UMN Twin Cities housing app & merit aid notifications

So housing selection is based on how early you pay your $50 non-refundable deposit. S will know by 2/15 whether he is accepted and will know about merit aid by 3/31. Do the merit scholarship awards generally come sooner than 3/31? I’d say he’s unlikely to go to UMN over in-state Uiowa unless his scholarships are bigger than we anticipate. But if he does go to UMN we don’t want him stuck living on the St Paul campus if all the other dorms are taken by then - but also don’t necessarily want to throw $50 away. Or, the housing app opened 11/1, so on 12/1 are we already too late to avoid getting a very low selection order for housing? Any advice?

We attended a Golden Gopher event, and I asked about timing of merit aid. I was told that aid decisions can come sooner than 3/31 . . . that date is just the cutoff (in other words, if you don’t receive aid by that date, you’re not receiving any).

Just fyi - my son has also applied to Iowa, and we’ve already received merit aid notification from them.