EITM: Orange You Glad I Didn't Commit Yet 6/19/25

So I saw something and maybe this goes on more than more than I know that I haven't seen for for colleges and the school that they that they are using as the reference point is Syracuse.

Yuck.

So I have never I have never heard of this happening now, granted when when I went to school for my six weeks, this wasn't a big part.

And then but what is it going to be like in a room wi fi? No no no no no.

And then like like for both boys, like the older one like whether it was Arizona or Tennessee and the younger one with Miami of Ohio like never this never came up.

I'm gonna read. Okay.

By the time the usual May one college deposit deadline rolled around this year, David Berger's daughter had already made up her she would leave Alpharetta, Georgia and become a Penn State Nitney Lyon. So clearly she was going to Penn State, but Syracuse University, which had also accepted her, wasn't done with her yet. After having initially offering offering her zero merit aid, it's staff began poaching her. So again May one, there's there's usually a deposit that you have to put down right.

And you don't. You don't have to.

But some schools will tell you like this, this we saw with Arizona is if you pay your deposit, you get first choice on doors. Yeah, securing housing and stuff like that, which is a huge issue at a lot of schools. I get it, but you don't have to do that. But anyway, so, but a lot of people will put down a deposit.

Where was I? Here we go.

Syracuse, which had also accepted her, wasn't dumb with her yet they'd offer her zero maritate here we go. On May second, So a day after the deposit day, a twenty thousand dollars per year offer arrived to the family.

What there, I'm not done.

Then came a ten thousand dollars per year discount two days later. Several weeks went by before Syracuse dangled an additional twenty thousand dollars per year, so total of fifty.

I'm at fifty right now.

The last email said spaces will be filled on a first come, first serve basis. The Burgers were one of many families that received similar offers and left parents scratching their head. Now, Burger said, it's almost like they became a used car salesman. Their daughter is sticking with Penn State. Have you ever heard of that? No where after the deadline date. And keep in mind, it's not a deadline in terms of saying no, it's just a deposit deadline.

Are we deferred for a year?

Is it one of those like some schools will do like like I know for Tennessee, getting into Knoxville is a problem, but they'll do like ut Gatlin Bird for a semester or a year and then you could transfer in. Some schools will do do our study abroad program for a semester because we know some kids are gonna leave it.

Then you can come back in. I get all of that.

So not everybody makes that deposit on the first and Syracuse may not have even known that the Burger family had already made a deposit at Penn State.

Has anybody ever heard of this before?

I'm not surprised but I am surprised because I've never heard of this, but the fact that they have to beg students to come, Okay, that's not surprising. Fifty thousand dollars a year, so you're talking about and that was for all four.

You said, yeah, so it turned they just they just offered them two hundred thousand dollars for their kid to go to school at Syracuse.

Now listen, listen, I know it's not cheap, so you're still on the hook for probably thirty thousand dollars a year they said.

Out of state for Syracuse it's like sixty three grand, but with.

Like room and board, it's eighty thousand to ten Syracuse, so you're still you're still paying. And where they're from Georgia though, so they're not paying in state to Penn State. Man, this is crazy.

Two hundred grand to go to.

Prior to that March first that May first deadline zero, no money offered.

And the Burghers weren't the only ones. Remember it was first come, first serve. Now I know you said that, but did they say how many?

No, but they were able to find several families that responded and said, oh yeah, we got that too.

Has anyone offered more that I don't know.

I didn't see I didn't see financials from others just the I don't know if it was the same. Actually that's not true. Here we go. Oh no, this one's also fifty.

Which again is a ton. That's a good chunk.

Yeah it keep in mind that that's fifty a year.

That's two hundred thousand dollars. Christian, will you do me a favor.

Will you see if you've heard of anybody getting not just from Syracuse. I was talking too well, one thing at a time. You see, if you can find me somebody who's either a heard of this, I've never heard of this before. B has ever gotten an offer like that before. It may not be Syracuse may not be the only school doing it. Eight six six to Elliott eight six six two three five five four six eight.

And it's funny.

Jackie had friend with a at lunch with a friend or hers yesterday, who's whose son just graduated from high school? And so I said to Jackie, where is where is where's the young man going to young man? Where's her kid going to college? It's this exact same scenario.

He's getting money too. No thrown at.

Him going to Penn State, but had also applied to Syracuse.

