Please indulge my paranoia for 30 seconds…
All of the colleges I applied to have their deposit due on May 1 except one small, private colleges that, even though I applied regular decision to, still insisted I needed to pay the enrollment deposit by yesterday (refundable). It is my safety school financially speaking, so I felt I needed to pay it while I wait to hear back on my top choice. I was nervous that doing so may jeopardize my chances at my top college in case colleges share information somehow, they see that I’ve deposited somewhere else, think I’m not interested and reject me. I then thought, “never mind I’m just being silly, I’ll pay it.”
Up until now I have been accepted to the colleges I’ve applied to. I’m sure it’s a coincidence, but after submitting the deposit, that evening I was rejected from an institutional scholarship at my top school and then today outright rejected from another college, which just made me nervous again. (Not that I’m that great of an applicant or anything, I’m not that vain, haha. But it was just strange to have my worry immediately realized.)
So…could the college I submitted the deposit to have shared my information or something? They’re a little shady at times, but again, financials are important in whether or not I can attend college and they’re the cheapest so I felt I needed to pay them.
Some college admins talk with each other (anecdotal personal experience, not necessarily representative).
But colleges shouldn’t really care much if you drop a deposit before you find out later admission info. That’s different from not revoking apps after being admitted ED.
This is an older discussion and blog post (nothing new under the sun on this topic) but it should help put your mind at ease:
https://www.collegeconfidential.com/dean/can-a-college-ask-for-my-deposit-before-may-1/
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1615432-are-you-being-pressured-to-send-a-deposit-before-may-1-p1.html
Short answer is that this is the college’s way of trying to see how serious you are. Other colleges understand and won’t hold it against you at all. This is a busy month for notifications so it is almost certainly coincidental that the rejection and scholarship notification happened when they did.