Top Ten Facts & Double Deposits

Here’s a link to the New England Association for College Admissions Counseling’s
Top Ten Facts Students Should Know About The College Admissions Process.
www.neacac.org/docs/top_ten_facts.pdf

I learned about this great document through a NACAC discussion about “double depositing.” When a student submits an admission deposit to more than one college it is called double depositing. It is a problem for a number of reasons.

1) Lack of Honesty – The deposit is meant to tell a college the student intends to enroll in that college. It’s pretty hard to enroll in two or more colleges at once.
2) Waste of Money – Deposits are usually non-refundable, so if the student doesn’t enroll at a college to which they sent a deposit, they are likely to lose that money.
3) Risky Choice – If colleges find out that a student has made more than one deposit, the can rescind the student’s admission.

So, don’t double deposit!

But wait! What about the student who has been accepted at several colleges, but one or more of the colleges hasn’t finished their financial aid package? In this case the student should ask the college for an extension of the deposit deadline. And they shouldn’t double deposit. Many colleges are willing to extend the deadline if they need to if it results in a more accurate student count.