Double-Depositing Annoys Schools - And Cheats Applicants
May 1 was a big day for college applicants and admissions officers alike. As the deadline that most schools set for admitted students to accept or decline their admissions offers, it marked the end of the 2005-2006 admissions season and the day on which the Class of 2010 took definite shape.
But, if whispers and hearsay can be believed, the composition of all of those classes may not be as definite as it seems. There is talk again this year of some students saying ‘yes’ to more than one school, in a practice known as ‘double-depositing.’
A student who double deposits sends tuition deposits to two institutions with the intention of later withdrawing from one of the schools. They accept the loss of one of the deposits as the price of keeping their options open.
This strange practice seems to have become more common in recent years. We call it ‘strange’ because it’s difficult to see what benefit the student gains from it beyond putting off a college decision for few more weeks. The deposits that people forfeit seem a steep price for the luxury of prolonged indecision.
It’s also potentially hazardous. Schools hate double deposits. The practice puts them in the position of withholding an admissions offer from a sincere applicant in order to accommodate a deceitful one. Colleges and universities sometimes share matriculation lists and will rescind admissions offers to anyone caught double-depositing. A move that is meant to give an applicant two birds in the hand may wind up leaving them with no choices at all.
Some applicants have a hard time understanding why double-depositing is such a big deal. They paid the deposit with their own money, right? If they’re willing to lose that money, what’s the harm?
The problem with double deposits has less to do with money than it does with honest relationships. When you accept an admissions offer to a college or university, you become part of that school’s community. You’re expected to be honest about matters that affect the institution. Leaving a school with an empty seat to fill in mid-August, a few weeks before classes begin, is inconsiderate and harmful. Schools don’t want students who, by double-depositing, indicate a willingness to pull that stunt. They will gladly withdraw an admissions offer made to a student caught double-depositing and extend it to someone who genuinely wants to be at the school instead.
(We should clarify here that double-depositing is not the same thing as accepting one school’s admission offer while remaining on the waitlist at another institution. That’s a completely accepted practice. The school you would withdraw from if you are admitted from the waitlist would be sorry to see you go, but it wouldn’t feel you had deceived it about your intentions.)
Arguably, the people hurt most by double-depositing are the applicants who do it. By putting off an inevitable decision, they cheat themselves of weeks of valuable time they could use to prepare for their move to college. Moreover, they’re putting off part of the maturing process. Going to college means becoming an adult, and being an adult means making choices and accepting that the ones you make may sometimes be less than perfect. Committing to one of two school choices is a useful warm-up for other choices you’ll have to make in life. That’s what smart applicants do, rather than clinging to the false security of double deposits.
But, if whispers and hearsay can be believed, the composition of all of those classes may not be as definite as it seems. There is talk again this year of some students saying ‘yes’ to more than one school, in a practice known as ‘double-depositing.’
A student who double deposits sends tuition deposits to two institutions with the intention of later withdrawing from one of the schools. They accept the loss of one of the deposits as the price of keeping their options open.
This strange practice seems to have become more common in recent years. We call it ‘strange’ because it’s difficult to see what benefit the student gains from it beyond putting off a college decision for few more weeks. The deposits that people forfeit seem a steep price for the luxury of prolonged indecision.
It’s also potentially hazardous. Schools hate double deposits. The practice puts them in the position of withholding an admissions offer from a sincere applicant in order to accommodate a deceitful one. Colleges and universities sometimes share matriculation lists and will rescind admissions offers to anyone caught double-depositing. A move that is meant to give an applicant two birds in the hand may wind up leaving them with no choices at all.
Some applicants have a hard time understanding why double-depositing is such a big deal. They paid the deposit with their own money, right? If they’re willing to lose that money, what’s the harm?
The problem with double deposits has less to do with money than it does with honest relationships. When you accept an admissions offer to a college or university, you become part of that school’s community. You’re expected to be honest about matters that affect the institution. Leaving a school with an empty seat to fill in mid-August, a few weeks before classes begin, is inconsiderate and harmful. Schools don’t want students who, by double-depositing, indicate a willingness to pull that stunt. They will gladly withdraw an admissions offer made to a student caught double-depositing and extend it to someone who genuinely wants to be at the school instead.
(We should clarify here that double-depositing is not the same thing as accepting one school’s admission offer while remaining on the waitlist at another institution. That’s a completely accepted practice. The school you would withdraw from if you are admitted from the waitlist would be sorry to see you go, but it wouldn’t feel you had deceived it about your intentions.)
Arguably, the people hurt most by double-depositing are the applicants who do it. By putting off an inevitable decision, they cheat themselves of weeks of valuable time they could use to prepare for their move to college. Moreover, they’re putting off part of the maturing process. Going to college means becoming an adult, and being an adult means making choices and accepting that the ones you make may sometimes be less than perfect. Committing to one of two school choices is a useful warm-up for other choices you’ll have to make in life. That’s what smart applicants do, rather than clinging to the false security of double deposits.
posted by AllStarEssays at 12:28 PM
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