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Standing to lose a deposit is the waitlist system works and yes it definitely sucks. But colleges want you to commit to them by may 1st and use the deposit as a financial incentive to get you to stay with them after you’ve committed. Unless you’re a person who needs significant financial aid you’ll have to pay the deposit, if you are a person who needs significant financial aid you might be able to get it waved (I know some people have had Chicago do that for them). But you can’t just get them to apply the financial aid to the deposit as that completely defeats the point of having the deposit in the first place.</p>