She was rejected for nonpayment of the FALL deposit(the deposit she was supposed to pay).Since they do accept echecks for deposit, I’m thinking the eCheck is not the issue even though the funds did not transfer immediately.
Without hearing Purdue’s take on this, we are all probably spinning our wheels at this point. Hope this gets straightened out before the weekend. And agree to be looking at alternatives to Purdue in case this does not go your way. Good luck!
Lawyer seems heavy-handed now that Perdue has committed to finding a resolution?
Their commitment doesn’t seem serious. It’s been 5 days. It should have been resolved by now. Someone more aggressive needs to get involved here.
OP did not seem to like the proposed solution of a future semester so maybe lawyer involvement is a good idea at this juncture.
I soooo agree with this. So many parents want their kids to do everything and think it’s the way it should be and that if we help them with any part of it then we’re helicoptering, but there is a time that we should definitely be overseeing things. This is too important and needs to make sure it is not f’d up.
I have 2 college students and now will have a third at a different school and I cannot tell you how many parents leave everything up to their kids to handle once they enroll in college. That’s fine for some instances, but the number of parents who let their kids handle their own apartment leases blows me away. Then, sure enough at the end of the year there are always parents who suddenly freak out because their kid is being charged with thousands of dollars in damage. All bs fees, but the landlords know they can screw and scare they kids and get away with it - if they didn’t they wouldn’t do this every year. One kid in a page got an 8k bill. Just because a kid is 18, that doesn’t mean they are adults!! They still need parental oversight and should never sign any lease, regardless of whether they need a cosigner or guarantor without having someone with knowledge of leases (yes, probably an attorney) review the lease. We’ve had to warn both of my daughters about things in their leases and in one case had to have language changed. It also put the landlords on guard that there are adults overseeing the process so that they can’t get away with these scams.
Bottom line, these are still children and there are still things that we need to oversee and help them with. Why take any chances? As adults we make mistakes too, so it’s only natural that it’s going to be easy for a kid to make one too. I hope it works out for this girl whatever the ending is, but it doesn’t sound like it’s a widespread problem and as others have said, it appears as she clicked on option and paid for another. They will send the money back, but it sounds like since it’s unresolved the family doesn’t want it back yet. Even if she can’t start until second semester that seems like a good compromise considering there was a screw up. I would take it and move on. Or, personally if it were me, this whole process with the school would leave a bad taste in my mouth and I would have my kid attend elsewhere. OP mentioned friends going there. That’s one of the worst reasons ever to pick a school. You pick a school based on fit. Not on who is going there. There are other schools that are still taking applications and great schools at that. I would consider those. She can always transfer.
This won’t be resolved in court, plus I’m sure somewhere in the fine print it says the final decision is Purdue’s to make.
A lawyer will help get to a resolution because they ask tough questions and are good at getting answers on record.
source: my spouse has helped tons of friend’s kids when they have issues with the local college. Almost every time there is something more to the story, but the college always works with them and the outcome is ok.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with preferring to go to a school with friends. In some cases, it may wisely be a deciding factor.
We each have our parenting styles, and different types of children require different degrees of supervision. I don’t think in this case there has been a lack of parental care…on the contrary.
Best of luck to the OP.
You misread what @Mom270 posted. She DID leave it up to her student with the exception of payment. The cautionary tale wasn’t to hover your kid, but for them to be organized and not wait until the last minute.
My son did every application. He registered for every college class. He signed every lease. Now he’s a very successful young man with the life skills to succeed on his own. Of course he consults with us occasionally, but he is very independent, like a 25 year old should be.
The point about hiring a lawyer seems to be that Perdue has violated a contract by what has transpired.
I will point out that there are MANY reasons why a college which has accepted a kid reserves the right to “unaccept” the kid, all perfectly legal. Sending an email “Congrats, you are in” is NOT a commitment to educate that kid for four years.
Failure to disclose/lying on the application? Paying the deposit but not paying the first semester’s tuition bill- in full- on time? Accepting another college’s offer of admission simultaneously to buy some more time on a decision? Senior year final transcript shows that kid dropped AP Calc and AP Physics senior year?
