Hi everyone – first time posting here, and I really need some help.
I received my letter of acceptance to Penn State in January, and it’s definitely one of my top choices. However, I recently discovered a timeline of housing/roommate assignment, and I’m a little worried. I have 10 more colleges to hear from at a date of April 1, and it turns out that if you submit the Penn State enrollment deposit after April 1, your chances for traditional housing severely decline, and you will most likely be assigned to supplemental housing. I really don’t want this to happen, but at the same time, I would really like to hear from the rest of my schools. Should I just submit my enrollment deposit to at least save a spot? Sorry, I’m really unsure what I should do here.
When you applied to 11 colleges, how did you imagine this part would work? …
There’s no need to panic. Try waiting at least a month to decide this, and see who else has accepted you. Supplemental housing is not so terrible that it is worth the extra stress. It’s cheaper, it’s not substantially worse, and most students in supplemental end up with traditional rooms by the end of the semester. Some actually turn down traditional to stay in supplemental. Honest.
If you accept your offer and give your deposit, you can of course change your mind and lose the money. That’s not necessarily optimal, and some will say it’s unfair, but that’s a choice. I’m sure PSU takes that into consideration when deciding how many offers they need to get a certain yield.