<p>at the two schools i mentioned, accepting the offer of admission required the paying the deposit. mainly to ensure kids dont back out at the last minute and to help in the process of reserving housing</p>
<p>this is why i believe it is unethical..</p>
<p>when you deposit at one school, and accept a spot on the waitlist from another, you are not effectively taking anyone's spot.</p>
<p>when you deposit at two schools, they cannot take anyone from the waitlist in your spot, and it pushes back the date when they take another from the waitlist.</p>
<p>The problem with double depositing is that if it were allowed, EVERYONE would do it, and colleges wouldn't know who was coming until possibly weeks before orientation.....having the limit is what I believe to be a good rule.</p>
<p>i agree with you, brassmonkey. it is a good rule for those people who wait until the last few weeks of summer to withdraw their acceptances. i limited myself to how long i would continue the double deposit. my first one was placed in october, the second in late november and the second was withdrawn before the new year. i told myself before i made the 2nd deposit that it would only be for a short time, until i could visit and make a final decision.</p>
<p>Ok, now I'm in trouble. My D is out of the country until June. Did not realize it would be so difficult to decide where to go. I reassured it was OK to double deposit...and now it's illegal AND unethical? Uh-oh. I need more advice. I do like the idea that I could call the Admissions Offices and talk about an extension, but I have a feeling that is just a nice idea, and probably won't work. Has anyone actually done this?</p>
<p>I double deposited. I didn't know it was illegal or unethical. I was accepted to two schools. One for a med program and the other one I was accepted to the school but waitlisted to the med program and I am waiting to hear from the waitlisted program. What should I do now? I didn't know it was not allowed.</p>
<p>I have been reading some of the other postings about this subject, and obviously the issues are wide-ranging. Your situation is in a better ethical situation than mine, since you were wait-listed. What I gather is that often if you are waitlisted you have to do what you did. My situation is just that at the critical time of decision-making, my D is in a third world country doing volunteer work, and this being our first time through this process, it never occurred to us how difficult it would be to a)communicate, b) decide. She doesn't have good internet access, so now that she is faced with a decision, she can't do much more research, or even phone home. I think only one of the 3 colleges she is interested in says explicitly that this is not allowed. I guess I'll call them, and explain the situation, but if they say "too bad" we'll just have to decline that school. It was my favorite :(</p>
<p>I'm sure other people are more organized and would have thought through all the possible decision matrices so that this would not have arisen, but, we're not that organized, and now I'm a total wreck.</p>
<p>At many public schools especially those that provide housing on a first come first served basis, a student may be required to send a housing deposit. Sending a housing deposit is different from sending an deposit stating your intent to enroll. When sending a housing deposit, most forms will tell you that your sending your deposit is not an intention to enroll, it just means that you have secured a spot for housing should you decide to enroll. Even with housing deposits, should you change your mind, there is a point where you can get yoru housing deposit refunded. If you wait until after the refund date, to request it you lose the money.</p>
<p>Brassmonkey really summarizes well the reasons that schools do not tolerate double depositing:</p>
<p>1) When you deposit at two schools, they cannot take anyone from the waitlist in your spot, and it pushes back the date when they take another from the waitlist.</p>
<p>2) Once they know exactly who is coming there is a lot of mail and forms that must be filled out by freshmen before they start school, housing, medical, proof of insurance, assignments to advisors, setting up e-mail accounts, setting up financial aid, especially if there are federal grants/loans in your package, etc.</p>
<p>
[quote]
it is a good rule for those people who wait until the last few weeks of summer to withdraw their acceptances
[/quote]
</p>
<p>The majority of students are starting classes or at least showing up for orientation starting about mid august. How would you feel if you/ your kid were the person out in the cold with out housing, can't make plane reservation, don't know what school your stuff is going to be shipped to, or worse, hanging in limbo without a school (hoping for a spot on the waitlist) because another student feels that they should wait until school starts to decide whether or not they are going to attend? be careful for what you ask for because you just may get it.</p>
<p>What do you do with a school like Brown which doesnt have a deposit but makes you sign a contract. How binding is that contract.</p>
