sending deposits to more than one school?

Applying to College
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<p>another thread about double depositing</p>

<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=183706%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=183706&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Thanks Carolyn,</p>

<p>It has come to my attention that some CC members here are giving the advice that it is "fine" to double-deposit, send two deposits in to different schools, and make up your mind later.</p>

<p>This is patently untrue. First, it is in direct violation of the standards set by the National Association of College Admissions Counselors - see <a href="http://www.nacacnet.org/NR/rdonlyre...dentsRtsNEW.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.nacacnet.org/NR/rdonlyre...dentsRtsNEW.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Colleges and universities do check, and they do and will rescind admissions offers if they get wind of double depositing. This year, with waitlists larger than ever at some schools, I expect they will be looking more closely at double depositing issues and the risk of having an offer rescinded will rise accordingly.</p>

<p>Additionally, students must send in final transcripts from their high school to any college where they have agreed to attend. Many high schools will refuse to send double transcripts.</p>

<p>When you double deposit, you are, of course, holding a spot that could go to a waitlisted student. You are also adding to problems for next year's applicants. One of the reasons that waitlists have become so large this year is that colleges can no longer make accurate predictions about who will be there on the first day. So, double depositing my ultimately lead to even larger waitlists.</p>

<p>Finally, if this practice is widespread, it is likely that the deposits required by colleges for next year's crop of applicants will rise into the thousands of dollars, not a few hundred.</p>

<p>In short, this is a VERY bad idea. In spite of what you may read here where others are saying it is OK to do this, it is not. If you do decide to take this unethical route, then please do not advise others to also do so, and please be sure you can live with the potential consequence of having your offers rescinded at both schools. </p>

<p>If you, or your child, honestly need more time, call the schools in question and explain the situation and ask for an extension of a week or so. They may grant it, and it would be far preferrable to the ethics questions and risks of double depositing.</p>

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<p>sybbie719's link to another discussion on this topic has some reasonable points of view. Lots of emotion too.</p>

<p>Well, ok. So I had this problem, I mentioned in my first post. D cannot decide (particulars don't matter here) amongst 3 colleges, is unreachable for comment. May 1 came and went. What did I do? I called each one to talk to a counselor. Two of them had absolutely no problem with the idea of double depositing. They actually said..."well, you'll lose your deposit." But there was [b}no** contract implied. I felt relieved, and deposited at those two schools. (I am sure I will be hated by several people on this forum. But that's the way it is.) But wait, there's more. The third school, my fave, could not grant my D an extension (1 day was all they could offer!) so I chose to decline :(. The counselor actually kind of implied, though, that I could go ahead and send a deposit, that they would have no way of knowing. Given the emotional discussions about ethics and sleaze-ball double-depositing going on, I was surprised that the counselor took it so lightly. He couldn't suggest that I do so, but he was happy to look the other way. I declined, anyway, saying that if I was going to sign something, I'd feel like a sleaze-ball by being duplicitous. So, in the end, I think I did the "right thing," and took the moral higher ground. </p>

<p>I can't help wondering, though, if it will really make any difference to anyone. Did my action really "release" a spot on the waitlist for some other more organized and more deserving student? Or did I just turn down an awesome opportunity when I was being given the green light to bend the rules?</p>

<p>If I were an AO and someone approached me with a request for an extension, I would at least ask for particulars, grant a one week extension, and check in on the numbers...let's say a school has 500 seats available. Let's say that they offer to 800 students. Let's say that by May 1, they know that 300 are coming. And say by May 8 they will know the rest, they know that 520 are coming. At least I would give a student a one-week extension....because after that point the school should know how tight things are. In the case above, clearly no-one on the waitlist is getting in. So at that point, the school could go ahead and grant a 4 week extension, from the ethical point of view no waitlisted student is being penalized for an accepted students indecision! Of course, I realize that from the school's point of view there are other compelling reasons to have people commit, but I thought I'd at least post my experience.</p>

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<p>How can the colleges find out where else you have given a deposit? I thought they didn't even know what other colleges you applied to unless you told them.</p>

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<p>There certainly seems to be alot of debate on this subject. I have accepted two offers of admission for graduate degrees, both at very good schools. When I accepted the second offer, I felt that this was probably "unfair". However, I live abroad and perhaps because of postage the delay between my two offers of admission was very long. I did not receive my second offer until a few weeks after I had already been obliged to respond to the first. So, in my opinion, it's the system's fault not mine. It certainly isn't unethical. I could not reasonably be expected to miss the acceptance deadline for the first, because the second had not made their decision yet. Likewise, the second university must realize that they send out their offers of admission quite late and that certain students will have already accepted offers elsewhere.
By the way, the second university didn't ask for a deposit. Is that odd?
I paid a deposit for the first one.
I'm still sorting out financial aid and until that's settled I plan on remaining "enrolled" at both universities.
So, am I really bad ?</p>