Advice on two acceptances

[malisa]

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So I've paid my deposit to one school and I just found out today that a school I like a lot better took me off the waitlist. The school I paid the deposit to has not cashed my check yet. My dad says just to call the bank and stop the check. Now I'm thinking this is probably not a good idea. Has anyone heard of this being done? Any advice?

 

[Jpc984]

So I've paid my deposit to one school and I just found out today that a school I like a lot better took me off the waitlist. The school I paid the deposit to has not cashed my check yet. My dad says just to call the bank and stop the check. Now I'm thinking this is probably not a good idea. Has anyone heard of this being done? Any advice?

There will be a fine on the stopped check... I don't know how that works. I would call the school you payed the deposit to FIRST thing tomorrow and see if you can cancel it.

 

[gasapple]

Stop the check - typical fee is $20. Otherwise, you can kiss the dough good-bye. Once you call the school, they'll make sure it gets deposited promptly. Listen to your pops.

 

[malisa]

Besides the fee that bank charges is there any other problem with canceling the check on a nonrefundable deposit? I like to worry and some made up thing in my mind that I'll get in trouble etc etc.

 

[Jpc984]

Besides the fee that bank charges is there any other problem with canceling the check on a nonrefundable deposit? I like to worry and some made up thing in my mind that I'll get in trouble etc etc.

I think you should call the school... I wouldn't want to get a phone call that says you still have to pay the deposit even though you canceled the check.

 

[scpod]

Yes, you signed a contract and will be breaking it, so you could be sued for the money... but it's doubtful that the school would go that far...unless they want to make your life miserable.

 

[gasapple]

I don't see how'd you'd get in trouble. It's not a hot check and you've decided you no longer want those funds allocated. It's still your money until the cash moves between banks. I wouldn't worry about the contractual obligation - it's void without the deposit.

So, if DCOM is a better fit for you more so than the other school where you were accepted, I say go for it.

Those deposits put the schools at an advantage and you're simply changing your mind - now worries since it hasn't been deposited. They won't pursue anything. If they do, pay the legal retainer of $250 and watch your lawyer shred that "contract" and send them scurrying.

If it makes you feel better, cancel the check and then call the school as a courtesy in order to CYA.

 

[Jpc984]

I don't see how'd you'd get in trouble. It's not a hot check and you've decided you no longer want those funds allocated. It's still your money until the cash moves between banks. I wouldn't worry about the contractual obligation - it's void without the deposit.

So, if DCOM is a better fit for you more so than the other school where you were accepted, I say go for it.

Those deposits put the schools at an advantage and you're simply changing your mind - now worries since it hasn't been deposited. They won't pursue anything. If they do, pay the legal retainer of $250 and watch your lawyer shred that "contract" and send them scurrying.

If it makes you feel better, cancel the check and then call the school as a courtesy in order to CYA.

But, you do sign an acceptance for the seat (or whatever) form when you send in the check. I think signing that sheet makes it a contract. I don't think gasapple or I are the best sources for this. I would call the school to make sure.

 

[scpod]

I don't see how'd you'd get in trouble. It's not a hot check and you've decided you no longer want those funds allocated.....

Under Florida law 832.041, a stop payment can be a criminal offense. If over $150 it is a third-degree felony. If under $150 is a second-degree misdemeanor. Before you take anyone's advice on SDN, you need to call the school and find out if they are going to pursue you for the money or contact an attorney.

 

[GQMO16]

So I've paid my deposit to one school and I just found out today that a school I like a lot better took me off the waitlist. The school I paid the deposit to has not cashed my check yet. My dad says just to call the bank and stop the check. Now I'm thinking this is probably not a good idea. Has anyone heard of this being done? Any advice?

just wondering cuz ive been waitlisted at a few schools already, but wat school took u off their waistlit today???

 

[malisa]

just wondering cuz ive been waitlisted at a few schools already, but wat school took u off their waistlit today???

DCOM

 

[gasapple]

I've got some experience with contracts and legal obligation. This would never be pursued by the school but I'd have to see the verbiage in the contract. I, for one, wouldn't have a problem stopping funds and notifying the school.

