D got into the state school, which was her safety, and has since decided she likes it more than she thought she would, so it’s a strong possibility, but we haven’t heard from all the schools she’s applied to yet (none of her apps are ED or binding). The state school does not guarantee housing, even for freshmen, and they strongly suggested that she make her deposit as soon as she could to maximize chances for a good housing choice. the deposit isn’t a lot, and is at least partially (and easily ) refunded, so we sent the deposit in, as they requested.
This seems to be what they expect you to do. It’s quite clearly stated on the website that if you decide not to attend, and let them know before a certain date (in the summer) you’ll get the refund.
I just started to worry that sending in this deposit would somehow affect applications at other colleges.
This deposit won’t affect her other applications, will it?
I could be wrong because I’m not sure how it works. Perhaps a parent could help you better…However, I think you might have just sent in your deposit to enroll. It clearly states on the Common App, that if you send in one deposit, you cannot send in another deposit anywhere. If you send in multiple deposits, you risk multiple rescissions. This shouldn’t be a problem since you haven’t even heard back from all the schools and they shouldn’t be able to know you made a deposit, but you should just keep this in mind.
Actually, there’s no problem in sending in a housing deposit now (thats separate from enrollment deposit). It won’t effect the other applications. I did that last year and it was no problem. You simply tell them you’re not attending and then ask for the refund.
@TheDidactic You are correct in that two enrollment deposits can present a problem (if one is not withdrawn before the other is sent in especially). However, housing and enrollment are two different deposits and most universities (as far as I am aware) do not require an enrollment deposit before a housing deposit.
It depends on the school. D2 got into a top 10 university 2 years ago that pressured students to deposit to get housing. The deposits WERE separate, but they required the enrollment deposit in order to make the housing deposit. I thought it was a dirty trick. But the main point is that different colleges have different rules on housing vs enrollment deposits.
Oops, I should have mentioned, the school is not a common app school. They required an application fee and housing deposit.
I actually did this for 2 state schools, neither of them on the common app. Only one had the application fee as part of the housing deposit. I don’t think the application fee was ‘enrollment’. I am looking around on the website now and actually haven’t yet figured out how you do actually enroll! lol
The other school allowed just a housing deposit with no other fee. It was clearly just to get your place in line for housing.
Your issues are different from what you might think:
- Even if you accept admission, put in deposit for enrollment, and put in deposit for housing, you have no issue with possible acceptance at another universirty within the next couple months. Yours is a fairly common issue involving a number of state universities which have limited housing, and accepting admission, putting in the deposits, and then accepting elsewhere later can be done, and the unviersities with later notification of admisison dates are all aware of the issue and do not prohibit you accepting from your state university earlier and putting in deposits. You just need to withdraw the earlier application by early to mid-May.
- The only real issue you have is getting back the deposits if you do end up going elsewhere. Check carefully for deadline dates for withdrawing your applications for admission and housing to be able to get money back and see if and how much they will keep even you are timely in requesting return of deposits.
Thank you @drusba, That was my thinking, but then I always seem to have plenty of room for second guessing myself.
The deposits weren’t large (in the scheme of things) and they did have clear refund policies, and, even with possible loss of the deposit, seemed worth that risk…but probably not worth the risk if it would somehow affect other possible acceptances.
Choosing the state school over others could save us a great deal of money, so making the state school as enticing as possible may be a wise investment.