Yes, they have a mission to their state residents - but they should still be run with the efficiency of a business and this is why they have professionals who make hundreds of thousands of dollars and even millions working for them.
And housing, if not required, is a consumable like anything else.
It doesn’t really matter what you or I think - if I were going to - the three I have experience with - a UF, UGA, or FSU (and I’m not a resident of either state) - if you were a student who could not afford the deposit , would they waive it for you or provide alternative accommodation if asking - I don’t know? Perhaps a resident on some sort of grant could get that accomodation.
But again, if housing weren’t required - then again - it’s a consumable, and whether you think it’s right or wrong and I’m not saying I agree - but it’s the reality of life - it’s a business and you need to pay for what you consume. And some can pay more than others.
So yes the schools some perpetuate this to some extent. And yes, the rich get richer.
I’m just a realist - I’m stating the reality, not my opinion about it.
But I also know that at schools that guarantee housing, you don’t need to early deposit to secure housing. A UF is different as it’s not guaranteed - but then again, since it’s not, there is no obligation to anyone.
I think the housing deposit business is a scare tactic and it’s been going on forever. Put in your housing deposit if you want to be sure you get housing or the housing you want . It definitely seems to favor those that can pay. We went through this about 10 years ago at a public university and sorry to see it’s still going on. Forfeiting an enrollment deposit is reasonable , forfeiting a housing deposit on top of that does not seem to be if enough notice is given.
My kid got off a waitlist on May 8 and withdrew from the first school right away. No problem them keeping the enrollment deposit but I’m still hacked off years later (only because this thread reminded me of it) that they kept the housing deposit on top of that! The school had months to figure out their housing issues before the start of school.
I get this, but also, at some point, students declining does make a difference and kicks the waitlist into gear, right? So, if they offered spots to 10 guitarists, and they needed 5, then the 6th withdrawal activates the waitlist. I tried to tell my son that it’s normal to hold onto several offers, because it’s not over until it’s over, and we still don’t have all the pieces.
Can we say applying to all fancy colleges is like dating and getting admitted to one is like marrying! So fall in love with who agreed to spend their life with you!
Believe me, my son is in love! He has chosen the school that’s great for him, and it is one that’s given him the warmest welcome. His parents are making him wait until we have financial info from the last two schools.
It certainly feels that way when you’re paying the fee. The process I went through to get into the housing queue at USC was so nerve wracking. It felt like my kid was doomed if I didn’t get through the obstacle course before all the other parents. I have put housing deposits down at three schools now. (Ironically, USC’s was the cheapest.)
@tsbna44 You are a realist, and you’re right that as the consumer, I have to play by the rules a school has set up if I want the housing for my kid. I want to acknowledge, though, that that doesn’t mean it’s right for a school to operate that way. There are many other ways it could be done that would not shut out the students who can’t afford to make nonrefundable deposits.
I still think that housing order can be randomized as of everyone who paid by May 1. I also think it is strange to require an enrollment deposit (non-refundable) and housing deposit (partially refundable) by Feb 1 when Alabama (and other colleges do this too!) does not choose its own merit winners/Randall Scholars/ Blount etc. until the end of February.
This policy also applies to those who do not get any merit and might be waiting to hear from colleges that meet need which don’t come out until after the deadline.
Look, I get the people on here who say if a college offers good merit, they can do whatever they want. Just remember that many students who attend these colleges do NOT have full or large merit, and the policy applies to them as well.
Perhaps I don’t get the “both ways” claim. It used to be (in the old days) people had until May 1 before any of this stuff (housing, orientations) started having deadlines.
I get it-colleges are in the same situation as families right now in that yield prediction is a disaster, students are applying all over the place, no one has any idea what’s going on, etc.
I will not accept, however, that a policy that allocates the choosing of dorm buildings and rooms by the order people pay money that is non-refundable beginning before most college applications are even due and before its own elite programs are decided is NOT to the benefit of those for whom losing $300 is no big deal. It would be a huge deal to me. We are just lucky that S’s biological father covered that.
Part of people’s reaction to this, I suspect, has to do with annual spending. $300 is a lot of money.
If I was running the business, looking to maximize capacity and revenue I might.
I didn’t like throwing away $$ but it’s a choice I consciously made to ensure the best housing in case on may 1 she decided to attend. Again for me it was just three. FSU, UF, UGA. I didn’t have to pay. I chose to.
I would never have paid an enrollment deposit to get housing. Nor would most. That’s not a scare tactic worth biting on. In your case it was a WL after May 1 so you couldn’t have known.
Yea I was pointing out that I’m a realist and that yes these schools are businesses - even public. They tap bond markets, have credit ratings, go into public/ private partnerships on dorms and other facilities and run multi gazillion $ departments and overall budgets with CEOs. You call them Presidents or Chancellors. They have budget and staffing issues and labor challenges and power plants and police. They go broke and fold or merge just like other businesses. Yes, even the publics.
