<p>All of Ridgecrest will be Honors next year. Ridgecrest South both North and South towers will be honors and Ridgecrest East and West will also be Honors.</p>
<p>Thanks - I’m guessing others will be open to us(unless they are like Blount) but only Ridgecrest will be designated Honors.</p>
<p>It appears that you must pay an enrollment deposit to even sign up for online housing? If you pay an enrollment deposit - doesn’t that indicate you definitely are attending U of A. What if you are undecided and wait until April to make your choice? Son is a NMSF and I am getting a little freaked out about the housing thread… Is it mainly a problem when you have 4 people who want to share the same suite?</p>
<p>^^ Mystified Mom: In the past, Housing has held back a few rooms for the NMFs since they get one year of housing in their scholarship package. Not sure what they do now. Please contact Housing. They will answer the phone or an email. I have called them in the past and they are very nice.</p>
<p>Housing and Residential Communities | Box 870399 | Tuscaloosa, AL 35487 | (888) 498-BAMA or (205)348-6676 </p>
<p>Email: <a href=“mailto:housing@sa.ua.edu”>housing@sa.ua.edu</a></p>
<p>Which dorm is more popular for Non Honors- Lakeside or Riverside?</p>
<p>Mystified - yes you must pay the enrollment deposit before you can pay the housing deposit. But that does not mean you are definitely attending. But you will not get a full refund if you decide not to go. I believe if you cancel your housing contract by May 1 you will receive a full refund of your $225.00 prepayment for housing. If you cancel your contract between May 2 and June 1, you will receive a refund of $125.00. However I don’t recall how much of the enrollment deposit is refundable. I recall there is some risk there. It really depends on how high UA is on your list and how important your housing choice is to your Son. Per Cuttlefish’ post I bet Housing could tell you how much of the enrollment is refundable.</p>
<p>IIRC from last year, none of the enrollment deposit is refundable.</p>
<p>None of the enrollment deposit is refundable. </p>
<p>Students who have applied to schools on the common app may be wary of submitting Alabama’s enrollment deposit due to the following statement that they signed in submitting their Common App:
“I affirm that I will send an enrollment deposit (or equivalent) to only one institution; sending multiple deposits (or equivalent) may result in the withdrawal of my admission offers from all institutions. [Note: Students may send an enrollment deposit (or equivalent) to a second institution where they have been admitted from the waitlist, provided that they inform the first institution that they will no longer be enrolling.]”</p>
<p>Some people interpret this language as indicating that as long as you only have one outstanding deposit at a time, then you are fine. Others think that because the only instance in which sending more than one deposit is specifically permitted is when a student has been admitted from a waitlist, it isn’t okay to send an enrollment deposit to a school like Alabama that requires the enrollment deposit as a condition of housing when you are still waiting for decisions from other schools.</p>
<p>Many universities avoid putting their admitted students in this uncomfortable position by allowing students to deposit for housing without accepting enrollment (for example UGA and Texas). </p>
<p>Interestingly, Alabama’s practice seems to be in conflict with the NACAC best practices which require member colleges to “work with their institutions senior administrative officers to ensure that financial aid and scholarship offers and housing options are not used to manipulate commitments prior to May 1.”</p>
<p>^^ I would hope the majority of the kids that are applying to the ivy’s believe it’s ok to send in a deposit to their “backup” college while waiting to see if they are one of the few that get in.</p>
<p>Interesting. My D didn’t apply to any common app schools, so I’d never read that before, but I always thought that as long as you only had one deposit outstanding on May 1, you were good. I guess I was wrong. I guess we were lucky D ultimately decided on Alabama after making the enrollment and housing deposits.</p>
<p>@MichiganGeorgia – Ivies aren’t the only schools on the Common App. Many students aren’t using Alabama as a backup, but don’t have all the information that they need to make an enrollment decision at the time that Alabama locks in housing preferences. My daughter, for instance, only has about a third of her admissions decisions available currently. She loves Alabama and has strong family connections at Alabama that make it a front runner, but is still interested in evaluating what Alabama has to offer against the other schools that she may or may not get in. She has signed a commitment on the Common App to only send one deposit, so we don’t feel like we can pay the Alabama enrollment deposit until she has actually made the decision to attend Alabama. Trust me, I would happily pay a $425 housing deposit – even if the entire amount was non-refundable to give her priority on room selection, but due to the wording of the common app, cannot make a $200 enrollment deposit.</p>
