Sorry this is so long, but please, I need some help and information.
So yesterday I got accepted to Loyola Marymount as a transfer student. I was and am very excited about this, except for the fact that there is a May 1st Commitment Deposit. This is a problem, because my dream school is USC and they evaluate applications during May and send out decisions June 1st. This is also very troublesome because although I meet the requirements to get into USC and stand a very good chance, at the end of the day, I don’t know what they will decide.
Loyola is my second choice and I like the school, but I feel like they are pressuring me (and many other students) to decide so they can have a big bulk of enrollments for profit. Can I submit the 250 enrollment deposit to Loyola and if I get into USC can I submit a deposit there as well? (thereby renouncing one of the schools) I don’t know if I’m allow to submit two deposits and I don’t want to end up submitting to Loyola and then finding out a month later I got into USC and cant go because I got trapped and can only deposit one time. I don’t need a refund from Loyola later (which wouldn’t happen), I just need the chance to decide which school I want without feeling like I might mess up and not go to college if I make the wrong decision. If I can only deposit once, and place my bet on USC, thereby not submitting a deposit to Loyola, and USC rejects me, I’m screwed.
So please, if you know if I can deposit to more than one school and how this whole system works, let me know.
I plan on contacting the schools, but I cant wait until Monday when I’m this anxious.
Sidenote: By the way, I got accepted yesterday, they are only giving me a week to decide. I’m being pigeonholed here. I’ve applied to many schools and none of them make their decisions until after Loyola’s May 1st deadline.
If you do deposit at Loyola, and are later accepted at USC, then you make a deposit at USC and tell Loyola that your plans have changed and that you won’t be coming after all. Loyola will probably keep the deposit. This happens all the time. Don’t worry about it. It is just like when freshman applicants get off a wait-list.
So pay that deposit to Loyola now. If you are admitted to USC later, that would be the time to decide what to do about that offer.
Okay, thanks. I was worried because I thought the commitment deposit would be permanent and that you could only submit once. I don’t mind losing the money at this point, I just don’t want to have to forfeit any opportunities.
Yes, @poppyseedindeed, you can submit the deposit to Loyola and if things change, you just tell them and accept USC. You probably wouldn’t get your money back but you said that wasn’t an issue anyways.
I’m in the same situation too! (Transferring from UC Riverside)
I’ve been told that if your plans do change and USC decides to admit you, you can just contact LMU and inform them that you’ve decided not to attend. The deposit is to ensure your spot at LMU and will NOT restrict you from committing to any other schools if you so choose to!
You can always phone LMU and ask them to extend your deadline until May 10, or whenever you expect to hear back from USC.
This is a very common thing for transfers, as there is no standard NACAC Reply Day as there are for freshman.
No sense giving them $250.00 is you don’t have to. If they won’t give you an extension, then go ahead and deposit, knowing that it’s not a bit deal (except to your wallet) to change your commitment.
Just curious. Who’s rule is this, and how can it possibly be enforced? Surely someone isn’t legally obligated to attend a university because they accepted admission.
Hard situation. You cannot put in one deposit with the intention of securing a spot until another acceptance per your agreement signed when you submitted the Common App. Are you sure the deposit due date for transfers is May 1st too? I haven’t heard back yet, and the day is nearly over.
It is usually listed in the conditions of acceptance by colleges. Enforcement can be spotty, but often it is achieved by the HS refusing to send out final transcripts to more than one college, or, if they do so, letting the HS student know they will inform the colleges that the student is sending to multiple colleges (along with the names of those colleges).