That's funny. I want to tell Jackie, call your friend, get in on something I don't know. Then, I don't know that the parent care. They show me the money. Please.

I know you can argue over financial aid, but for merit aid. And again, these were unsolicited offers kept coming.

I didn't go through the registrar's office and tried to and tried to ask for help.

But can you fight for merit aid? If you're offered some, can you ask for more? Yes? And I'll tell you how I know the answer to that. So my.

I have a buddy's who's old, who has a kid the same age as my older one. Right, And he ended up going to what's the one in Philly, Saint Jose. He ended up going to Saint Jose but had also been accepted to another school, and he Saint Joe's was number one, and I can't remember what number two was, right, Number two offered him more aid. He went back to Saint Jose and said, they offered me more money, give me and it was merit Base.

It was merit Base, yeah, absolutely, and they gave it to They say, oh, they masked it. They gave it to him.

Wow, and he was like, sweet, see you're in the fall and he went and he loves it. But he was like, why my number one isn't giving me what I want? And yes, it was Merit Base and they gave him them. They gave him the money. I was like, good for him, great kid.

Yeah, that's awesome. God, damn, it's expensive. Oh please please? Ugh do you read this sorry falling into darkness? Yeah? Do you read this story with a sense of envy? Yes? Oh God, yes, God yes.

And then the only the only other part that I don't that I don't know, and maybe maybe somebody will know this if you if you give a school, because they do talk about it in there, if you give a school a deposit. So like, let's say, let's say he would have taken the so they paid their deposit for Penn State. I'll just use the Alfred Atlanta family. They gave the deposit for Penn State, and I don't

Oh, it meaning that to get refunding. Yeah, the agreement to enroll is not legally binding.

No, but like a lot of times it does, like and I can't remember which ones which, like if like there's early decision in early action and I don't know which one is which.

Yes, decision is supposedly binding. It is not right, but it does. It does flag your record. I do know that.

Early action is the one touted as you still have options of viable.

So early decision is the one that is quote binding.

But it does, it does tag your record.

I know people that blew that off like crazy, and I was scared by it. It did when when you're doing the college tours and they talk about that, You're like, oh my god, okay, well you really got to want to go here. And then when I got to college and people are like, yeah, I got accepted early decision to X, Y and Z.

Can just bailed on it, right you know where you know where? So your record does get flagged? Number one?

What does that mean? Number two? I know that I like yours. There's no record that all these schools are seeing. No.

No, but I know I know a kid who did that, and it ended up on some record of his and when he applied to law school, the first thing they said to him is, you know what. When he was applying to go to law school and ended up talking to the law school, they made a big deal about how you blew off a.

Decision that you had made that you were going to You had told the school you were going there. Oh, there's that flag.

But do you an institution, if if desired, can inform other institutions about your decision.

Now, I'll tell you who does that? Other students to screw with people? Yeah, really, Students will go on Instagram and find like, for example, this this goes on buddy Mine's daughter.

This will make Tyler happy because it was at Syracuse.

Buddy of Mine's daughter went to Syracuse above such of her friends. She didn't do it, but a bunch of her friends and they had like another friend that didn't get in a bunch of her friends like went through Instagram and found people that were accepted and were like, this is what you're accepting. They would send it to the registrar and go like, you accepted this girl she's underage drinking? Oh my god, Yeah, no, this crap goes on all the time. It's ridiculous.

This is like when I tried to see Taylor Swift in Canada. By telling all this DUI cases, they couldn't get over the border. Maybe too, I mean, I didn't go to school when there was social media, so this that didn't go on anyway?

Is it?

So if you if you pay the deposit, a is it hard to get that deposit back? Because I'll tell you the other thing. If I were the if I were the Atlanta family, I would go to Syracuse and go listen. I'm happy to take your aid. But I did pay a deposit at Penn State.

So no, you want more, absolutely ref me.

Penn State's not going to give me my money back. You pay me my money back. So I want two hundred and I don't know what's the deposit ten grand, five grand, I don't know what it is.

I want. I want my.

Deposit paid back by you.

He said you could argue for more merit aid. Of course, maybe you would have to phrase it differently and argue that it's just more for the student's performance in high school.

No, I would. I would be honest to go.

We paid the deposit, but we want to take you up on this, but I want my Penn.

