Can You Double Deposit?

Double depositing occurs when a student submits enrollment deposits (such as a Statement of Intent to Register, or SIR) to two or more different universities simultaneously to buy extra time past the May 1st deadline.

This practice directly violates the legal and ethical affirmations agreed to upon submitting the Common Application, Coalition Application, and university-specific portals. By checking that box, you formally committed to enrolling at a single institution upon acceptance.

Think of college admissions like standing in two supermarket checkout lines simultaneously. By holding two deposits, you prevent at least one university from accurately counting open seats in its incoming freshman class.

More importantly, your second deposit directly blocks a deserving student stranded on that college's waitlist from receiving a coveted admission offer. It creates artificial bottlenecks that disrupt university planning and cause unnecessary anxiety for families waiting for closure.

On May 1st, colleges calculate their incoming class size based on actual deposits received. Shortly thereafter, admissions offices begin pulling qualified candidates from their waitlists to fill remaining vacancies.

When families double deposit, they distort institutional data. Someone who deposited at Berkeley might get off the waitlist at Vanderbilt, creating an unexpected opening at Berkeley—but until those dominoes fall naturally through honest reporting, dishonesty jams the entire pipeline.

Colleges communicate and share enrollment data through regional associations and clearinghouses. While rare, if a university discovers that a student has deposited elsewhere, they possess the right to cancel the admission offer entirely.

Furthermore, high school counseling offices work hard to maintain professional integrity with university admissions partners; participating in double depositing can strain those institutional relationships and reflect poorly on your school community.

If you are waitlisted at your top-choice institution (such as UC Berkeley or Vanderbilt) but facing a May 1st deposit deadline elsewhere, you must commit to an institution where you have already been admitted.

You cannot rely on waitlist miracles by holding two deposits. If a waitlist opening eventually clears in late May or June, you can cleanly withdraw from your initial deposit, forfeit the fee, and transition to your dream school without violating ethical agreements.