Saying yes is the start, not the finish. Between accepting and your first day is a maze of deposits, forms, and deadlines — and it’s where too many admitted students quietly disappear. Here’s the ordered checklist to actually get enrolled, in plain steps.
Can’t pay the enrollment or housing deposit? Ask for a waiver — colleges grant enrollment-deposit waivers for financial hardship all the time, and most students never know to ask. A few hundred dollars should never decide your future.
This is what officially holds your spot. Can’t afford it? You usually can get it waived — email the admissions or financial-aid office and ask for an enrollment-deposit waiver for financial hardship. Don’t let a deposit be the reason you don’t go.
Depositing at more than one school (“double depositing”) is against the rules and can cost you your spot. Politely decline the others so you’re committed to one — and free a seat for someone else.
Accept your aid in the portal, and if you’re borrowing, complete loan entrance counseling and the Master Promissory Note. If you were selected for verification, submit those documents now — unfinished aid can cancel your enrollment.
Ask your high school to send your final official transcript after graduation. Admission is usually conditional on it.
Apply for housing and pay (or ask to waive) the housing deposit — on-campus space fills fast. Living at home? Tell the school so they don’t hold a bed you won’t use.
Orientation is where you register for first-semester classes and meet an advisor. Pick the earliest session you can — the best class times go first.
Activate your school email and student portal and check them weekly — almost every “to-do” item and deadline will come through there.
Most colleges require an immunization record and health form before you can register or move in. Get them from your doctor early — it’s a common last-minute snag.
The danger zone is the quiet stretch from May to August. Admitted students — especially first-gen and low-income ones — slip through it every year because no one’s checking in. Don’t go quiet: put every deadline in your calendar, check your student portal weekly, and the moment something is confusing or unaffordable, email the office and ask. They want you there.
A general checklist — your school sets the exact deadlines and forms, so follow your acceptance letter and portal. The one rule: if anything is confusing or unaffordable, ask the office before the deadline, not after. Nothing here is stored.