So I’m going to bet that Purdue wants to come to a happy resolution here, but that “failure” to uphold their side of the contract because PERHAPS the kid made a mistake in pushing the wrong button is not likely legally actionable. There are lots of events and circumstances which can void an acceptance- and perhaps deep in the bowels of the “what you should know” section of the admissions section of the website is a disclaimer “You need to register for, and pay the deposit, for the semester for which you were accepted before the published deadline. If you do not, we will attempt to accommodate you on a “space available” basis. Deposits are non-refundable”.
Bet you dinner-- and it will cost you less than hiring a lawyer.
I’d trust Perdue’s good faith here and wait to see what they come up with before paying a lawyer. And I’d be working on Plan B with my kid…
The cost of one of my kid’s colleges is about what I paid for my house. We have a modest house, old cars and simple vacations, but education is someplace we do spend money. I remember going to one talk by a Surrogate who said people would rather make their own wills than pay a lawyer and then end up paying far more than what a lawyer would have cost when things go wrong in probate. Sometimes a lawyer is a good investment.
I don’t think anyone, including the OP has all the facts.
My point hasn’t been that they can’t sue or shouldn’t contact a lawyer (my lawyer is indispensable!). It’s that they need a complete understanding of the facts and they need to be on their side if they want to prevail.
A lawyer is often a GREAT investment when:
1- You understand your options and what a “positive outcome” is
2- You have all the facts at your disposal
3-You’ve exhausted your free options and have hit a brick wall
I don’t think any of these three apply in this case based on what the OP has told us here!
I think the point of hiring a lawyer at this point would be to speed up the process and get a documented answer either way. OP can’t afford (not moneywise) to drag this out for too long. Once an answer is given THEN OP can determine which path to follow. Enroll at Purdue, litigate, or find another school.
What is the future semester Purdue suggested? It may not be the best solution but might be better than getting a lawyer. Any legal battle won’t be pleasant.
I’m sure Purdue has all the CYA legalese necessary (and then some) built into its application process to protect itself from any lawsuits regarding its admissions decisions & glitches in its systems (even this one).
The biggest threat to Purdue would be the potential bad publicity from going to the media but even then, unless it is a significant number of people that this happened to, it won’t be newsworthy for very long and it won’t, for one second, stop anyone from applying to Purdue in the future.
Their apparent unwillingness to resolve it quickly would be a red flag for me, as a parent (especially if I were intending to write a fat out-of-state tuition check). The mistake is not unconscionable -and could happen to anyone, even a parent. What happens after pressing the “accept” button can be very overwhelming. There are hundreds of questions on the FB parent pages to that affect, asking “What do we do now?”, “How do I do xyz?”, “How long until I get an email confirmation?” The applicant followed up with Purdue and believed in good faith, the response that was given to her. Lots of applicants decided at the last second this year with acceptances coming out later, not having the ability for in-person visits, etc. If colleges are going to have concrete, no-second-chances deadlines, they better have their ducks in a row on their end and be ready for the flood of last minute acceptances!
Purdue’s only response to the applicant and her parent should have been, “Don’t worry, it’s an understandable mistake, we’ll go in and fix it and we’ll see you at Purdue this Fall.”
Going to the media might not effect Purdue much but it could follow the daughter for years to come. Very easy to find lots of stuff on people these days just by typing a name in a search engine. Please get permission from your daughter if there is any thought of involving the media.
No one said there’s been a lack of parental care but I respectfully disagree that if you’re going to a school for engineering and you only care about being with your friends then Purdue is probably not going to be the best fit. Purdue is a huge engineering school where a lot of kids don’t stay in the program or even get into their desired engineering majors. There are plenty of schools to go to if you care to make the priority friends. It has nothing to do with parental care.
I didn’t misread what she said at all. I said I totally agree with what she said and I do. Parents don’t need to be over involved but there are times that they should oversee things including making sure the final payment is processed accordingly, and as my example stated making sure an attorney or other qualified individual reads a lease for the kid etc.
“Sued Perdue when she was rejected”.
Agree, I know someone who only threated to sue (not a college admissions situation) made it public, didn’t end up suing, and had to change their last name and hire a company to improve their reputation on a google search.
Even if there was a case and likely isn’t, there’s no time to go this route. I just hope plan B Is intact because it’d stink for the student otherwise. I know someone mentioned Iowa State as a like four year experience. There’s also other Purdue campuses that perhaps allow an auto transfer.