So far, it looks like D20 is still faced with May 1st decision deadlines. I never thought that I would be recommending that we deposit at both the local university and the OOS university that she prefers, but I fear that by the time August rolls around that the OOS will not be financially feasible. The local state university does not guarantee freshmen housing, and if D20 gets “stuck” here, we hope that she can live in the Honors College dorm, so we don’t want her to lose a spot there by waiting too long.
It’s a bad idea. Indeed one could risk losing both acceptances, and colleges are going to be very prickly this year. I wouldn’t risk it. It also isn’t fair to students on the waitlist.
I’m glad that I posted about it. I had no idea that she could risk losing both acceptances. I guess we wait to see if that May 1st deadline gets pushed to June 1st, then.
There is a debate on this, I brought up the same question in a different thread regarding May 1 dep schools vs June 1 schools. My take was schools do this all the time it is called a waitlist and every kid who comes off a waitlist drops their first school, assuming waitlist is after the May 1 deadline which it is in 99% of the cases. Admission staffs call it summer melt. I think in your case your thinking we may not be able to afford OOS depending on what happens with $$$ and this is a very fair thought right now. Another wrinkle is do parents want to pay OOS tuition for a fall semester that may be from their dining room?? There is no way to know if you are taking a spot up that would go to a waitlist kid, schools may or may not use their waitlist. If they do it could be argued your taking a spot at one but opening another after all your kid can only go to one. In my hypothetical scenario I am using one colleges May 1 date vs another schools June 1 depends deadline to buy a month, hoping to see a school we have not seen or even been in the state. In a “normal year” this option would not be there but in a normal year we would have seen all schools at admitted students day. Your housing issue adds to the mess.
It is not a bad thought to double deposit ( and I say this as someone who DS20 is on the waitlist at his first choice) but I think there are a few other dates that may matter as well, when does either school want to be paid, that is your real deadline. Also what happens if things look good in Aug and things go south in Sept or Oct?
Yes in a Normal year it may or may not be unethical ( again think of a college waitlist ) but this is far from a normal year
“Yes in a Normal year it may or may not be unethical ( again think of a college waitlist ) but this is far from a normal year.”
This is worth discussing…no college is going to operate this fall as they always have (they can’t) and no family either…these are uncharted waters for finances and decisions.
My guess is that the colleges will, at the end, delay the May 1st deadline.
While I am a big proponent of being ethical and especially thinking of kids on the wait-lists, I also think that it is unfair of the colleges to hold on to a May 1st deadline, when they themselves do not know when they will open again. I think that asking parents and students to commit without knowing to what they are committing, and not knowing what their (the parents’) finances will be, is, in itself, ethically questionable.
This is exactly the OP’s case - they do not know whether the pandemic will affect their finances strongly enough that they will not be able to afford one of the colleges, so they cannot make a decision by May 1st.
You did a much better job explaining our dilemma. Thank you! This is NOT a normal end of senior high school year.
My husband and I had an honest conversation about employment yesterday. Neither of us are essential workers, however, both of us are currently still employed and able to work from home. My husband feels pretty certain that at maximum he has 90 days before his employer starts reducing their workforce. He might remain employed; he might not. There is definitely no way to know. I suspect that my work hours will be cut in half, and that could happen relatively soon.
Yes, we have money saved to help pay for college, but if income gets significantly reduced, some of that savings will need to go for day-to-day expenses at home. And don’t get me started with possible medical expenses if anyone in our family actually winds up with a horrible case of Covid-19.
I wonder if honesty is the way to go on this? Do we ask D20 to reach out to the two schools and tell them that there is NO WAY to make a decision by May 1st?
However, students who switch colleges after getting a waitlist admit are not holding spaces at two colleges *at the same time/i.
The waitlisted student who deposits at one college is holding a space there. If s/he is admitted where s/he was waitlisted and chooses to go there, then s/he releases the spot at the first college (although losing the deposit), so s/he is never holding a space at two colleges at the same time.
There is no debate about double depositing, it is unethical per NACAC’s CEPPs…and GCs are bound to advise as such. High schools also won’t send final transcripts to two schools.