SCPOD definitely has a point with regard to law but you are not paying for previous goods or service and there are a number of additional factors with regard to due dates, etc. that must also be considered. You are not paying for a seat but rather, a reservation. You are simply canceling a reservation.

Talk to your pops - if you cancel it, just be prepared to pay the $250 to retain an attorney in the rare case it'd be necessary.

 

[gasapple]

Which school are you intending to cancel reservation if I might ask?

 

[gasapple]

Also, if your conscious is going to chew you with worry if you cancel the payment, just call them and hope they take the high road. Personally, I'd take control based on the circumstances but that's just me.

 

[MD2bJRP]

I am not sure how it works at all banks, but last time I tried to stop a payment (many years ago for a lost check), the bank told me they would "try" to stop it---that it wouldn't necessarily be effective. I am not sure if this is still true (or more true) with all the additional automation. I would just call the school, and tell them the truth...and hope for the best, but I am no lawyer.

 

[bobo]

STOP the check at all costs. I did it years ago when I was in a similar pickle. LECOM probably wasn't very happy but I really didn't care since I thought the whole big deposit was a scam aanyway. I seriously doubt there are any legal repurcussions.

 

[aliDO]

STOP THE CHECK!!! Then call. They WILL NOT sue you or take further legal action. They just won't care that much. Also, it will cost them more money and time to do so. Congrats on everything else!

 

[Pheobe]

Stop the check - typical fee is $20. Otherwise, you can kiss the dough good-bye. Once you call the school, they'll make sure it gets deposited promptly. Listen to your pops.

I agree. Cancel the check as long as your other acceptance is in the bag. Get that one paid prompt!

 

[Pheobe]

I've got some experience with contracts and legal obligation. This would never be pursued by the school but I'd have to see the verbiage in the contract. I, for one, wouldn't have a problem stopping funds and notifying the school.

SCPOD definitely has a point with regard to law but you are not paying for previous goods or service and there are a number of additional factors with regard to due dates, etc. that must also be considered. You are not paying for a seat but rather, a reservation. You are simply canceling a reservation.

Talk to your pops - if you cancel it, just be prepared to pay the $250 to retain an attorney in the rare case it'd be necessary.

Needing an attorney is ridiculous - that will never happen.

 

[Beau Geste]

DO NOT stop the check. You wrote it and the school accepted it in good faith that the funds would be available. I've seen enough People's Court to know how this would turn out

A check is a contract and the school fulfilled their obligations. You will get no sympathy from a court.

EDIT: JUST KIDDING! For people who don't get that.

If you do decide to stop the check, have the decency to notify the school.

 

[lacesoutdan]

DO NOT stop the check. You wrote it and the school accepted it in good faith that the funds would be available.

Throwing away $1000 (or whatever you deposit is) because you think you have a moral obligation to the school is stupid. Huge, non-refundable deposits are a racquet.

A check is a contract and the school fulfilled their obligations.

The only thing the school did was force you to pay a non-refundable deposit so they could rip you off for $1000.

 

[Beau Geste]

Throwing away $1000 (or whatever you deposit is) because you think you have a moral obligation to the school is stupid. Huge, non-refundable deposits are a racquet.



The only thing the school did was force you to pay a non-refundable deposit so they could rip you off for $1000.

Wow, 100 posts and calling names already.

You must have missed the smiley and mention of the People's Court that was to let the readers know I wasn't being very serious.

Go away, pest.

 

[lacesoutdan]

You must have missed the smiley and mention of the People's Court that was to let the readers know I wasn't being very serious.

Sure you were.

 

[Beau Geste]

Sure you were.

🙄

 

[MDpride]

transfer the acceptance to someone who needs it and collect that amount from that someone.

 

[LauraDO]

transfer the acceptance to someone who needs it and collect that amount from that someone.

Oh that is a good idea! I like how you think, maybe we can start a bidding war?

 

[gasapple]

Needing an attorney is ridiculous - that will never happen.

