<p>Hi all. My daughter was accepted to an OOS public university Honors College. Her acceptance letter urged her to put a housing deposit down (nonrefundable) once she narrowed her choices to 2 or 3 schools to secure Honors housing. This school is her first choice but we won't be sending her there without merit aid. We are waiting to hear about that. In the meantime, I put the deposit down and it started a snowball effect. Her status has changed to enrolled student, they want our housing contract, etc. She had to accept the Honors College to get the correct housing. We have already put a deposit down (this one is refundable) at a private university where she will be attending a Scholarship Weekend.</p>
<p>Does the OOS public have a separate “enrollment” deposit that you have not paid? If not, then it sounds like they roll both into one, and that would be unethical if you have deposited elsewhere as well. Although maybe the initial school has not communicated very well if the deposit you placed is more than a “housing” deposit. You probably need to call them and ask if it is not clear (if there is no separate “enrollment” deposit you have been told about). </p>
<p>If there is a separate enrollment deposit at the OOS public, then I think you are okay as long as you only have ONE enrollment deposit placed at a time. If not, then I think you have double deposited, which is not allowed or ethical. </p>
<p>Although we have been tempted to deposit at one of D’s accepted schools to secure the best housing options, we have not done so because it is not clearly the school she is going to attend. And their rules are specific that you have to put down the enrollment deposit to select housing.</p>
<p>I am curious about the private university. Did you have to deposit in order for her to attend the scholarship weekend?</p>
<p>Sorry, doing this from my phone and I sent the previous post before I was finished. Anyway, there is no way we can commit to this OOS school but they are making us feel like my daughter has committed. She has not even heard back from 3 other schools yet, two of which are in state, so they are much more affordable. All we wanted to do was secure the Honors housing in the event she is awarded enough merit scholarships to afford this OOS school. Are we doing something unethical? I feel like we are being untruthful.</p>
<p>Can you tell from the acceptance info your D got whether there is a separate enrollment deposit? If not, call the OOS school and discuss it with them. If it truly is an enrollment deposit, but their literature is not clear about that, you might ask them for a refund…</p>
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<p>Do the rules of one of the schools specifically prohibit this? If not, why is this “not allowed or unethical”? Isn’t the purpose of the deposit to provide an incentive to come to the school, which implies that it is OK to not follow through if you are willing to forfeit the deposit?</p>
<p>The deposit for the OOS school was divided into 2 separate deposits; a housing deposit and an academic deposit towards tuition. We have only paid the housing deposit and will not pay the other unless she decides to go there.</p>
<p>SoCalDad, that is how I had interpreted it. But I still feel like I have done something wrong.</p>
<p>Last year we put housing deposits in at 2 schools. They were both refundable. We were urged at both schools to put in a deposit to hold housing. We were waiting to hear about merit and financial aid, and we still had 2 schools to hear from. My D had pretty much narrowed her choices down to the 2 schools. My impression was that the deposits were refundable because it wasn’t a binding decision. My D was treated as an enrolled student at both colleges (getting mailings, emails, etc.). When she made her decision she sent an email explaining her decision and thanking them for their interest. </p>
<p>If the schools are pushing the need to reserve housing prior to many colleges making their acceptance decisions, this is going to happen. In my opinion you did nothing wrong.</p>
<p>There are a number of schools where if you do not put down the money for a housing contract asap, your student can end up in Outer Siberia, a converted triple or quad, or in temporary barracks quarters. That is the reality. And they usually only give you a pittance of a discount and an apology for the “Inconvenience”. So the wrong feeling can extend to many different things.</p>
<p>I believe on the Common App, it says you are not supposed to agree to be going to two schools at the same time, but there is nothing wrong with a housing deposit or even sending in the enrollment contract and rescinding it when a preferred offer arrives. That sort of switcheroo occurs with a maddening vengeance as WLs acceptances hit. It’s when you are hold two spots at two school in terms of admissions at the same time, that is an issue, and I’ve known folks who have been in the corner and ended up doing that as well, when things like financial aid is late in arriving and acceptances need to be made. You do most often lose the deposits, and can with the housing sometimes too. </p>
<p>My one son’s school out and out tells you that you had better send your housing money in asap or you will be put in housing that is leftover, as they do not have enough housing when it is first assigned.</p>
<p>Thank you for your reassurances! Our situation is almost identical to kville’s except the public OOS housing deposit is not refundable. My daughter REALLY wants this school so we are trying to make it work.</p>
<p>I think you are okay, since there is a clearly distinct housing & enrollment deposit, and you only made the housing deposit.</p>
<p>Read the fine print and make sure you know what deposit constitutes what. I personally feel the pressure to put down housing deposits so early to ensure honors housing while students are waiting on RD is borderline unethical of the schools. My 2011grad had one rolling decision school that did this however you had to pay the enrollment deposit (non refundable) to get the information to pay the housing deposit…it was a real gotcha. We paid knowing that he could only hold one enrollment deposit. As soon as he was accepted to our instate flagship he wrote and formally released the first school, waited for confirmation, and then deposited at the school he’s attending now.</p>
<p>As stated above, as long as they are simply housing deposits you’re okay. You can not have more then one enrollment deposit at a time. If there is one school that requires the enrollment as a gateway to the housing (as we found) I’m sure there are more.</p>
<p>not that we would do this, but i am curious how do colleges know that more than 1 enrollment deposit have been made by the same admitted student? is there a black list that they share?</p>
<p>Other than for institutions that honor ED commitments, there should be no way for them to exchange this type of information. Not to mention that no one really would have time to do so.</p>
<p>Not sure what ethics has to do with it?? Seems to me it’s against a schools rules or it isn’t.</p>
<p>Well I have read everything that was sent to us and I can’t find anything that says it is against the rules of the college. I have called twice and both times the Housing office and the Admissions office couldn’t definitively answer my questions and sent me back to the other office. I was upfront about our situation.</p>
<p>We had a similar situation with our EA in-state public school, they required the Honors housing deposit right away. But their letter was very clear that it was refundable if he declined enrollment by May 1st. I’m glad they were so clear about the terms so we didn’t feel any conflict.
I think you are doing the right thing (really, it the only thing that makes sense!) and it is their problem if they don’t know how to word their communications properly.</p>
<p>We have received letters from at least 2-3 schools telling us that we actually do not have until May 1 to make a decision, since Ds major will have many accepted students and that if spaces fill before she commits, then she will go on the waiting list. While I understand that they want to fill all of their spaces, it seems somewhat unethical to me to force a decision based on possible scarcity. Especially when we have not received FA packages from these schools. I see nothing wrong with OPs actions. Sometimes you boost your odds by playing the game. And especially when NPC is not as accurate as it could be. There have been many a disappointed student who did not receive the FA needed and expected from NPC and I don’t see the colleges being that concerned or flexible. C’est la vie…</p>
<p>^ This absolutely is unethical. If he’s been accepted he should have until May 1 to decide unless he was an ED applicant. Rolling decision, EA, and RD have until May 1. If the university over-accepted and their yield is going to be too high, resulting in over enrollment, well they’re going to have to make some adjustments and hopefully calculate better next year. What they don’t get to do is move up the commitment date to cap enrollment, or make it a first come fist served in essence. Housing, yes unfortunately, enrollment, no. You’ve been accepted, they don’t get to take that back.</p>
<p>i agree with blueiguana. i would think twice before sending my kid to those schools.
this is indeed double standard.</p>