Backup School Questions

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mlolive04

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I’m applying to USAFA with UCF as my backup. I just got into UCF, and I know it can take a really long time to know about USAFA. For UCF, I have to respond to my offer of admission to go forward with applying to the honors college and housing, which are both rolling admissions so it’s best to get it done early. I believe that means I would have to pay the deposit but I’m not sure. Does anyone have any guidance as to how to handle this, and are there potentially any scholarships to cover the deposit in case I get into USAFA?
 
mlolive04 said:
I’m applying to USAFA with UCF as my backup. I just got into UCF, and I know it can take a really long time to know about USAFA. For UCF, I have to respond to my offer of admission to go forward with applying to the honors college and housing, which are both rolling admissions so it’s best to get it done early. I believe that means I would have to pay the deposit but I’m not sure. Does anyone have any guidance as to how to handle this, and are there potentially any scholarships to cover the deposit in case I get into USAFA?
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This comes up every year, and there are many threads about this.

Have a candid discussion with UCF Admissions about your situation, being diplomatic. There may be wiggle room somewhere.

Many people look at a lost deposit as the price to pay for the insurance of a back-up plan and take the long view that if they get into USAFA, the thousands and thousands of dollars NOT being expended over 4 years is an acceptable balance. I doubt there are any scholarships to cover the deposit if you get into USAFA; that risk and strategy is yours.

Look at it this way. If you pay the deposit, you are all set for your alternate plan, and you will never see that money again should you attend UCF. You have purchased peace of mind while you keep vigil at the USAFA portal. If you pay the deposit, get into USAFA, you may never see that money again, but you are where you want to be, gloriously free of tuition worth thousands more.
 
Many discussions and opinions on this subject.
I recommend being up front with plan b school and telling them you are waiting to hear from USAFA, but in the meantime wish to stay on track with this school. They will either be open to the idea or not. You may likely lose your deposit if you don’t attend there. Consider it an insurance policy.
Having a plan b school for the chance you don’t get into USAFA is a very good idea IMO.
 
mlolive04 said:
I’m applying to USAFA with UCF as my backup. I just got into UCF, and I know it can take a really long time to know about USAFA. For UCF, I have to respond to my offer of admission to go forward with applying to the honors college and housing, which are both rolling admissions so it’s best to get it done early. I believe that means I would have to pay the deposit but I’m not sure. Does anyone have any guidance as to how to handle this, and are there potentially any scholarships to cover the deposit in case I get into USAFA?
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You will likely have to pay the deposit. I applied for usma, but they didn't get back to me till may, long after the deadline for it. I don't think there are scholarships for a deposit, but there may be waivers for it if you are of the right economic standing and explain the circumstances. You would lose this deposit if accepted. I'd recommend reaching out to UCF's financial aid or admissions department to ask more questions, a lot of this stuff differs among colleges.

(USF > UCF 😁)
 
The school that you pay a deposit to and use as your backup may also let you defer enrollment for a year, which gives you a safety net for the first year at a SA. It's nice to have that insurance, just in case something happens during the first year that requires you to separate or you decide that SA life is not for you.
 
DD didn’t hear from USNA until May and lost her deposit at a SMC . She had called admissions , financial aid and the coach who recruited her prior to explain she was on waitlist and if it would be possible to get her deposit back and was told no .
 
I'm in the same boat, but waiting until my 4 backup schools respond in Dec EA to place a deposit. My plan is to put a deposit on one of my backup schools. If I get into USAFA I'll let the deposit sit until BCT is completed. Too many stories about cadets injured at BCT and not being able to start academics. If BCT goes okay, great. If not, I don't loose a year. May not get the deposit back. The cost of having a solid backup plan.
My recommendation if you're sure on UCF as the backup, pay deposit, wait for any scholarships, wait for 1 May, then lay out the details to UCF. You don't want to burn any bridges making a plan known until you have to.
 
mlolive04 said:
I’m applying to USAFA with UCF as my backup. I just got into UCF, and I know it can take a really long time to know about USAFA. For UCF, I have to respond to my offer of admission to go forward with applying to the honors college and housing, which are both rolling admissions so it’s best to get it done early. I believe that means I would have to pay the deposit but I’m not sure. Does anyone have any guidance as to how to handle this, and are there potentially any scholarships to cover the deposit in case I get into USAFA?
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I went through the same thing with UCF last year. It’s ok to accept your decision to UCF and continue to apply to the honors college. Realistically you don’t need to put your housing deposit down until may 1st or something like that regardless of how much they bug you. They sent me a lot of email last year but I ultimately blew them off until the last minute in May. Don’t worry about paying them anything and even if you REALLY want to, the $200 or whatever is a drop in the bucket compared to free tuition. LMK if you have anymore questions. UCF is really big and you’ll just fly under the radar, meaning it wont affect your honors college decisions if you don’t pay the housing thing.
 
As mentioned above, we put a deposit down and started a portal for DS for Norwich University while he awaited USAFA decision. We also called Norwich and I even called financial aid to go over the situation.
His acceptance was actually kept in place until AFTER USAFA basic training and I called early August to cancel everything at Norwich. We lost the deposit but we were ok because we wanted to secure a back up in case he didn’t/couldn’t attend the academy.
 
Great posts already. I’ll add this: if you DON’T get into USAFA? You will be VERY glad you paid that deposit, and prepared (housing, etc) as if UCF was your Plan A.
 
If the deposit is only $200, as per FortuneMaterial, this whole question is a non-issue. It’s only $200 to reserve your future! That’s Starbucks daily for a couple of months. Get out the checkbook and be done with it! If they are asking for thousands, that would be different.
 
We paid a deposit and proceeded with our backup plan "just in case". We were actually glad to have the peace of mind, "just in case". As it turned out, DS got his appointment in mid to late April!
 
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