to turn rather than the happy ending to the college search.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, 'tis the season of double depositing, the act of placing deposits at more than one institution, or simply watching the May 1 deposit deadline pass without informing colleges of one’s intentions.</p>
<p>There are parents and even some college counselors who feel that, given the stress of the college search and cost of college today, it’s acceptable to send deposits to two different schools and decide later which one to attend.</p>
<p>As someone who has spent a career in college admissions, I can say with certainty that my colleagues across the country feel this practice undermines the integrity of the admissions process, and that it violates the ethical standards set by the National Association for College Admission Counseling. Here are some reasons why college admissions professionals strongly discourage double depositing:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>My institution usually has a critical mass of deposits by mid-April. (We just sent out acceptance letters in late March.) Some send in a deposit, but also send one to another college, essentially holding a seat they may not occupy. Double depositing gums up the works on wait lists. We have to send reminders of the May 1 deadline.</p></li>
<li><p>The point of double depositing or waiting until after the May 1 deadline to decide to enroll escapes me. The entire college search process has been lengthened to months, even years. What more does a student or his or her family think they will learn at this late stage? One thing I know will not happen — financial aid awards are set by then. The pot doesn’t get sweetened at the last minute.</p></li>
<li><p>We really need the May 1 deadline. Students need it so they can get on with taking their AP tests and finishing up their senior year. Parents need it so they can depressurize, and institutions need it because they need to plan to start the process all over again for next year’s class.</p></li>
<li><p>The waiting and double-depositing games actually can have the effect not only of students not enrolling in the colleges of their choice, but also at a few colleges a seat not being taken.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>This is rare, but I did hear a story of two selective institutions discovering a candidate had placed deposits at both schools; both rejected the applicant on that basis.</p>
<p>In the next few weeks, “Dateline” or “20/20” will probably do segments on the horror stories about students agonizing about being rejected or wait-listed by their choice college. Some of this anxiety stems from the gamesmanship that has developed in the college search process.</p>
<p>Speaking for my own institution, I would suggest to any applicants that if they are considering double depositing to please just enroll elsewhere. We have enough serious, committed students and parents who have made their decision and stuck with it.</p>
<p>^limabeans, nj2011mom, and oldfort-- is the “deposit” you’re referring to for housing or tuition? (Originally asked by rhumbob @kathiep)</p>