We should have real conversations on the board. I don’t think anyone needs to be demonized for stating the obvious - at least what I think is obvious. . I suppose if you are a resident of the state and don’t like the policy, you can address it with your representatives.
But I’m a realist and make the best choices for me. I know everyone is not treated equally. Sometimes it sucks. But on the flip side, many times it creates the greatness that society sees - that ‘unfairness’ if we call it that allows for and creates innovation and growth.
Yes! And through this process, one’s standards change to the point where you’re thinking “it’s only $300” because everything costs another hundred.
It seems fair to expect that a school would give everyone their scholarship results before opening up housing. That way, one could make an informed decision. I dealt with one recently, though, where housing opened two weeks before financial offers came. I put down $100, only to find out two weeks later that the school was not going to be affordable. So, that’s another $100, which seems like a blip at this point, and which has made another $100 for an already wealthy institution.
Merit has nothing to do with it. I’d imagine if someone doesn’t like the policies of a business, they should consume elsewhere.
Some restaurants, you walk in, put down your name and get told it’ll be two hours. You probably walk out, go eat elsewhere. You can too in this situation.
Others you make a reservation(and some charge for that or have a cancel or no show fee).
or you call b4 leaving home, they add your name to the list and say get here in two hours. And then you get there in 2 hours (call ahead seating).
We don’t say it’s bs that the Olive Garden doesn’t do call ahead.
Public or private - if you are spending money, you have choices.
Merit or no merit isn’t relevant.
A school like Bama attracts, in part, on price. As with anything you buy on price, read the fine print!!
Sorry. That was the argument that was made by a poster- that since Bama was generous with merit, it was okay to have the policy. I was not responding to any assertion of yours.
Yes, that’s the way it works at the flagship I know best. Depositing early gets you first in line for the newer fancier dorms…that also cost more. If you don’t deposit early, you will be last in line and end up in the dumpy dorms that are a longer walk away…which also happen to be cheaper.
Personally, I’m a fan of dumpy, farther away, cheaper dorms. Those housed the kids I liked better…
Same. I put down deposits at three. (It was another parent whose kid was called off a waitlist.) I suppose paying deposits at three schools my kid is not going to attend is a form of freedom, but that’s weird. The more I think about it, the weirder it gets.
The reason merit makes a difference is what @sursumcorda pointed out above (forgive me if I have this wrong). Some students who don’t get full merit at one school might need to wait for answers from other schools that meet full need, and in the meantime they lose their place in the housing queue. Of course, in the restaurant analogy, we are not going out to eat at all.
The only places on my son’s list that have non-refundable housing deposits with priority deadlines before May 1 are public schools. I think it’s wrong, and against the public school mission.
He has deposited at one that had an early Feb deadline, but it’s fully refundable, so we aren’t too salty. But I would have been salty if there had been 2 such schools that he was still deciding between since you’re not supposed to have enrollment deposits in at more than one at a time. We just lucked out with that.
I don’t like pre-May non-refundable deposits anywhere, but they are flat-out wrong at public schools in my opinion.
Some of the coolest places I’ve ever lived have been total dumps But, I still don’t like the system in which a student has to live in a dumpy dorm because they couldn’t afford to play a game that costs $300. I know, I know. While @tsbna44 is a realist, I’m an idealist wanting to live in a world that doesn’t exist.
So the last paragraph is fair but that’s not Bama’s fault. That’s the fault of the private. Or the industry.
So what’s the solution ? Ivy day across the entire collegiate landscape with $ offers at time of admission?
I’d love it personally but again, I’m not allowed to tell private businesses how to operate. I guess I can tell but they don’t have to listen.
And yes, not eating out - ie dropping the school that wants the money you can’t afford or don’t want to give - is a rational reaction. Unfortunate but rational.
My daughter had the Honors dorm at Charleston. It wasn’t fit for death row. Dump is too nice a word. The rats stayed outside. Wasn’t good enough for them.
Paying early doesn’t always get you the best !! The location was good but it’s a small campus, they all are well located.
Some have suggested more radical ideas than this. But yes, a day when you find out about your admissions and financial aid on the same day–that would be a start. With housing opening two weeks AFTER that, at the least.
Of the three we did, two were big publics. Overall, the only school on my kid’s short list that did not offer a chance to pay a housing deposit ahead of time is a Catholic nonprofit.
until we have financial info from the last two schools.
I have put housing deposits down at three schools now. (Ironically, USC’s was the cheapest.)
But, I still don’t like the system in which a student has to live in a dumpy dorm because they couldn’t afford to play a game that costs $300. I know, I know. While