Which I already stated. Read carefully, friend.

 

[Amy B]

SDN gets posts like this every year. It is not good form to stop payment on your check. I realize that $1000 is a lot to lose, but in the long run in your medical career it is merely a drop in the bucket. I would call the school and ask if they would allow you to keep your money, but I wouldnt hold your breath on getting to keep it. It is illegal to cancel a check simply because you change your mind.

I do know of someone that canceled their check and it got back to their other acceptance and it was withdrawn from her and she ended up not going anywhere that year.

This can be a good point for others to keep in mind when applying.....Just keep this in mind before you write out a check. Make very sure that is where you want to go or realize you may loss that money.

Good luck

 

[bobo]

SDN gets posts like this every year. It is not good form to stop payment on your check. I realize that $1000 is a lot to lose, but in the long run in your medical career it is merely a drop in the bucket. I would call the school and ask if they would allow you to keep your money, but I wouldnt hold your breath on getting to keep it. It is illegal to cancel a check simply because you change your mind.

I do know of someone that canceled their check and it got back to their other acceptance and it was withdrawn from her and she ended up not going anywhere that year.

This can be a good point for others to keep in mind when applying.....Just keep this in mind before you write out a check. Make very sure that is where you want to go or realize you may loss that money.

Good luck

Rubbish. Stop payment.

 

[PatriotsForever]

First of all, if stop payment was illegal bank would not offer this offer. Secondly, schools are trying to dig into your pocket as deep as possible during the whole application process and can be considered voluntary burglary. Dont even bother calling the school except to say you withdrew... you owe them absolutely nothing and have paid every step of the way to put yourself in the position are in. Personally, I would stop payment without hesitation and would not expect a school to refund me the money otherwise. For these people to say they are going to take legal action is absolutely ridiculous because there is no basis. The school has not provided you anything except an invite to attend medical school. Save your bones, soon you'll be forking that money and a whole lot more to your school of choice! $1000 means a whole lot to me so I am not going to waste it on some deposit to a school I will not be attending!

 

[scpod]

First of all, if stop payment was illegal bank would not offer this offer....

Stopping of the check in and of itself is not illegal. There are valid reasons to do so, mostly commonly when one is lost. For instance, if you endorse your paycheck on the way to the bank (with just your signature) and lose it, anyone at all can pick it up and get the money. You can get your employer to stop payment and issue another. Otherwise, you are out that money. Or....maybe you send a check to the wrong address ,or it's the wrong amount, or written to the wrong person and you need to write another one. That's a great reason for stopping a check. However, just because you changed your mind is not a good reason. The bank doesn't care what the reason is. They collect money from you for doing it and they are more than happy to make an extra thirty bucks. The UUC code sectiion 4-403 gives you the right to stop payment. It's good for six months, but will lapse in 14 days if you don't put it in writing, and is renewable. However, you may still have an obligation to the person that check was supposed to go to.

When you sign a contract, you have to abide by it or you can be sued. If you sign a matriculation agreement that says we will hold a seat for you and you will lose your money if you don't show up-- that's a contract, legal and binding. Note that most states will allow you to sue for an additional amount 3 times the value of the check as damages for a stopped check.
[/QUOTE]

 

[Krisss17]

Also beware that even though it may not have yet cleared through your bank sometimes it could take some time...For example, the school could have deposited your check Jan 2 or Jan 3, and if the check you wrote is out of state, it could take a week or more. I would call first thing on Monday to find out, explain the situation and maybe it will all workout.

I don't agree with the high fees of a DO school, but two wrongs do not equal a right.

 

[Amy B]

First of all, if stop payment was illegal bank would not offer this offer.

Illegal was not a good choice of words on my part. I should have said you can be sued for up to 3 times the amount of the canceled check since you have no reason other than you changed your mind.

