<p>Brandeismom, it’s more than obvious why this policy is going into effect. Brandeis saves money by not renovating a freshman dorm, gets to fill the vacated dorms in the spring with the midyears and thus not let them go to waste with all the study-abroaders, and at the same time, gets to collect more money from students who can’t use merit scholarships abroad. We all recognize that the budget crisis means we have to make sacrifices, but for students who were told they could use merit aid to study abroad when they were first accepted, this is completely unfair. Many of the recent articles and blog posts by student organizations detail the experiences of students who used their merit aid and desire to study abroad as a big factor in their decision to come here. The bait-and-switch in the middle of sophomore year has really screwed over a lot of people and the students are rightfully not happy about it.</p>