100% certain in getting into school if got accepted letter and pay the deposit?

[cameljoe]

I was wondering how safe your bet of getting into a pharmacy school is if you did the interview, got an acceptance letter, and deposited the money.

I know that a lot of schools send a number of acceptance letters that is over the limit of the entering class size. Taking this into account, is it possible that you got accepted, signed the papers, and deposited the money to reserve your seat but just before the term starts or before you sent in the tuition, the school change their mind and reject you?

If it is true that you may still be rejected, is it safer to deposit to 2 or more schools that have accepted you? What number of acceptances should I aim for to guarantee that I will start pharmacy school? 1, 2, or more?

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[TTUMike]

I would hope that they would not reject you. To me it seems that putting down a deposit is a binding contract. I would be curious if this has ever happened.

 

[cameljoe]

Yeah I too am curious. If there those that is a victim of such rejection or work in the admissions and have to give out such rejections please reply. Thank you.

 

[CaptainCurl03]

If you get accepted and send the deposit in, you are definitely in. At this point you can actual still withdraw your offer however. Many students who have trouble deciding between schools put down 2 or maybe even 3 deposits. Deposits are a lot of money for a reason. Pharmacy schools don't want you doing this because they are trying to get a good estimate on their class numbers, but it is not against the rules by any means. However, the professional thing to do would be to make your final decision as quickly as possible. You should not hold down deposits at multiple schools past...say April. As you know many applicants are waitlisted forever and then suddenly get accepted in June or something. That is because of people like you holding onto multiple offers until summer rolls around. So, be nice and make your final decision as quickly as possible. Try to make it before you get multiple offers so you also don't have to waste your money.

 

[LostTexan]

Pharmacy schools usually accept more students than they expect to actually enroll. For example, PharmCAS statistics show that NOVA offered 270 applicants acceptance although their entering class size was expected to be 200 (for the 2008 application cycle).
The reason behind this is that some applicants may receive multiple offers of admission and may choose to go to a different school. If your #5 school offers you admission in December and then your #1 school offers you admission in May, chances are you are going to end up choosing to go to your #1.
Let's say school A had 100 seats and only sent 100 acceptance letters. If 30 accepted applicants decide to go to another school, school A now has to go through all the waitlisted applicants (assuming no ranked waitlist) and go through the acceptance process again. If some students decide not to notify a school until right before orientation, the school may not have much time to fill open seats. By sending out more acceptance letters than seats available, the pharmacy school is able to secure a full class.
Most schools advise you of the conditions of your acceptance letter. Acceptance may be later denied if you don't meet the conditions which are usually: maintaining a certain cumulative GPA, finishing any remainder pre-reqs with a minimum grade. If you keep to the conditions outlined in your acceptance letter, you are good to go. Hope this helps.

 

[kismet]

I was wondering how safe your bet of getting into a pharmacy school is if you did the interview, got an acceptance letter, and deposited the money.

I know that a lot of schools send a number of acceptance letters that is over the limit of the entering class size. Taking this into account, is it possible that you got accepted, signed the papers, and deposited the money to reserve your seat but just before the term starts or before you sent in the tuition, the school change their mind and reject you?

If it is true that you may still be rejected, is it safer to deposit to 2 or more schools that have accepted you? What number of acceptances should I aim for to guarantee that I will start pharmacy school? 1, 2, or more?

I have heard of a school over-enrolling to the extent that they actually have to deny students only once (and it was such a rare event that I remember no details of it except that the students were offered deferred enrollment - a guarantee for the next year). Most schools are pretty good at the enrollment game and if they end up with even up to 10 or 15 extra students they will accommodate them.

However, remember that having a deposit in does not guarantee your spot if you still have pre-requisites to finish. If you're accepted with outstanding pre-req's and you don't finish them by the required date (some schools it's as early as May, some as late as the first day of class) they will not allow you to start.

 

[cameljoe]

Thank you all for the replies, they are really helpful. I am awaiting for the official acceptance forms by hard copy and will look at their full policy on the matter, especially about finishing the pre-reqs in a timely and satisfied manner.

It's good to hear about the deferred enrollment Kismet and I will look into that for my schools as well.

 

[Hels2007]

The main reason students are denied matriculation after being accepted and paying deposit is when they fail one of the prerequisites and do not have it successfully passed before the start of pharmacy schools. Some schools make students wait a year, some may allow them to start pharmacy school while also retaking the pre-req during the fall semester (in select cases) and maybe there are also some who make the student reapply, though I don't think I have heard of that...