State's not going to get me the money back. I'm already in the hole. So you just need the university to code it as more meriti. You code it whatever you want. Carlos, that's our financial guy here. I'm sorry.

Have you had a fight with him or you've had to drop that on it on poor Carlos Line's It sounded like he was defending and you refuted.

Hi Elliott the morning. Hey, who's this?

This is Laurie from Richmond.

Hey, Laurie, Yes, what can I do for you?

So about five or six years ago, my daughter had applied to a couple of schools and got accepted, and we made a decision to go to Mary Washington based on some aid given. Other schools had done the same, and VCU came in after the fact and gave her a full ride scholarship academic. So you know, we jumped on that and canceled our other reservation and we got our money back.

Wait, so Mary Washington gave you your deposit back?

Yes, I gave you was in within a couple of days. Like this, It happened within a couple of days. But vc had only offered her a small amount, so we went, you know, we're following the money because she's going to med school, right, And they end up coming back to us a couple of days later. What a full ride academic?

Where where was that? Wow?

Before we made our.

Decision, don't ask stupid questions?

Take that full ride? Yeah, I would drive by Mary Washington slipping them off there. Did you try to go back to Washington and give them a.

We absolutely did.

Yep, we did, and we went back to Mary Washington and told them, and they came back, but they.

Couldn't beat it.

Oh yeah, and they told you put your d in the sand. All right, very good, very good? Oh my god, oh my god.

I'm ready to hear these Syracuse cases and the questions that do arise. This One parent said, Uh, since they didn't tell us why they made these offers, we couldn't help but feel they were desperate. Are they in trouble financially? Are they now going to over enroll and cause other problems? Do they generally just not have their act together?

And what was the answer? No, these were thoughts they had. Oh, oh I gotcha, I gotcha. It would it would?

I mean it be appealing obviously just based on the bottom line, you want kids in the school, but you you would also you would ask yourself similar query.

Yes if all of a sudden you're like out of nowhere.

Like the one thing that we did make both boys do is because they applied to several schools, if they got into a school that they weren't going to go to. Because a lot of kids just don't even respond. They're like, I got into my first choice or my second choice, third and fourth, and now because of that.

What is that stupid app that.

Where it's like click click, click click, and your crap gets sent to five hundred schools and they don't know that it costs money. God, kids are dumb, but they won't go back and tell school like if they if they take their second choice, but they also got into three and four, they don't decline three and four. We made the boys do that school somebody else schools are sitting there waiting and going I don't know if we're in or if we're not, and there's deferment and stuff like that.

I get it. So is this the common app? Common app? That's it? God damn, that's a money making machine. Do you feel like you thought of that before they were able to actually build the software.

No.

No, but I kicked myself in the ass ere i'd want to call it. I'm like, I'm gonna do Elliott Common or whatever. Those kids click on it like it's a video game. Well I'll just send it here. Why that's money?

What was the most ill advised application sent out by one of your kids.

I knew there was no even though even though at one point the younger one had said, I think it would be fun to go to school there, by the time it was college time, we knew he wasn't going to go to school. And that's why. And again, all you got to do is you just go through it and you click, oh, we'll send it here. We'll send it here. I lost my mind. We're not going to the University of Hawaii.

We'll see if I can get in. We're not going to the University of Hawaii. But he applied. Oh yeah, yeah, I hope. By the way, I hope it's a great vacation spot. They got fifty of my dollars. Oh my god, I lost my mind. Line eight.

I have buddies who's kids. They applied to fifty sixty schools.

Wow, I'm like, you're sixty yeah, but not like, oh well, this one like at least fifty bucks a pop, Diane.

It's not. There's no conversation. Scroll like it like it, like it like it, like it, like it like it, scroll like it like it like it like it like it, scroll like it, and it just goes. You don't have to send anything that money.

These friends children weren't the ones that end up on the news because they were accepted to all of them.

No, you don't get in any of these schools. No, I know they're kids, no offense, they're not getting into there.

Please Line eight. Hi Elliott the Morning.

Hy This is Emily from Herndon.

Ah.

Yes, what can I do for you?

Hi?

I'm playing. My situation was a little bit different because it was for grad school, but I actually had this happen to me with Nyu. I had visited a bunch of schools after I had been accepted, and I ended up deciding that I was going to go to Wake four. But I emailed everyone I had met with at other schools to let them know, like it was nice to meet them, but I've decided to accept another offer. And NYU kept on badgering me, probably two or three times.

