Anonymous
Post 04/02/2025 19:05     Subject: How to deal with Deposits May 1st if you are still on a waitlist elsewhere?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:We know someone who did this.

Kids double deposited by May 1st two years ago at two t30 schools. She was also granted a 1 year deferral (Gap year) at both places. In the meantime, this kid was also accepted to a UK university she wanted to attend. She enrolled in the UK university in the fall. She did not like it as much as she thought she would and dropped out after the 1st semester. But then she decided she was going to come back and attend one of the two t30s. She called one in February to tell them she changed her mind and was not going to attend. And then proceeded to start as a Freshman at the other t30 school in the fall.

Ethical? No. But she took full advantage of the deposits using the deferred entry.


How is this not ethical? I don't get it.

NP. She had promised to attend two different schools. That includes NOT enrolling in another school during that time period. Usually, the deposit for a deferred start/gap year is something substantial like 5k.
Anonymous
Post 04/02/2025 19:03     Subject: Re:How to deal with Deposits May 1st if you are still on a waitlist elsewhere?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:We paid for top choice ($900) May 1st. Then, got off an Ivy (first choice) WL, within days of submitting that deposit- of course.

Oh well. You need to have something locked down by the deadline. There is a real chance you might not get off any WLs.


^ my kid unenrolled the same day he accepted the WL and also sent a personal email to the school rep to let them know. You cannot be enrolled at two schools (you could lose your spot at both).


You are not enrolled when you accepted. You are enrolled when you start class.
Anonymous
Post 04/02/2025 19:01     Subject: How to deal with Deposits May 1st if you are still on a waitlist elsewhere?
Anonymous wrote:Double depositing is super unethical and completely different from waiting to see if you get off of a waitlist and then backing out of a previous deposit. There was a YCBK episode on how double depositing is unacceptable and an AO agreed with that statement.


Anonymous
Post 04/02/2025 19:01     Subject: How to deal with Deposits May 1st if you are still on a waitlist elsewhere?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Yep. You lose the deposit at A.


I get that. But do you need to notify School A that your are no longer interested after the deposit? What is the procedure?
I’m not worried about the deposit $. I was worried about schools finding out and rescinding your offer. It seems like a big no no to double deposit., although as a PP mentioned, it happens all the time…


It's fine. You are planning to attend School A. But you get off WL for school B. So you accept and pay at School B.
To be ethical, you should then notify school A that you are withdrawing, so they can go to their WL if needed.
Anonymous
Post 04/02/2025 19:00     Subject: How to deal with Deposits May 1st if you are still on a waitlist elsewhere?
Anonymous wrote:We know someone who did this.

Kids double deposited by May 1st two years ago at two t30 schools. She was also granted a 1 year deferral (Gap year) at both places. In the meantime, this kid was also accepted to a UK university she wanted to attend. She enrolled in the UK university in the fall. She did not like it as much as she thought she would and dropped out after the 1st semester. But then she decided she was going to come back and attend one of the two t30s. She called one in February to tell them she changed her mind and was not going to attend. And then proceeded to start as a Freshman at the other t30 school in the fall.

Ethical? No. But she took full advantage of the deposits using the deferred entry.


How is this not ethical? I don't get it.
Anonymous
Post 04/02/2025 19:00     Subject: How to deal with Deposits May 1st if you are still on a waitlist elsewhere?
If everyone had multiple deposits out, colleges would obviously increase the amount to something more substantial, to thousands of dollars, which would be a problem for less-resourced students who wished to accept an offer off a waitlist.
Anonymous
Post 04/02/2025 18:56     Subject: How to deal with Deposits May 1st if you are still on a waitlist elsewhere?
Anonymous wrote:Another take promoting that you SHOULD double deposit:

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/double-deposits-do-paul-hemphill-college-consultant

I didn't click on it, but I would guess that college counselors who are NACAC members are also bound by ethical rules not to encourage their clients to double deposit.

