<p>I have been accepted into the University of Wisconsin-Madison back in Febuary, and I set that decison aside as I waited for other colleges to respond. When I finally heard from everyone by April 1st, I spent the next few weeks researching the colleges I got accepted into. I finally decided on Madison, and sent in my deposit several days ago. It was only then that I started looking into housing. </p>
<p>To my horror, I found that my initial housing deposit was due back in Febuary, and that I should have also submitted a good amount of dorming information in March.</p>
<p>What's the best course of action I should take from here? Will they still accept my initial deposit/dorm requests this late in the year?</p>
<p>I did the same thing. Accepted in February, waited for other schools and finally came down to a choice between UCSB and Madison. I visited a couple of weeks ago and found out that I should have sent in the contract in early March. At that time, Madison was pretty much a back-up school. I became more interested after my visit (I couldn’t make the trip until April) and put myself on the housing wait list right after I went on the tour on April 18th. Last week, I found out that they’d only made it through April 4 (as of today, according to the latest housing e-mail, they’ve only made it to students who have been on the list since April 7-- at that rate, it would mean another month before I’d hear). I’d been leaning toward UCSB for a number of reasons–it’s been my no. 1 school for quite awhile. The wait list and the uncertaintly of getting a dorm room on campus at Madison made the decision really easy. I still like UW, but I’m not crazy about how they handle housing. Every other school I’ve applied to has a later deadline, which seems much fairer and makes more sense to me. There is no way I would have been willing to commit to any school in February. Hope it works out for you.</p>
<p>You did not understand the meaning of the housing contract. It is just a reservation so that IF you go to UW you will have housing on campus. The small deposit was fully refunded if you did not go there. The dorms are pretty much full now so a private dorm would be the best option now.</p>
<p>Lesson learned- read the fine print of information sent to you when you get it. The details matter. The Res Halls system works well. Their lottery for dorm assignments sure beats that of schools who assign dorm choices in order received- those who applied and were accepted last fall have no advantage over those who met deadlines.</p>
<p>I have been impressed with how such a large school as UW handles housing for freshmen. I don’t know why you didn’t read their materials–and sign up for housing, with the small refundable deposit required, when you were accepted. Lots of information about each “neighborhood”, learning communities, etc. My daughter chose Chadbourne and was even able to pick her own room! We Californians are not used to this kind of efficiency!</p>
<p>Very good choice. I think she will like it.</p>