<p>Oh, thank you guys for all the input! I didn’t think about if it just means one deposit at a time… I’ll contact the Common App schools I’m applying to and see if they would be okay with that as well. Thanks!</p>
<p>And if it could be brought to the attention of the Admissions Department, that’d be really great. I would like to know why the enrollment deposit is required first! I would pay a nonrefundable housing deposit down if needed, but I feel uncomfortable with the enrollment deposit since the Common App has that clause in it.</p>
<p>@ NaperMom: Hahaha! Your daughter and I have the same breakfast issue. I must agree with you, though. Bama is absolutely wonderful and everyone I have talked to so far has been nothing but nice, but this policy is one thing that’s not as nice, aha!</p>
<p>As per this thread, we have paid the enrollment fee and would like to do the housing deposit as well so DD doesn’t lose out on housing if she decides to attend UA. One question is whether we should wait until she is accepted to the Honors College before doing the housing deposit?</p>
<p>There is no need to wait for her Honors College acceptance prior to submitting the deposit. The Housing system will know that she is Honors long before room selection.</p>
<p>Bumping this thread because we’re facing this issue too. Has anyone gotten a response from the Admissions department?</p>
<p>Also, what are the odds of getting decent honors housing if you wait until April when all the offers are in? There must be lots of kids every year who won’t make a final decision until they weigh the various acceptances and FA offers. Do they all get shut out of honors housing if they wait until May 1 to choose UA?</p>
<p>My son began in 2012. We made our deposit late (late March or early April), after a second trip to Bama over his spring break (and after we’d received the official financial aid notices from all schools we were considering). I’m also in the group of believers that National Decision Day exists for a reason and that requiring an admissions deposit for housing prior to that is manipulating the process. That year, even though he was in the very last group to get to select housing and was not pulled in by anyone else, he was still able to get honors housing. That year there was honor’s housing in part of Ridgecrest, part of Lakeside, and part of Riverside.</p>
<p>Last year honor’s housing was relocated to all of Ridgecrest and no portion of the other dorms. There was a housing crunch last year and there were students who wanted honor’s housing that weren’t able to get their choice and there were non-honors students, especially girls, that were squeezed into housing because of the demand (there is a thread somewhere about adding girls to rooms that were designed to be singles in Tut).</p>
<p>For next year’s class the new Presidential building will be open and honor’s housing may or may not be in the same location, so it’s difficult to say if waiting will be an issue.</p>
<p>Thanks, jrcsmom. I guess we’ll just roll the dice here. As far as I’m concerned, “honors” connotes character as much as academic talent, and since our kid signed the Common App agreement, he’ll just have to wait it out and see what’s left when the time comes. I’m not going to sweat it.</p>
<p>I totally respect how you feel about this situation. I just think honorable people can see this situation differently. I had absolutely no qualms sending the deposit to UA simply because it’s non-binding. The second my D decides to attend another school, I will withdraw her from UA THEN submit a deposit to the new school. This prevents her from having more than one deposit in at a time. Which I truly believe is the spirit of the clause.</p>
<p>Let me also say that I do not like what UA is doing. I believe it is wrong to put families in this situation. However, I believe they do this for logistical purposes alone.</p>
<p>UA is not the only school that accepts deposits early for enrollment and housing. A good friends S1 is a jr at such a school and her S2 will be attending the same school next year. She put down his deposit last month to insure enrollment and housing. Now he is just working on getting that honors application finished and turned in before his mother goes ape crazy all over him. Think I know what he will be doing over his Thanksgiving break.</p>
<p>Bigdaddy and Mike, I absolutely agree that honorable people can see this situation differently, and I don’t fault anyone at all for paying the enrollment deposit to secure housing if Bama is one of their top choices, but it just doesn’t sit quite right with me, given our specific situation. I’m okay with waiting because UA really owes us nothing, and their scholarship offer is beyond generous. Kids who are prepared to commit to the school deserve assurances that they’ll get the best possible housing available, and my kid isn’t ready to do that yet, so he’ll just have to see what’s left when the time comes.</p>
<p>Out of curiosity, I googled NACAC to understand the acronym. As far as I can tell, Alabama is not a member of that particular organization, nor is it a member of the Common App organization at this time.</p>
<p>At the risk of being flamed or burned at the stake, I am not sure why we would expect Alabama to play by rules set by organizations they do not currently support.</p>
<p>There are many, many organizations where I am not a member, and while I may respect their viewpoint, I do not feel compelled to follow their rules when I am not a member.</p>
<p>There is a lot of room for interpretation during this process.</p>
<p>I agree with BigDaddy that as long as only ONE deposit is in at any time, there shouldn’t be a problem. After all that is the wording. So putting one deposit in then withdrawing it prior to another deposit seems wholly reasonable to me. But then again, that is strictly my interpretation of the wording.</p>
<p>I dont think it unreasonable for people to express their dislike of UA’s policy to the administration explaining the dilemma it seems to make. I really don’t see why UA can’t change their policy and just accept the housing deposit by itself. If students decide to not attend then the housing would become available on a basis of which acceptees deposited first. Really no change in housing policy, just a change in enrollment deposits.</p>
<p>I didn’t read all the responses in detail so I apologize if I am repeating info already given but here is what happened with my son. He had put down an enrollment deposit and the housing deposit last year and had scheduled Bama Bound etc. Then the unexpected happened and he was admitted to William & Mary. They have a very strict honor code and the card you have to send in specifically states that it is an honor code violation to accept the offered spot if you have placed a deposit at another school. He called the admissions office at W&M and explained the situation and they stated that as long as he withdrew his acceptance of his spot at Alabama PRIOR TO mailing in the card that he wanted to accept the spot at W&M, he was ok.</p>
<p>He is happy at W&M- but I miss the spirit of this forum- hence the lurking! Roll Tide.</p>
<p>The “only one deposit at a time” interpretation fails to give meaning to the “admitted from the waitlist” qualification on the common app. In any event, UA really shouldn’t be making students closely parse the common app language and make judgment calls about what they can honorably do in terms of making enrollment and housing deposits. UA should honor the NACAC standards, as other large member schools do, which would solve this problem.</p>