You sign a contract and you are supposed to honor it. Its not a consumer issue- its ethics. Too bad it doesn’t work like using open table for reservations, where you cant make 2 reservations at different restaurants for the same time.
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.]”
Sounds lovely to take several offers, ponder them at length. But that’s not committing. By the time the enrollment deadline comes, a kid should be able to make the one decision.
No it’s not. They are not promising you a spot when they put you on a waiting list. When you sign the contract you are promising to attend.
Would you like it if the tables were turned and they disregarded their promise to you? “Oh, sorry! We couldn’t decide between you and this other guy…but it’s August now and we decided we like him better…”
@nitro11 They are a business and you are a consumer. Thus bound by certain covenants. One being the CA agreement to not double deposit. Thus, as a business entity, they are fully within their rights to rescind rules breakers.
Simple.
Your waitlist analogy is severely flawed. 1) students are asked if they would like to accept a spot on the WL. They can decline. 2) the terms of WL are clear – no promises. And even if an offer eventually emerges, the student can still decline.
Why do schools demand housing deposits so early? Can’t they get it together to assign housing after May 1, like everyone else?
“The way I see it, they are a business and I’m the consumer.” You may be paying, but for the privilege of joining their community. Their rules and expectations. How much tolerance do you really expect a college to reach down and give your one kid? As if.
Just make your choice. Make it. Let those schools you aren’t interested in go with another kid.
Good question. I didn’t really run into this much… I wonder if it’s a way to reward those that really know they want to attend that school. They are most likely to deposit right away (and therefore get housing). Or maybe it’s a way of spreading out the work for themselves instead of waiting until after May 1st. Or a way of truly seeing differences in deposit dates (instead of a barrage of them on May 1st). I wonder if anyone here knows the real reason.
Thank you for that link, @lookingforward. We didn’t use the Common App, so I hadn’t read that. Based on that section, it’s clear that students should be depositing at only one school. But if a kid deposits at one college to secure housing and a more affordable option comes through, I can understand the family’s reluctance to pull the acceptance at the first school until they’re sure the deposit has been accepted at the second. I don’t think a couple of days overlap should make a difference in those situations.
However, if we’re talking about people just putting deposits down at different schools because they can’t make up their minds, that’s a different story. I don’t know many people who could afford to blow that kind of money and I don’t really get why they would do it even if they could. What would they gain? Unless they apply in one of the early rounds, doesn’t everybody have until May 1st to decide?
We paid housing deposits…they were FULLY refundable until mid May in our case. So once our kid made her choice…we requested refunds…and got them.
To summarize:
Before May 1st - no need to put multiple deposits down. On may potentially need to put multiple housing deposits, but these appear to be fully refundable, unless someone here has experienced otherwise.
After May 1st - only 1 deposit should be made on a school. If accepted off a waitlist one can put a deposit on the 2nd school only if they tell the first school they are withdrawing. At no time should two schools think you are attending.
@austinmshauri - before May 1st, they gain nothing (which was my point in #16, there isn’t any reason to). After May 1st people do it because they can’t decide between schools and want to keep their options open (but it’s not ethical).
@ClaremontMom, Thank you for the clarification. Breaking the rules seems like a colossal waste of both time and money then.
At least one school I know of has a Spring (early April) orientation, where students can meet with their advisor and set their class schedule. You can only attend Spring orientation if you have deposited. Don’t deposit early, risk not getting the classes you want. When we questioned this practice we were told the deposit was refundable (we were still waiting to hear about other merit awards at the time). We didn’t do this, but with early course selection at stake I can see why families might.
We did end up withdrawing a deposit on our second go-round with colleges. We thought S was all set, and when we went to the school for Honors accepted students day, they put a lot of pressure on us that Honors slots were first-come first-served based on deposit so you risked not being part of Honors if you waited. So we went ahead and deposited. There was one other school we hadn’t visited, but they kept in contact with us and we decided we should make a fully informed decision so we visited - and S loved it and decided that was where he wanted to be. He immediately contacted the first school to let them know he had changed his mind and would not be attending. We expected to lose our deposit at the first school, but they were kind enough to refund us after we provided context to why the deposit was being withdrawn. They did ask some questions such as how many schools did he apply to and how many other deposits were made.
We lost the housing deposit at the state flagship. I felt we had to send it, even though it was sons safety school. No refunds offered.
My D has already deposited at a top choice school b/c it was required to complete the enrollement deposit before getting on the housing list. She does have one other school where she is accepted (that she loves equally) and waiting on final merit numbers and another EA reach school that she has applied. She is not sure at this time where she is attending - although she is strongly leaning towards the school that she has deposited. This could change if she gets into the reach school. If she had not enrolled, she would risk not getting the decent housing - that would impact her decision. We felt we needed to deposit and do it early.
There is a lot of time before May and she reserves the right to change her mind – and lose that deposit if necessary. She does know that she will have to pull that deposit and contact the school if she is going in a different direction and enrolling somewhere else.
Yes…but if your daughter changes her mind…she will withdraw from the first acceptance FIRST…right? And then deposit to the second school.
She isn’t planning to deposit at two schools at the same time.
I know this is slightly off topic, but a friend of mine paid a deposit for her D to attend her dream school, which my friend was sure she would hate, and then paid a deposit for the following spring at another school. Sure enough, within the month the girl hated the school she was at. At that point, my friend told her that she had reserved a spot for spring at the other school. The girl was able to get through the semester knowing she had someplace to go in the spring. My friend was thrilled because the first school was an uber expensive private and the second school was a SUNY. She would have lost the spring deposit but felt strongly enough that her D would not be happy at the first school. It worked out well.
@thumper1 - Yes D will not double deposit but I wanted to add an example of current schools that are now requiring the early deposit. H and I were a bit shocked that housing is competitive and first come first and we had to officially enroll first - without a refund if we withdraw our name.
@novicemom23kids - Wow. I’m shocked to. Seems like they are trying to make an extra buck. I googled this question and ended up back here on college confidential. According to @Sally_Rubenstone (I can’t find a date on the article, maybe it’s changed?) they have to be refundable (emphasis mine).
http://www.collegeconfidential.com/dean/can-a-college-ask-for-my-deposit-before-may-1/
By May 1, though?
I theory, if you want college X and need housing- and the school has a crunch- you accept your place and reserve early for the dorms. And that’s that.
And if it’s a situation where you are legitimately waiting on another school’s response , and later choose this second, you simply risk losing the first housing deposit, no?
That seems different than paying multiple deposits by May 1, for your own luxury of pushing out a final decision through summer.
@lookingforward - Yes. But…
I’m not sure if you are responding to my post…if so, I think you misunderstood me . I’m wondering about schools that require you to put a non-refundable deposit (not only on housing but for enrollment too as mentioned by novicemom) prior to May 1st. According to Sally’s article, it is suppose to be refundable.