I wrote a week ago about how complicated the college decision process is this year, but there are a lot of nuances that I want to go into a little bit more...
First, let's talk about deposits. You are only supposed to put in your deposit to the ONE college that you have decided you will attend. These are typically non-refundable and are due by the designated date for the college. Historically, that is May 1st. This year though, the universal decision and deposit deadline doesn't exist. That is because of the craziness of the FAFSA that is limiting colleges from getting all of their financial aid offers out to students. Now, some colleges still have a May 1st decision deadline while others have extended their deadlines to May 15th or June 1st. That can be a particular challenge if where you will attend is dependent on your financial aid offer.
So what do you do if one of your colleges has a May 1st deadline because they have processed their financial aid offers and another one of your colleges has a later deadline and hasn't released their financial aid details yet? If you're hoping to attend one of those other colleges with a May 15th or June 1st deadline assuming that financial aid comes through, then I would suggest calling the May 1st college and talking to their admissions office to find out if you can have an extension on your decision so that you can hear back from and compare all of your financial aid offers. However, if you know that no matter what, you're going to attend the May 1st college, then absolutely pay now. The same thing applies if you are set on attending a college with a May 15th or June 1st deadline. If you know your financial aid information for them or if your decision doesn't rely on that financial aid decision and you know that you are going to attend that college then, by all means, go ahead and deposit now! It will help the college know who to anticipate attending and will allow you to start moving forward with housing deposits and selection, getting orientation set up, and so much more that you'd rather do earlier than later to have the best options available. I believe that the May 1st colleges will ultimately be flexible on their deposit deadlines if you call and talk to them, but if you're struggling with that and want to discuss it more, please stop and see me!
Now, the other big one is wait lists. And this is totally different than what I talked about above. If you are on the wait list then you still need to go ahead and make the decision about where you plan on attending from the colleges that have accepted you. You need to pay your deposit and start the full process for attending there in the future. At the same time, you can also move forward with the process with the college that has wait listed you. You want to be sure to fill out and follow up with them on all of the pieces that they want to hear and know about you in a letter of continued interest. But you still need to get your head and heart wrapped around the idea that you will, most likely, be attending the college where you are turning in your deposit. And if you are sitting there thinking, "but I don't want to go there" then we need to talk about this some more. The reality is that you applied to those schools that accepted you for a reason - there were things about those colleges that appealed to you. And the college believes that you will be a good fit there. So while it might not be your dream college, is it a place where you can go, be happy, find success and enjoy? If not, it might be necessary to pause and consider other options for your plans and we can discuss that more individually if you come and meet with me. For most students that are on the wait list though, they will feel good about one of their accepted colleges and can move forward with that as their plan. If you later get accepted off the wait list (which this year will happen even later than usual due to all of the decision deposit deadlines being later than normal), then you can switch and make the college which has accepted you off the wait list.
Here are a few articles related to the wait lists:
What you can do if you're waitlisted
Do's and Don'ts of the Wait List
If you have decided - Congratulations! I know that is a huge weight off of your shoulders. If you are still weighing your options, I will also remind you that the senior mandatory graduation form that is due back by May 2nd does ask for where your final transcript should be sent. If you change your mind or don't have a decision by then, know that we will need you to forward that information on to us as soon as you do have a decision finalized because all colleges will want a final transcript.
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