Why was it off putting?

Though? Like I understand the frustration part of it, right, like I understand the well why didn't you offer this to me originally?

But why is it off putting?

I think because I had to tell them no several times, So it felt like I was being harassed a little bit, Like I don't know if they thought I was trying to to negotiate, but I really wasn't because wake Forest just off that that had offered me a really great scholarship. The cost of living was better, I was looking forward to the weather in North Carolina, and I liked the program better just overall.

So there was no amount of money there was no amount of money and why you could throw at you where you would have taken it.

No, if they if they had offered me a full ride, I would.

Have gone there.

It was just that because that they offered me was only to try to match what Wake four was offering me intuition, but wasn't going.

To like do anything.

Understand, I understand, I mean I get it, I get it, and it would be it would be weird.

Thank you, ma'am. Thank you for the arts because that's one of your favorite names.

The oh tish. Yeah, the I do get where it would be like, well why now, like why what did I do? But at the same time, think about going through life. There's gonna be something where they'll come back and go okay, okay, okay, okay, we'll give you an extra little whatever, or we'll take more off. Whether you're getting more or spending less, it's the same thing. Don't look a gift horse in the mouth, don't ask why, ask how much?

And how much more?

Yeah?

Yeah, well you could see that with like salaries for jobs. Yes, well I'm looking at uh, I'm looking at this job over here. Well, mister Siegel, how about it. By the way, I jump at a dollar, dollar more jumping a dollar even if it's a tish dollar. Damn it, they got me again. Hi Elliott in the morning.

Hey Elliott's Kristin from Alexandria.

How are you.

I'm doing great? Thank you? What can I do for you?

Well, my kid is about to be a senior at Syracuse. And let me tell you, the outrage on the Syracuse parent Facebook community is palpable. We started hearing rumors that this was happening, you know, towards the end of the spring, like the end of the admission cycle, that Syracuse was throwing money at other kids. But until this article came out, like everyone just assumed it was anecdotal and sour grapes.

Jesus, it is really.

Exceptive and it's seven hours from out from Alexandria, so you know there's transportation, there's don't factor that.

In, ma'am.

You chose that, I think about how far Hawaii is.

Right, that's true. When she chose it because it's her, it's the program that she's always wanted, like that's she had her sits on that she went for it and she and she did it. But the folks who are already there, like us, you know, who got nothing from Syracuse three years ago, are just so yeah, exactly Dane that that they would be throwing fifty grand a year to kids who, as the article said, this isn't financial data, don't necessarily need it. You know that one kid the

So anyway, it's so you're saying, and when you say yield, like just for just to use round numbers, right, they accepted one hundred kids thinking whatever, they know math, they know what these cycles are.

If we accept one hundred, seventy are going to come. I'm making that up.

But they would use historical data to know that, and so this year they got like thirty to come, and they're like, oh, throw money at them.

We got to get people in here exactly.

Yeah, they have all, like you said, all that historical data. They've got people. This is their job figuring out how many people are going to come and between the economy and you know, I assume this matters. Tyler would say, this matters. The Syracuse sports haven't necessarily been burning it up in recent years. I mean, there's just a lot of factors that go into it. But they didn't enroll as many kids as they had counted on enrolling, and

To do that.

Most of the international kids pay full fair and sometimes they even pay a little bit extra, and so you great, right, but without that, you know, each class maybe has you know, ten percent or international students. If those ten percent are suddenly unexpectedly maybe not coming, that makes that sense probably a panic down the spine of every admissions officer at every school, so I love it.

I love that the parents are hot, though. I mean, I paid this craft for three years and I get nothing.

Yeah, you can't even imagine.

Yeah, it was my mind.

Here is my mind. Are like ken, We're kind of call the admissions office today and demand extra money.

But then, like in the same article again, it wasn't like the first one was Penn State. They were talking to somebody else who's kid excepted to go to Pittsburgh University of Pittsburgh.

Same thing.

Letters started showing up. Come to Syracuse, Come to Syracuse. We'll give you half off. My kids going into his last year at Tennessee. If Syracuse sends me a letter today, I will pull him out and graduate.

His final year there. They're both orange. All right, very good, Thank you man,