<p>^^ There are also non-NMF kids with better stats than some of the NMF kids. As for CBH, I don’t think UA expects that all of the finalists will enroll. There will be kids who get into the Ivies and choose to attend, with or without good financial aid. That’s why they have the reserve pool. There were half a dozen kids from CC alone that I know of who came off the waiting list last year, and I can’t imagine that every student from the waiting list participates, or has a parent who participates, on CC, so there were probably more. So I wouldn’t assume that there’s a decline in CBH this year just because there are kids choosing to go to school elsewhere and other kids coming off the waiting list. That happens every year, and is expected.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I don’t either. My recollection is that Janine said that IN THE PAST, everyone who wanted Honors housing has eventually gotten it. There’s an implication there, but I don’t remember an outright statement that all honors students would get honors housing.</p>
<p>MeerKat22: Going to the final Bama Bound probably won’t hurt your daughter’s chances for a decent schedule. I’ve met several parents online whose children could not attend the early BB sessions for a variety of reasons (including travel distance), but they still got the classes that they sought. Students from all levels will be readjusting their schedules throughout the summer, and there is still a drop/add time. My son spent four years adjusting his schedules. He even had some strange happen nearly two months into the semester of his junior year that required a schedule change. The Honors College and the registrar’s office worked with him closely to make the best of a difficult situation. In the end, those two offices made sure he had enough hours, as well as kept a prestigious scholarship/internship that he won.</p>
<p>One thing I would suggest is to have your daughter contact the person who is her major’s adviser. This was a great deal of help to my son, who did not attend an honors BB. Rather, he went in late June following graduation. His adviser was wonderful. He even made a call to get him into a class that had been previously closed. My son’s adviser even stopped him in the hall one day in the spring and told him about a job possibility following graduation. Establishing a relationship early could prove to be very helpful.</p>
<p>Mom2twins: There are many reasons why students do not chose to go into CBHP. Even my son was not 100 percent sold on the program when he got his acceptance. There were seven openings at the start of his year’s BB sessions. Five were later filled. I remember that one girl who did attend the finalists’ weekend turned it down for Harvard. I also know one girl who e-mailed Dr. Sharpe to express her desire to be accepted off the waitlist if possible, because she truly wanted to be in the program. She got in, too, and recently graduated from UA. Her six-year PhD program is paid for, thanks, in part, to the outstanding research she did while at Alabama.</p>
<p>Hoggirl: Your son can put in an early deposit on housing, and later, if he decides to go elsewhere, a portion is refunded.</p>
<p>Many schools have dropped handing out automatic admits and/or scholarships to NMF students. Schools such as Duke, in their own words at their info session we attended when the question was asked, “That is great. However, we do not offer scholarships nor admit based on NMF.” I have been seeing more schools place more emphasis on GPA, ACT/SAT and EC’s vs NMF.</p>
<p>This is just my perception on the whole housing situation from a business perspective. I could have 100 potential new customers call me this week asking about x product. We offer them a competitive price and quality customer service. I know not all 100 are going to call me the next week or later in the week to actually purchase x. If I only have 25 in stock and it will take a few weeks or months to get more in I can not afford to hold 25 for potential new customers that will not commit by giving me a deposit or go ahead and purchase it that week. I can order more but those that wait to “pull the trigger” will have to wait for the product to come in. Most people know that there are certain products that are not readily attainable and realize they will have to wait. I’m waiting on a certain large piece of equipment to become available for a customer. We know if that comes available we have to jump on it. We lost one already because the customer wanted to check on something else first. They now know they can’t do that and have given us the “go ahead” next time. Had the same issue (still have) with a certain product that has been on a shortage for the last 2 years (helium). We have been selective on who gets this product when it becomes available as it is used in several different aspects. Some have a much greater priority than others and we sadly have to make that decision on who to sell that small number that come in.