<p>Payingforcollege - I guess I’m one of the ones who’s reading it differently than you. DS has been accepted other places. We have only put down the commitment deposit for UA however when we put the deposit down we had no idea that he was going to be accepted at another college he applied to. If he decides to go to that college then we will cancel but until then, I am having him pick his room. However I understand your problem. An above poster is right some schools allow you to put down just the housing deposit. I wish UA did.</p>
<p>However the other college is not a common app college.</p>
<p>When are the times being released for those who payed after the 1st?</p>
<p>thank you paying4collegex4. we are identical in decision process and outlook. I appreciate your comment very much - and RTR!</p>
<p>I also want to thank all for the suggestion to contact housing/honors college and plan to do so. I am also (as an alum) excited that so many are thrilled about the U of A. This is our first child, who has done very well in school and test scores, so I want HIM to make the decision where HE wants to attend college. I had no idea that housing was something you needed to worry about this early… I would happily forego a deposit if he ultimately does not attend my alma mater, but do not want to do anything to jeopardize his choices nor decision making process. Thanks all - this site is a wealth of information!</p>
<p>Brownzebra - From what we were told at the Capstone Scholar event, those that paid the housing deposit after Jan 1 will be placed into dorm rooms by the Housing department using the preferences you filled in when you paid your deposit.</p>
<p>I did check with housing and the honors college and here is what they said in terms of going ahead and paying enrollment fee and the common application: Paying the Freshman Enrollment and Housing deposits in no way obligate him to attend UA nor do they negate his common application to other schools. The enrollment deposit merely notifies us that UA is a top contender and that he is ready to move forward with other steps in the enrollment process. His official acceptance of admission and scholarships wont occur until May 1 when he notifies us online. Hell be receiving more information regarding that process in March. </p>
<p>I hope that clarifies it for others and wish I had known to start this whole housing process earlier. I think we have gotten a billion postcards - but none addressed a priority deadline other than 4/1. Yikes.</p>
<p>Thanks all!</p>
<p>Mystified Mom – I have an older daughter who currently attends Alabama. You don’t take any further action to indicate that you plan to enroll. The deposit is called an “enrollment deposit” and it is the first installment of tuition. You do have to go online and accept scholarships if they are offered, but if you don’t have scholarships or other financial aid, submitting the enrollment deposit is what you do to signify your intention to enroll at Alabama. </p>
<p>Obviously this is an area where each family has to make its own decision. We have decided that for our family, the right decision is to hold off paying any enrollment deposits until our daughter is actually ready to make the kind of commitment that the word “enrollment” signifies to her. The common app says that you cannot submit more than one “enrollment deposit.” Even in Alabama doesn’t consider payment of the “enrollment deposit” as indicative of intention to enroll, I am not sure that other institutions would agree given that no further action is necessary to confirm intent to enroll and the deposit counts towards the fall student bill. </p>
<p>Now to give other like minded people hope --two years ago my older daughter did not commit to Alabama until the end of spring break for the very reason that our younger daughter hasn’t yet committed. She had the last housing pick time. When she went online there was still room in every building and there were even a few four room suites open at the beginning of her housing selection slot. Things seem to have been tighter last year and this year, but particularly for students who are open to taking pot luck, there should be good housing options available even if they aren’t able to ensure that they have the ideal room in the ideal building with three carefully selected roommates. The bottom line is that Alabama’s housing options across the board are very good. Even the traditional style dorms offer spacious rooms compared to other schools. So, although I would love for my daughter to be able to pick the perfect space in the perfect building, I know that she will be fine even if she ends up where Housing decides she should be.</p>
<p>Thanks, Paying4College - yes - he is a scholarship student - so maybe that is a different situation. I am glad for your insight and appreciate your comments. Good luck to you and all others - and maybe we will see you on the Capstone!</p>
<p>Initial room selection dates and times are set by housing application date. For the students who applied for housing on October 1, the first day the application was available, access to room selection is determined by the time the student’s application was submitted that day. You’re absolutely correct that a student with an earlier time can pull your son in, using her Roommate Proxy Code. We recommend that people send their codes to prospective roommates by e-mail, so that the other student can simply cut and paste to insert in during room selection. Sometimes students otherwise waste some time with typing and or reading mistakes.</p>
<p>Alicia Browne
Housing and Residential Communities</p>