Double depositing is contrary to the explicit agreement the student signs when they submit the application via Common App https://www.commonapp.org/application-affirmations:

"I affirm that I will send an enrollment deposit (or equivalent) to only one institution; sending multiple deposits (or equivalent) may result in the withdrawal of my admission offers from all institutions. [Note: students may send an enrollment deposit (or equivalent) to a second institution where they have been admitted from the waitlist, provided that they inform the first institution that they will no longer be enrolling.]"
Anonymous
Post 04/02/2025 18:01     Subject: How to deal with Deposits May 1st if you are still on a waitlist elsewhere?
Anonymous wrote:Another take promoting that you SHOULD double deposit:

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/double-deposits-do-paul-hemphill-college-consultant


Pretty balsy…..if it didnt affect other kids I would tend to agree with this guy….
Anonymous
Post 04/02/2025 17:24     Subject: How to deal with Deposits May 1st if you are still on a waitlist elsewhere?
Another take promoting that you SHOULD double deposit:

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/double-deposits-do-paul-hemphill-college-consultant
Anonymous
Post 04/02/2025 17:21     Subject: How to deal with Deposits May 1st if you are still on a waitlist elsewhere?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:People are always talking about ethics here. This is not a big deal. You should see the people who submit 2 deposits to postpone their decision until the summer. Happens all the time. We know of at least a dozen people that have done this in our district in Va.


Same here. Nobody on DCUM is going to admit to doing this. But we also know several people who have double deposited in the past and we know several that double deposited this year already. All in the name of waiting another 30-60 days to decide.



Why would they already have double deposited? You still have a full month to decide!

Maybe both schools require you commit before you can sign up for housing and the earlier you sign up, the better your housing choices?
Anonymous
Post 04/02/2025 17:18     Subject: How to deal with Deposits May 1st if you are still on a waitlist elsewhere?
We all know double deposit is no no. Unethical. Shouldn’t do it. Not far to others that might want your space.

This is not about being fair to the school….

But are you telling me nobody here knows anyone that has done the double deposit dance? It is a lot more common than you think. Like a PP, we know several people that have done this. Including 1 at two Ivies. None were ED applicants. But to pretend it is not done, is ludicrous…
Anonymous
Post 04/02/2025 17:16     Subject: Re:How to deal with Deposits May 1st if you are still on a waitlist elsewhere?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:We paid for top choice ($900) May 1st. Then, got off an Ivy (first choice) WL, within days of submitting that deposit- of course.

Oh well. You need to have something locked down by the deadline. There is a real chance you might not get off any WLs.


^ my kid unenrolled the same day he accepted the WL and also sent a personal email to the school rep to let them know. You cannot be enrolled at two schools (you could lose your spot at both).


Again, you are NOT enrolled in two schools. You have a deposit….
Anonymous
Post 04/02/2025 17:06     Subject: How to deal with Deposits May 1st if you are still on a waitlist elsewhere?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:With an 8th grader this is helpful info to know that the first time our bank accounts need to be ready is May of senior year.

I haven’t the thought if this detail before (still a long way out)

The deposit is typically somewhere between 200 and 500.

Your bank account needs to be ready to start paying the actual bill around August. Some schools offer a monthly payment plan if you don't want to pay a full semester at a time.


Ours was $600. Your bank account also needs to be ready to pay the application fees.
Anonymous
Post 04/02/2025 15:19     Subject: Re:How to deal with Deposits May 1st if you are still on a waitlist elsewhere?
Anonymous wrote:We paid for top choice ($900) May 1st. Then, got off an Ivy (first choice) WL, within days of submitting that deposit- of course.

Oh well. You need to have something locked down by the deadline. There is a real chance you might not get off any WLs.


^ my kid unenrolled the same day he accepted the WL and also sent a personal email to the school rep to let them know. You cannot be enrolled at two schools (you could lose your spot at both).
Anonymous
Post 04/02/2025 15:17     Subject: Re:How to deal with Deposits May 1st if you are still on a waitlist elsewhere?
We paid for top choice ($900) May 1st. Then, got off an Ivy (first choice) WL, within days of submitting that deposit- of course.

Oh well. You need to have something locked down by the deadline. There is a real chance you might not get off any WLs.