When being considered for scholarship competitions does anyone know if there is generally a benefit to have already accepted and paid your refundable admittance/housing fee? Do scholarship reviewers look at that to gauge interest/commitment? Or does it not really matter? Or conversely, would that potentially show that you’re likely to attend their college with or without the scholarship, so maybe they tend to award to those they’re still “recruiting”??? I’m sure I’m overthinking this 
It’s a housing deposit, not an admissions deposit. I doubt it matters. BUT we did pay that for a school to get in the queue for better housing choices and this was before the scholars weekend.
Our kid got the scholarship, but didn’t attend the school, and our housing deposit was refunded.
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My son is in the same position. While I cannot speak to your specific college, we have been told that whether a student has or has not accepted their offer is not available to the scholarship committees. They are well aware that many students will base their college choice on what they can financially afford and a scholarship may make the difference on whether you can afford their college. Make it clear in your interviews that you love their program and know lots about it, but totally understandable to wait until you find out if you get it before accepting. College is so bonkers expensive!
A housing deposit is fine. I would not recommend an acceptance deposit. Major scholarships are a recruitment tool. If they don’t need to recruit your kid, that may affect whether your kid is offered the scholarship. Why risk it? My DD’s scholarship, eg, is very keen on getting kids with Ivy+ acceptances to accept post scholarship interview weekend (and they track this) by wooing them - eg, alumni calls and emails, additional visits and event invites, etc.
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