Secondly, schools are trying to dig into your pocket as deep as possible during the whole application process and can be considered voluntary burglary. ....you owe them absolutely nothing and have paid every step of the way to put yourself in the position are in. Personally, I would stop payment without hesitation and would not expect a school to refund me the money otherwise. For these people to say they are going to take legal action is absolutely ridiculous because there is no basis. QUOTE]

The deposits goes 100% to your first year's tuition and is not just taken by the schools. The deposits are there to stop applicants from using their acceptances as a placeholder while they hope for bigger and better things. If they were lower, think of how many applicants would take the places that others could use as they wait for something better.

There is a legal basis fo the schools to follow if you stop payment on a check unless the amount or services are in dispute. That is a legal reason but not in this case and if the schools wanted to follow up, they could.

Are they high...yes.. Is it alot of money...you bet. So make sure before you plop down that much money, that you think long and hard about whether you want to go there or not. The choice is yours. And keep in mind, alot of schools deposit the money ASAP after receiving it to make sure people cant stop payment on the checks.

 

[Punchap]

My LECOM-B check was cashed either today or yesterday. To the OP -- hope you were able to make your decision in time.

Also, is it just me or do you think they deposited the checks shortly after reading this thread? I sense a presence on SDN. 🙂

 

[malisa]

My LECOM-B check was cashed either today or yesterday. To the OP -- hope you were able to make your decision in time.

Also, is it just me or do you think they deposited the checks shortly after reading this thread? I sense a presence on SDN. 🙂

Yeah I just noticed this. Makes the question useless now. Oh well I'm sure there is no chance of refund so thanks for the advice anyways.

 

[hollaATCHAdoc]

DO NOT cancel your check. It is tasteless and will backfire. You cut that check with the intention to reserve a seat at the school. They received the check with the intention to hold a seat for you. Just because a check takes longer to clear (compared to credit card, etc), doesn't mean you should take advantage of this situation. I earn less than $1000/two weeks and I've already lost a deposit. Sure, it's painful. I assure you that an act like that (canceling your check) will be considered classless by the admissions committee (the fact that you've even asked the question on SDN is enough evidence to display your discomfort/hesitation with the situation). If not for any other reason, do it because the DO community is small and it might come back around and nip you.

 

[gasapple]

Hip Hip Hooray for.... paranoia? Please.

You snooze you lose.

It's merely a reservation and not an indicator of your character. PatriotsForever stated it best above (see above).

 

[GreenShirt]

Call the ADCOM and ask them about the situation, they deal with these types of situations every year and are likely more reasonable than you think. They accept a couple of people for every seat in the class, so they are not going to lose sleep over the fact one person decided to go elsewhere. (If there are grounds for a law suit, it's not going to happen because the school would have to spend thousands of dollars on a lawyer, just to get back your $1000.)

 

[Tanner82]

DO NOT cancel your check. It is tasteless and will backfire. You cut that check with the intention to reserve a seat at the school. They received the check with the intention to hold a seat for you. Just because a check takes longer to clear (compared to credit card, etc), doesn't mean you should take advantage of this situation. I earn less than $1000/two weeks and I've already lost a deposit. Sure, it's painful. I assure you that an act like that (canceling your check) will be considered classless by the admissions committee (the fact that you've even asked the question on SDN is enough evidence to display your discomfort/hesitation with the situation). If not for any other reason, do it because the DO community is small and it might come back around and nip you.

wow. I'm glad to see that only a minority of my future classmates are this anal. Give me a break.

 

[DragonWell]

The deposits goes 100% to your first year's tuition and is not just taken by the schools. The deposits are there to stop applicants from using their acceptances as a placeholder while they hope for bigger and better things. If they were lower, think of how many applicants would take the places that others could use as they wait for something better.

👍 It's definitely no fun to cough up $1000+, but the deposit has nothing to do w/ shafting students. DO and MD schools tend to run on slightly different timelines, w/ MD acceptances generally occurring later than DO. If DO schools didn't charge these kind of deposits, they'd be in a bind every spring as some percentage of their class bailed for allopathic schools.

 

[Porco Rosso]

You are being admitted to a professional institution.

 

[TexasTriathlete]

I wish that one of these people paying multiple deposits would just pick a school and pay my deposit with the extra money. It would be a better cause.