<p>My S was accepted at 2 state safety schools and is now awaiting other replies in March. With there being no guarantee for freshman housing at these large colleges he has been accepted at, what is the strategy while waiting another month+ for the other decisions to come in? Do you simply pay the non-refundable housing fee(s) and possibly lose those deposits if the child decides on another school in March/April? Thanks.</p>
<p>We were facing this in a slightly different way: There’s no question about where S wants to go to school, but he is waiting until April to find out if he will be accepted into an NSF research expedition to “the end of the earth.” The competition for that is beyond difficult (only one person per year accepted, alternating years for a male and a female). If chosen, he would literally be at what is arguably the most remote spot on earth for 4 months. There would also be a month of training before he went.</p>
<p>What that would mean of course is that 2005-06 would be a gap year and he would defer his enrollment until Fall of 2006. But I’ve already sent the housing deposit to his school. If he does get the expedition assignment (a very long shot, but he definitely has a good chance), I’ll gladly kiss the $200 goodbye.</p>
<p>You should read the letters from the schools very carefully. Some schools have 2 separate deposits, one for housing, one is actually a ‘committment’. Some schools have a not-refundable after date, but mostly what we have encountered, is, “Send in $350.00, and we will take it as an agreement to attend, and a statement that you have withdrawn all other applications.”
So, it is not always a case of “will I get my money back”, or even “I don’t care if I lose it”.</p>
<p>A friend had a similar dilemma – accepted at a state public U in Oct under rolling admissions. Bcos she had heard horror stories about obtianing on-campus housing (first come, first served), they sent the deposit in and will kiss it goodbye if she chooses not to attend. </p>
<p>btw: these are just middle class folks – one teacher salary, so thought long and hard about losing the $.</p>
<p>Sometimes it is worth it to send that housing deposit in early. Some schools are notoriously short on housing and your kid could be stacked like logs, 6 in a room or stuck temporarily (or even all year) in a hotel if they run out of rooms. I have seen both of these situations occur. You can also end up in Outer Siberia with a shuttle bus to take you the campus. If you can at all afford it, the housing deposit should be sent to these type of schools asap. But as Chocoholic posts, read the contract carefully. You do not want to sign a commitment to attend and withdraw all other apps if you are considering other schools. There are schools that do have such agreements.</p>