acceptance deposits

[green plastic]

Do all DO schools require huge NONREFUNDABLE deposits once they accept a student? I am concerned because what if I get accepted to another school later in the sping and want a deposit from the osteopathic school......will that be possible?

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[SuzyQ]

Not all schools require a HUGE deposit fee. Michigan State's deposit is only $50( I think that's what I paid!) LECOM's is $1500, Des Moine is $500, and UHS is $1000. I'm pretty sure these are the correct amounts..but somebody please correct me if I'm wrong!

 

[SuzyQ]

Oh and yeah, I think all of them are nonrefundable unfortunately.

 

[green plastic]

Were you able to get your LECOM deposit back?

 

[bobo]

The whole DO huge acceptance deposit is a huge racket, no doubt about it. LECOM was the first school that I got into (very early). I thought it wise to send in the deposit because I had no idea how many other schools, if any that I would get into. So I sent the check in, and lo and behold, an acceptance came from KCOm shortly therafter. So I calles lecom and asked them if they were going to cash the check or not. The lady on the line was very iffy about it. So I told her I was putting a stop payment on the check - boy did she get her panties in awad after that! What did I care. Good riddance. DO tuition and fees are a racket anyway (PCOM's $500 "graduation fund" aka slush fund. For 250 students that 125 grand! Holy graduation fund batman! Kurt Cobain and Nirvana better be there!). So it ended up I never had to send in an acceptance fund until I got accepted by PCOM. Acceptances trickled in just a bit faster than the deposit deradlines.

bobo

 

[SuzyQ]

Originally posted by green plastic
Were you able to get your LECOM deposit back?

No

 

[tkim]

Yeah, it's just another thing that DO-bashers sometimes point out - that the DO schools usually require relatively large, non-refundable deposits early in the season.

Part of the game.

- Tae

 

[maysqrd]

If you are worried about how to pay for the deposits, think of some strategies to help. First, try to schedule your interviews so that the schools with the longest turn around time are first in your interviews and schools with a quick turn around time come last. Or the schools with the most time to pay deposits are first in your interviews and the schools with the shortest payment times are last. This will help so that you will get decisions and deposit due dates to coincide at the same time and hopefully you will only need to pay one deposit. Also, set aside a known amount that you do not expect to get back. Figure out how much you are willing to spend to get accepted. In the end, a few thousand dollars lost will not bother you in the least if you get to reach your ultimate goal.. being a physician.

Goodluck.

 

[Chronotropic]

How long is the payment window on these things? Are we talking two weeks or a month? Can one pay in parts or does it have to be one lump sum?

 

[bobo]

tkim6599

If you were referring to me - I am a DO student with a grip on reality, not a DO basher. $1500 out of pocket nonrefundable is ridiculous for anything. When you get to school and start paying bills and getting loans and tuition keeps going up and you are socked with meaningless fees you will understand. Especially when you receive such poor support and advising 4th year (at least at PCOM).

 

[SM-UCLA tech]

Unfortunately several of the schools have quite large deposits.

For CCOM I think my deposits were as follows:

$250 due upon acceptance
$750 by approximately mid-March
$1000 by approximately mid-May


I don't think this is such a bad idea. It allows you to hold your seat until March with only $250. By May, most people should have a good idea of where they want to go.