<p>I come to you with a dilemma. My D has been accepted to two schools so far. One of the schools bases the order of the housing assignments on the date that the housing application is received. They do not guarantee freshman housing. Now here's the problem - we have not received any FA info from any of the schools that she has been accpeted to, so she can't really make her decision on what school to attend just yet. Yet if she waits too long to send in the housing application to above-mentioned school, we may be apartment hunting this summer, which I DO NOT want to do. In addition, you have to send the $200 non-refundable enrollment deposit to process the housing application. What do we do? That's a nice chunk of money that I can't afford to just lose. We're in a bit of a pickle. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>Had similar situation w/S2 last year. One school openly said get your housing deposit in now due to limited housing, with assurance that they would refund that deposit if not attending. Other school had non-refundable admission acceptance deposit plus additional housing deposit needed by March 1 to guarentee housing. I talked to an admissions counselor and explained that I really needed the finaid piece of the puzzle before S2 could make his decision, but was worried about the housing situation. He said they would refund the deposits if he went elsewhere since I had explained the situation. I was totally honest that it was between his school and another comparable school, hence they were willing to work with us.</p>
<p>SO, long story short, call and explain your concerns, ask about making the deposit w/o finaid info, and see if they will refund if needed. It doesn’t hurt to ask. They can only tell you no refund, no help.</p>
<p>Guaranteed freshmen housing is one of my non-negotiables. I think it’s unconscionable of a school to blackmail you into giving a forced donation to save a place before the date when by law you tell them you are attending. Unfortunately it’s not unusual. My older son was guaranteed a room, but got a low choice for waiting till the very end to decide which school he was attending. (Luckily he liked the room.) In any event, like The Mom, I would call and see what you can work out.</p>
<p>Our experience was that college has you over a barrel. Go ahead and send in the filthy lucre. There usually is a way to get it back if the student decides not to attend. It will not be easy (“press 45 and whistle Dixie and our next available operator will tell you which non loading website has the appropriate form”). </p>
<p>You either are out $500 now (ouch!) or you’ll be putting at least that much down as damage deposit on the apartment. </p>
<p>Keep in mind that the housing dept. is completely separate from admissions and fin aid. They have their own little kingdom and are happy that way. Pay tribute and keep the receipt. That way you’ve nailed down one option.</p>
<p>$200 now or the cost of an off campus apartment and the worries that go with putting a freshman in one…go with the $200. And yes, if you are persistent you might be able to get it back. It says nonrefundable but that doesn’t always mean it is. And if you decide not to go there due to financial aid problems, you say so. You can always say you need a better deal or your $200 back and use it to negotiate. Everything is negotiable. If you say you had to give the $200 to get a spot, and then received a horrible financial aid offer, etc, you can probably get a refund.</p>
<p>Send the money in. Your peace of mind is worth it.
When S2 was a freshman at big state u., the yield for the freshman class was the largest in sch. history and there were not enough dorm rooms. The kids who were the last to get their housing forms in were the ones put in off campus apts. until dorm space opened up.<br>
The $100 deposit we sent it was deducted from his housing cost in the Spring Sem.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for your input! We are leaning toward sending in the $$ so D gets a good shot at on campus housing. One good thing is that her big brother went to the same university and lives close to campus so we wouldn’t be going in blind if we need to get D an apartment, BUT I would much prefer having D in a dorm.</p>
<p>I know $200 is no chump change but in comparison to the cost of attending 4 years of college, it’s insiginificant. It’s less than the cost of a single textbook in some cases (see what you have to look forward to?). Given its insignificance in context you may as well pay it if you think there’s a reasonable chance he’d end up deciding on this college.</p>
<p>Two hundered is not too bad, but some schools require more. Unlike in the OP’s case some say that the deposit is refundable, but it is not always so easy to get that refund. I am not just making this up. I put a call into NACAC when I was being pressured from 2 different schools for early deposits. The advice from the person at NACAC was to negotiate down the amount of the deposit by telling them that I just could not afford to send in the full amount that they were asking (oh, and one school I know recall credit cards), if we wanted to hold a place! She said that this is done regularly and that it is easier to let $100 go up in smoke than $300, especially when more than one school is going to be doing this.</p>
<p>One of D’s schools is doing this. I think it is unprofessional and rude. If I was the one choosing, they would move to the bottom in the list of standings (in a tie with the school that “had a glitch” when downloading her EA application).</p>
<p>Karen Colleges, I agree. It just shows you the cut throat business side of college. Frankly, I wish that NACAC would agree to some new rules that would put an end to this.</p>
<p>I would also send in the $$. It may cost you nothing if she goes, and could save you a lot of heartache, and give your D a potentially much better freshman experience. If she doesn’t, well it did buy peace of mind and like other says, you can always negotiate. In the big scheme of things, its worth it I think.</p>
<p>I agree that colleges that do this are out of line.</p>
<p>I agree with starbright and we did send in one refundable deposit. I was not happy, but felt in the end it was in my son’s best interest to just send it in, because certain perks come with that early deposit. The financial aid package was a fair one, so I feel a bit better about it now. I sent the deposit in probably 2 months prior to seeing the financial aid package (in fact, I just got the package). I am still not in agreement with with heavy handed pressure to send in a deposit. I feel that students should have the right to wait for all admission decisions, all merit and/or financial aid packages prior to having to send in any deposit. I don’t feel that students who must wait to compare packages should be closed out of housing, be placed into less desirable housing options, or be closed out of class choices and times. I think it is wrong, and with that I’ll get off my soap box.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t send a non-refundable deposit. I think your nerves may be misleading you. When you get the FA decision, the college choice will be fairly quick, won’t it? So you will be able to get the housing deposit in within the first week after decisions come out. That is far ahead of when most kids make their decisions and deposits.</p>
<p>midwesterner: On the university’s site, it says that FA award notifications don’t go out until mid-April. I’m antsy because I know of several kids in past years who did not get housing because they waited too long to send in their housing apps. They start sending housing assignments by mid-May.</p>
<p>I would call the school, explain the situation that you can’t afford to lose a deposit, and ask if you would be jeopardizing housing if you wait to deposit until you see your FA package. I would think there would be many families that need to know about FA before they could commit. Good Luck.</p>