<p>My son was accepted into UMich and he has other colleges that are in play and we are waiting on FA pkgs for final decisions. I n the meantime, housing needs to be elected. </p>
<p>What are the non refundable costs for accepting UMich and for committing to housing?</p>
<p>You do not need to deposit until May 1st and will want to ensure that you do not double deposit because Michigan can and might use same as grounds to rescind. It really does not give you ANY housing advantage whatsoever at Michigan to deposit prior as housing spots are filled by lottery anyway. </p>
<p>Unless you’ve received a scholarship offer with an earlier notification date (which still isn’t legal under the rules that govern college conduct for fair admission practices), you can just wait for the FA package to help your son make his decision. If you complete your taxes early and file FAFSA before Feb. 15th, you will likely see a package mid-March to early April, with sufficient time to decide. </p>
<p>Even if you receive scholarship notification and they ASK you to deposit prior to May 1st, you can still accept ($200 deposit), tell them it’s conditional on final package including FA, then rescind if need be (ideally, before accepting/depositing elsewhere). There is no separate deposit for housing, which is the way it <em>should</em> be everywhere else, but as you’re discovering, isn’t ;)</p>
<p>Lots of schools use the housing deposit to leverage commitment. Kind of a cheap trick to pressure unsuspecting kids at a time in their lives when they don’t need extra pressure, IMHO.</p>
<p>Good luck to you and your son with his decision.</p>
<p>Is double depositing (for enrollment, not housing) illegal for all colleges, or does its legality vary by college? I believe at UIUC it said that there is a $50 non refundable app fee.</p>
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<p>how wd michigan, or any college, find out whether someone double deposited? i assume that double deposit means that a student said ‘yes’ to two schools before 5/1. </p>
<p>But it sounds like a moot point here at least since I am reading here that housing at Michigan is through a lottery system. Does the lottery system kick in after 5/1?</p>
<p>^Yes, that’s what it means and none of us are sure how they know but suspect there is some data sharing among same. Different schools have different levels of tolerance/turning a blind eye, etc. but in general double depositing, meaning double committing, is frowned upon and the advice of the association is that all colleges treat it as ground for rescinding. Any kind of housing deposit that is not explicitly an acceptance of the offer, however, should be fair game, I think.</p>
<p>And yes, the lottery system kicks in after May 1.</p>
<p>if there is a lottery system to get housing, that sounds like someone might not get one’s first choice in housing, correct? For example, an engineering student might want to be on the north campus where the engineering classrooms are located. But with a lottery system is it the case that the engineering student might end up in the south campus?</p>
<p>Do you know if there are other housing options for a freshman to guarantee housing nearer to where the bulk of one’s classes wd be?</p>
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One way is through learning communities.</p>