<p>My son has a several acceptances, and some schools that he has not heard from yet. He has gotten merit aid information from all of the schools he is accepted to, and might be in the running for more merit aid at some of the schools that have already accepted him.</p>
<p>One school has asked him to put down a deposit very shortly. They want him to go to meet with an advisor on campus and register for classes in March. They seem to have a weekend mapped out so that next year's freshmen can begin to meet one another. They state the deposit is completely refundable until May 1, but students cannot deposit at another school. You are NOT required to deposit soon, but if you miss this March weekend, then you may not register until orientation, which falls a few days before classes begin. The downside to this is risking a lot of 8 AM classes, and getting professors that you would not choose by listening to peers (some people like to this, and some do not). Housing will not be effected by getting in a deposit later.</p>
<p>What would you do? My son wanted to compare his packages. I guess that he can still do that, but he needs to commit to this one school soon. What if all schools were to do this prior to financial aid packages coming in? I feel like we are being pressured, and maybe that is because we are being pressured into spending money before we have all the cards on the table.</p>
<p>Ooh, I wouldn’t like that kind of pressure. It would turn me off. I guess it depends on your family’s financial position. We will HAVE to wait to see all the packages before we commit to any school. That’s why we didn’t go ED anywhere. If it were me, I would just take a chance and skip the March weekend. Good luck!!</p>
<p>Yes, we are also waiting for financial aid packages and I would not send my daughter to a weekend in March where she would be required to register for classes - I feel that summer is early enough. Don’t freshman usually register for their classes at orientation, which is right before school starts? </p>
<p>Even if they do have to take an 8am class - so what? They might have to anyway.</p>
<p>We are down to 2 colleges and one of them has my son registering for classes, getting his student ID and taking the language placement on January 18th!</p>
<p>Is anyone willing to name the colleges? What they’re doing is against the spirit of NACAC’s mandatory Principles of Good Practice, though not the letter. (The letter of the rule talks about housing deposits, but not about course registration.) This pressure is unfortunate, and maybe being named would help to discourage colleges from doing it.</p>
<p>For anyone who is interested, here is a relevant practice that colleges agree to follow if they are members of NACAC: “Postsecondary members agree that they will work with their institutions’ senior administrative officers to ensure that financial aid and scholarship offers and housing options are not used to manipulate commitments prior to May 1.” A school that uses course registration options to manipulate commitments prior to May 1 is still in compliance.</p>
<p>Not willing to name this school, since it is not in the interest of my child to do so. They are letting the applicant know that according to NACAC’s Principles of Good Practice, the deposit is completely refundable until May 1.</p>
<p>Why not deposit now, wait for the scholarship offers from the other schools, and then (maybe) withdraw the deposit and take a scholarship elsewhere? Sounds like sending the deposit would not yet commit your son to attend.</p>
<p>The college is playing a psychological game to increase their yield rate. Registering for classes would trick me into accepting that I will be attending this school, and I would be a lot more likely to stay even though I would be perfectly free to choose another college.</p>
<p>I completely agree with post #10. Now, every school did this, it would be a problem in my opinion. Hopefully, most schools do not do this to parents, or to other schools.</p>
<p>this is similar to the non-binding ED issue discussed on another thread…requiring decision by Jan15th; must pull all other apps if answering “yes”…</p>
<p>seems like it’s coming up alot this year (or am I just noticing it more?)</p>
<p>rodney, that was straight forward. That school explained their ED policy up front. One could apply there RD or ED. I think it is completely different. Also, ED is asking for that early decision to one school. That school just gave a kid one more out before committing. I thought that was very generous of them.</p>
<p>Here, son does not need to pull anything. He can send in the money, spend money to get there and register, and then say thanks but no thanks. He did not apply ED, but they are trying to lock him in anyway by making him invest money and time before he has a chance to evaluate all packages.</p>
<p>If anyone knows NACAC policy backward and forward (I do not, I don’t want to wade through it either), what are they violating? They are refunding the deposit, if you want your deposit back. You still have until May 1 to make up your mind.</p>
<p>As Calreader suggests, this is still within compliance.</p>
<p>Are they having freshmen register for classes before the upperclassmen? That’s crazy. </p>
<p>Has this college accepted all the students it’s planning to accept? Because it seems to me that the majority of students aren’t going to commit until well after the March deadline, and they will all have to register for classes and meet each other at a later orientation. </p>
<p>If I were in this position, I’d consider calling NACAC and getting its opinion on this practice.</p>
<p>fireandrain, no. They do get some percentage of last minute students who decide to attend. I do not know that they apply at the last minute, or if they applied earlier but decide to matriculate there at the last moment. These are mainly students who live in the region. They will register at an orientation just days before the start of school. They will tend to get the less popular class options (times, professors). Some of the regional students will end up just commuting.</p>
<p>I do not know when upperclassmen register, but they do not get into the upperclassmen options. Freshmen are loaded up with gen eds first.</p>
<p>I don’t see the big downside here. The student can play the same game as the college–make the refundable deposit, pick classes, etc., and then make his actual decision by May 1 as he normally would. The practice seems more annoying than insidious.</p>