Sadly, college housing is like that on many campuses across the country. My own D had 2 other applications out that she was waiting to hear from. However, after our visit to UA it moved way up on her list. We felt it was worth putting that deposit down promptly when the time came available to do so. Much like many put their application into schools like UA as their “safety”, it is the same with the housing deposit. If the school is that high up on the list and it is that important, it is like insurance. UA can not afford to hold housing aside without deposits for those waiting till May 1 to make a decision. </p>
<p>Just my .02</p>
<p>I want to reiterate that I don’t think anyone at UA has done anything wrong. In fact, I think they’re handling it just as they should. Apparently there’s a shortage, and it was unexpected. They really have to go with the written policies. That’s the fair and right thing to do. Plus it could all still work out perfectly once everyone is settled in. Or maybe they’re working on something but doing it quietly so as to better manage expectations. Good move, as you never know who might go posting everything on a message board, perhaps even getting some details not quite right. Like everyone else, I’ve shared information in good faith, but I could still be wrong.</p>
<p>I really like the business analogy above. Helium is in short supply. Maybe three years ago it wasn’t but things changed and now it is and people who want helium should know that. As for me, I’ll stick with cookies.</p>
<p>Resiliency 101. The most valuable course in an undergraduate’s curriculum.</p>
<p>Expect little. Prepare a lot.</p>
<p>^^ Profound as always, Malanai.</p>
<p>Malanai has a way of saying so much with very few words!</p>
<p>Hoggirl, if you want to cover your bases, you can pay an enrollment deposit and a housing deposit. If your student chooses not to come, I believe you will be refunded all but $250. At least that was my recollection of our exposure. We put down deposits before my daughter even visited the school when she had no intention of going to UA. All of her other schools didn’t release decisions until March/April but by then she’d visited twice and fallen in love. She just finished her first year and is still in love with the school.</p>
<p>^All but $25 dollars s refundable.</p>
<p>^ All but $25 of the housing deposit but a student would also lose the non-refundable enrollment deposit of $200 which must be paid before making the housing deposit.</p>
<p>Yes, that’s right.</p>
<p>I know, you were distracted thinking that chocolate is always better than raisins! ;)</p>
<p>I am bringing this thread back up because of my concern over the required enrollment deposit to make a housing deposit. It’s not the potential forfeiture of the money that concerns me but the idea of paying an enrollment deposit. I have read over and over again on CC that one can only make ONE enrollment deposit ethically though multiple housing deposits are fine. Is it common at Big State U’s to require an enrollment deposit before housing can be applied for?</p>
<p>Hoggirl – My daughters applied to and was admitted to a number of Big State U’s. (Texas, Alabama, Georgia, Maryland, Virginia). Although several of these schools have limited on campus housing and encourage students to apply for housing early (some of them even before the student is admitted, others upon admission), only Alabama required the payment of the enrollment deposit before applying for housing.</p>
<p>We, too, had no issue whatsoever with paying a non-refundable housing deposit – even if it was as large as the current enrollment and housing deposits combined – but had ethical issues with paying Alabama’s enrollment deposit before they actually decided to enroll, particularly since they had applied to various private universities using the Common App, which requires you to affirm that you will only pay one enrollment deposit (except in cases where you are admitted from a waitlist). Both girls did ultimately decide to enroll at Alabama. </p>
<p>I do believe that this is something that Alabama should change. They could accomplish the same result, without forcing students to compromise their ethics, by requiring the payment of a large non-refundable housing deposit, instead of an enrollment deposit, upon applying for housing.</p>
<p>I agree 100%, paying4collegex4. Everyone should have to play by the same rules. So, did you wait to pay the enrollment deposit at Alabama? And did your dds’ housing choices suffer as a result? If they guaranteed Honors housing for all Honors students, I wouldn’t be as concerned, but it doesn’t sound like that is the case.</p>
<p>I posted this on the parents forum as well. I did call Alabama and was told that, yes, it is a binding enrollment deposit, but it’s “not a big deal,” if you change your mind. Just inform them in writing of your decision to go elsewhere and forfeit the money. I am concerned that other schools WILL consider it to be a big deal. I would hate for a common app school to withhold or withdraw an offer of admission over a $200 enrollment deposit. :/</p>