Look here for the updated list of deposit deadlines…I believe that many schools, hopefully the vast majority, will ultimately go to a June 1 date.
Many schools have extended their deadlines to June 1. When your child graduates, only one final transcript will be mailed. It is highly unlikely that your/your child will be back at your high school this year. You are going to have to pick one school.
@Mwfan1921 - yet I could thread the needle , since some colleges go to June 1 but some will not and remain May1, the colleges themselves have open this up to themselves up to thread the needle and really they had no choice since not one "body " decides admission dates. So I could deposit on May 1 at Penn State and wait until may 30 to withdraw and commit to Williams before their June 1 date and never have double deposit which in theory would make the NACAC happy, so I argues there is a debate about this, HS will only have to send one transcript since I am doing this before the school year ( HS) is over. in a normal year perhaps you would be right but this is a normal year for us or colleges. I just read the Bucknell Presidents letter dated 3/24( I think from an earlier link here) and he admits as much that the May 1 date this year does not matter, in fact he says he doubts the July 1 date will hold much water. he basically says I will not know how many kids I have until I do a count fist day of school. We can debate it but to say there is no debate about a double deposit is just not correct.
The fact is not ever school will go June 1 and the HS transcript is really not an issue, HS ends mid June , at least in my state and the HS only sends a transcript when you request one, so with some schools May1 and some June 1 you have plenty of time to decide what school you want to send a transcript to.
Again all I am saying is it is a fair question to ask THIS year.
If a student has been accepted to several schools and some persist in a May 1 deadline, then that student should call the school and ask for an extension that matches the deadline of the other schools. The answer is not to double deposit.
The student should work with their GC on an issue like this…this is what GCs are for and NACAC is continually providing GCs and AOs guidance during this period of rapid change.
The other variable here is that colleges have not yet set tuition rates for next fall. State schools may feel forced to raise tuition significantly for OOS students, may offer a remote only option, or do a routine increase of 3-4%. Private schools may raise tuition and/or not be as generous with merit aid. My DD20 has committed to her first choice, OOS college but we are not turning down any in state options until we either see the final numbers for her OOS college and/or are forced provide an answer to an IS option because of the decision date.
But this situation does not require holding a place at two colleges at the same time.
Example: student is indecisive about whether to attend A (5/1 deadline) or B (6/1 deadline).
S/he sends a deposit to A before 5/1. After 5/1, but before 6/1, s/he decides to go to B, withdraws from A (losing deposit there) and sends a deposit to B.
Why would s/he need to send a deposit to hold a place at A and B at the same time?
Did this with my DD 5 years ago … the first deposit was to our state school where there were advantages to early deposit (financial aid-wise and housing preference). Upon acceptance to her first choice college months later she wrote a letter declining the state school’s offer and losing the deposit.
@ucbalumnus - The OP of this thread asked about double deposit and hoping to decide if things are good for them in Aug bc of their job status, so in fact they would hold 2 spots until Aug and at that time release one, in my example above I am not holding 2 spots at the same time but I am taking a spot at May 1 and perhaps releasing it May 30th. Once you deposit at school A that is a sunk cost.
High schools/GCs will not send a final transcript to two schools. Until the final transcript is sent, some schools will not allow a student who has deposited to do some, or all, of the following enrollment type activities:
-choose housing
-take placement exams
-register for courses
-sign up for work study jobs
Although this year’s enrollment process will be unique, one can’t count on schools being lenient about double depositing. Some might be. Others won’t be.
Consequence can include rescinding of admission offer.
Do I think most schools would do that this year? Nope.
Is it possible though? Yep.
GCs are bound by NACAC’s ethics to advise that double depositing is unethical. Even during a pandemic.
But then that is not necessarily different from any other year, where some students and parents have difficulty deciding by 5/1 (perhaps even because of uncertain parental job or money situations), so they want to hold a place at more than one college and decide later. And the answer to those threads in past years is the same – that colleges do not like it when someone holds a place at more than one college at the same time.