<p>UMD will charge you a $60 application fee even if you do not submit your application. As long as you start your application online, they say they can charge you, and the DO! Very unfair! UMD was a safety school for me when I was applying to graduate programs, so I started the application and never completed it. Soon I received an invoice asking for payment. When I called their admissions, they wouldn't even respond. I tried to argue with them, and pretty soon I didn't hear from them anymore, I thought it was over. BUT NO! They sent the bill to a collection agency! This has been the biggest pain ever! I DO NOT RECOMMEND STARTING AN APPLICATION UNLESS YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY SURE YOU WANT TO GO THERE!</p>
<p>Georgetown does this too. They have a multi step program. The first step is…name and address (just kidding) and they collect the fee at that time.</p>
<p>Know that there are costs involved in having the computer programs to offer online applications. But Georgetown is “upfront” about it. If you weren’t advised you had to pay, just to start an account, that sounds “fishy”. My guess is it was in one of those long “I agree with this” buttons you might have clicked on. Sorry for your trouble. $60 goes a long way these days.</p>
<p>USC has a very brief, optional Part I application. However, they state up front that the cost being charged is for the entire application AND if you do it this way (Part I has an earlier deadline) you get a $15 discount on the application fee.</p>
<p>This seems to be the right way to go about it for the school, who wants info early, and for the applicants who wish to show their interest early and often.</p>
<p>yeah, it was in the ‘I agree to this’ section at the very beginning. Sorry about that though. :-</p>