<p>I can see both sides of this, but to be clear, the housing deposit is not entirely non-refundable! The ENROLLMENT deposit is NON-refundable, but the HOUSING deposit IS refundable (with some deadlines to watch in order to get all but $25 of it back). [url=<a href=“http://housing.ua.edu/new_students/general_faq.cfm]Student”>http://housing.ua.edu/new_students/general_faq.cfm]Student</a> Affairs | Housing & Residential Communities<a href=“scroll%20down%20to%20the%20paragraph%20about” title=“what if I apply and then not attend UA”>/url</a>.</p>
<p>UA needs to accurately predict who will be using the housing facilities, since they guarantee (and require) on-campus housing for the first year. Many (most?) other universities do not offer this guarantee, nor this requirement. So, from UA’s point of view, this is business: you need to see who is serious about attending UA, and the way to do that is to have potential students ENROLL in order to sign up for housing. The two go hand in hand - if UA did not require/guarantee 1st year housing, it wouldn’t matter. Because every incoming Freshman needs a bed, we have to assume that every Freshman who enrolls is a good indication of the # of beds needed. </p>
<p>Until UA changes its req for 1st-year on-campus housing…I can’t see this issue going away.</p>
<p>I do understand aeromom, but no one else seems to do it this way. At least not from what I have seen thus far (we are just now dipping our toes in the water) and according to what paying4collegex4 says his/her experience was. Many state school require freshman to live on-campus freshman year, I believe.</p>
<p>My D applied only to large state flagships. Alabama was the only one that required an enrollment deposit in order to make a housing deposit. We made the deposits in October, long before D decided which school she’d be attending. We had no ethical dilemma as none of the schools to which D applied used the Common App. However, I can see where this could result in an ethical dilemma for others (FWIW, I must not be very ethical, because I would have made the deposits even if D had applied to Common App schools, justifying it since she would only have one deposit outstanding at any time). It seems like it would be easy enough for UA to require a higher housing deposit for those who had not paid an enrollment deposit, such that the same amount was non-refundable and the non-refundable deposit could be applied to the enrollment deposit when a student was ready to fully commit. But then, I have no idea how the accounting systems work at Bama and whether it would be as easy as it seems. It does seem like something that should be addressed.</p>
<p>Hoggirl, I’m typically a solid rule follower but I don’t remember this ethical dilemma though at that time I deposited I would have given it a 10% chance that D would be coming to UA as she had yet to visit and actually had no intention of attending. Maybe I didn’t have the moral issue because I made the deposit and she was handling the common app so I didn’t mentally connect the two? </p>
<p>Why would I pay the deposit when I didn’t think my D would attend? I just had a feeling that her practical side would weigh in, plus we’d heard so many good things from some tippy-top students from her HS that I thought once she visited she might really like it. And she did. But I had internally decided that I didn’t mind contributing $250 (or whatever the total non-refundable amount is) to the University of Alabama. After all, we’d spent thousands on cross-country college visits knowing that she might not even like what she saw, might apply but not get admitted, might get admitted but choose not to attend, or end up going. And I don’t regret a dollar of what we spent visiting colleges, nor would I regret if she’d gone a different direction and we’d lost our deposit.</p>
<p>I’m actually seeing why UA is requiring it as well. DD has said that they have sent out emails stating that due to overwhelming numbers they are allowing freshman to live off campus this year. If they did not require the early deposit and they ended up having an over whelming number of incoming freshman that opted at the last minute, April-May to take another offer it would leave many empty beds on campus. It would also create undue havoc on the families whose kids want to attend UA but can’t get on campus. They have to try and find off campus housing in January to secure for the next year. </p>
<p>Guess one can relate it more to Early Decision like it is called at other schools. ED has some stiff rules as well about how many apps one can have out.</p>
<p>As someone applying for fall of 2014 (honors housing) , what would you guys reccommend that I do to secure housing and not have these issues? What date do I need to make the deposit by, and sorry for not understanding, but why is it an “ethical issue”? I’ll also be using the common app, so an explanation would be helpful, thanks!</p>