<p>binding, as you signed the card stating your intent to enroll. Remember all colleges where you stated your intent will still contact your high school to ensure that they receive your transcript as proof of your successfully completing high school . In addition, your GC will request a date by which you must turn your final decision in to the school. The truth will eventually come out.</p>
<p>Probably the no deposit Brown contract is binding and you surrender to lawsuit in a Providence Court where the judge likely donates thousands a year to his alma mater located blocks away.</p>
<p>Am I in a bad situation now? I sent in deposits to two schools.</p>
<p>The first school I sent into is my second choice school where I got into the school and the med program. (Union/Albany Med)</p>
<p>The second school is my top choice school that I got into, but waitlisted for the med program. (GWU/ GWU Med)</p>
<p>I sent in a deposit to both these schools. I didn't really think about the implications of doing so and now I realize it was probably a mistake. I thought I had to send in a deposit to the waitlisted school since I got in but am waiting to hear if I got off the waitlist or not. And I sent in the deposit to the second choice school because if I don't get into the program at GW I will be going to my second choice school. So I did double deposit, but it was under a "wierd" waitlisted scenario. Am I going to get rescinded by both?</p>
<p>A friend of mine double-deposited and didn't know it was unethical. One of them was her mother's alma mater.</p>
<p>Thing is, one of them is a big state public, the other is a LAC with an honor code. If the LAC finds out she double-deposited, could they rescind her acceptance? Just wondering from the honor code POV...</p>
<p>NYU told me I "didn't need to worry" about depositing at two different schools. As far as they're concerned, your loss for doing that is the deposit at the school you don't attend.</p>
<p>It's Ok to commit to a college while also being on the waitlist elsewhere. The exception to this would be if you have an ED acceptance. Applying ED means that except for major emergencies, you are committed to attending that college and should withdraw all other applications upon acceptance.</p>
<p>my friend double-deposited and i don't really see what's wrong. I think it's sort of like saying that getting into a SCEA school and applying to other top schools is unethical as well b/c u already plan on going to that school(well in the case u r). I really don't think the second case is unethical, so why should the first be unethical?</p>
<p>what about the case in which you do not know your financial aid at a college? see in my situation, I really want to go to a private college but because my parents are taking so long with their tax stuff I don't know whether or not i'll get screwed over in terms of financial aid. This is why i wanted to also send in my sir to a public school that I know already is affordable for my family. Is this unethical as well?</p>
<p>C. Consumed: What college is the private college? Depending on what it is, there may not be aid left by the time your parents get their paperwork in. </p>
<p>Have you asked that college how your parents' lateness could affect your financial aid?</p>
<p>You could anonymously ask the public college about whether they penalize you if you send in 2 commitment forms, and you could explain the reason you're considering doing it.</p>
<p>actually, i doubled SIR-ed after talking to many people... emailing the universities, and my guidance counsolers.</p>
<p>they said that it was discouraged and technically you're not suppose to, but people have done it before with no consequences. The only real risk is if u double SIR to state schools that might cross lists such as more than one UC.</p>
<p>you just lose a deposit.</p>
<p>NorthstarMom: The private college is Notre Dame. I haven't called yet and I know i ought to have. I think it's too late to call now too cuz sundays the office isn't open and monday is the day i have to send in my sir. so maybe this is just telling me i should have the safe route and go for the state college if that's the case. I didn't know that financial aid can run out. that makes me worry more.</p>
<p>oh and also, are you a fan of the band northstar? that's an awesome band, too bad they broke up.</p>
<p>"How binding is that contract."</p>
<p>That question ought to be a trick questions somehow, but I am unahppily aware that it is not. That seems to be a large part of what is wrong with American and probably other society these days. How important is tellign the truth? Not plagiarizing? Keeping your word? Beign concerned about general well being as well as your own? A contract means you are agreeing to do something. That used to mean something--a lot, actgually. If people dn't know that anymore or care, that's a really sad commentary. It helps explain things like the Harvard "novelist" tangle, and it makes it clear that an inability to figure out right and wrong comes at all levels and in all styles.</p>