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Ahoy there - deposit deadlines are coming up and I still haven't heard back from some of my top preferences, and am waitlisted at others. I thought this might be a useful thread for people to share their deposit strategies who have no idea wtf they're going to do!

Here are the schools I'm looking at at this point in the game (still waiting on USC & Cornell but given my scholly at Indiana, I think it's either Michigan or Indiana at this point)

9. U.Mich: Waitlist - April 30th and June 15th deposit deadlines are triggers for waitlist openings
20. GWU (no $ yet): Accepted - April 15 - $500, June 15th - $1000
22. BU (no $ yet): April 15th - $300, June 1st - $500
27. Indiana (120k): April 1st honor-system emailed required

Scenario 1:
Indiana's honor system email is pretty clever, frankly I'd rather pay a deposit so I wouldn't feel guilty if I had to option out. Unless BU offers me significant assistance, I think I'll send the email to Indiana confirming I'll go there before April 1st.

But does that mean I need to withdraw from Michigan's waitlist? There is both an ethical concern and a practical one (e.g. do schools share lists of people who do seat deposits or confirm matriculation?). Could end up screwing myself at both schools.

Scenario 2:
Drop a BU seat deposit, tell Indiana no, and wait on Michigan. That way optioning out if Michigan accepts me there's no guilt / unethical behavior since BU is happy to have my deposit money.


Yes, I am genuinely concerned about starting off a career in law having to scheme with seat deposits, but with all the conflicting deadlines, slow response times on decisions, and even slower response times on scholarship money, I feel like I'm not left with much of a choice!

I think I remember reading that you can e-mail Indiana and ask for an extension of that deadline if you have reason.

Your chances of getting off the Michigan waitlist are slim, that school is always in high demand. I would not bank on getting off that. Choose between Indiana and BU. Choose whichever you would rather attend, because theres probably a greater than 90% chance thats where youll end up.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I think you can get off a waitlist at any time and go to that new school, regardless of how many deposits you've made to other schools, you'll just lose your money if it's late in the game. I've heard of people getting of waitlists and starting school 3 days in to orientation.

It depends on the schools. Some schools don't want you double-depositing after a certain date.

BeachandRun23 wrote:Your chances of getting off the Michigan waitlist are slim, that school is always in high demand. I would not bank on getting off that. Choose between Indiana and BU. Choose whichever you would rather attend, because theres probably a greater than 90% chance thats where youll end up.

+1. Deposit to a place where you're comfortable spending the next 3 years of your life.

Moxie wrote:

BeachandRun23 wrote:Your chances of getting off the Michigan waitlist are slim, that school is always in high demand. I would not bank on getting off that. Choose between Indiana and BU. Choose whichever you would rather attend, because theres probably a greater than 90% chance thats where youll end up.

+1. Deposit to a place where you're comfortable spending the next 3 years of your life.

so, send my deposit to U.Mich?

You can't send a deposit to UMich if you HAVEN'T been accepted. Send IUB the acceptance email or deposit at BU. You'll just have to wait to see if UMich gets back to you. If they do, you just let either BU/IUB know. At that point, you will either be out of deposit $ or have to send an email to IUB. There's no potential ethics violation involved if you are waiting on UMich as they could let you know 10 days before class starts. The entire "NO deposit" thing by IUB is a positive propaganda ploy. It keeps students from having to give money that they might not have. Thus, in their eyes persuading and helping students out who wish to attend.

You're over thinking this.

You should see what IUB's policy is. Berkeley also does not require a deposit, and I know they require you to withdraw from the waitlist at other schools (although they have two deadlines - the first one is only tentative). If IUB requires the same and you stay on Michigan's waitlist, you could be blackballed at both schools.