Asking for reconsideration after deposit deadline? (complicated scenario)

[pete.]

ok, so here's my predicament: i was offered admission at state school A and private school B and i am waiting to hear from state school C. all are comparably ranked and in places i would want to live although i would marginally prefer the location of B over A. i am out of state at state school A but at the time of acceptance, it was possible to get in-state status after 1L year. easy decision. since then however, school A's state government has passed a law making it harder to get in-state tuition (yeah nice timing). this makes things a little more difficult, but school A's tuition (even out of state) was still significantly cheaper than private school B. so i mail my deposit, no big deal.

TODAY, i find out school A perhaps wants to increase tuition by $4,000 in order to fund expansion. this is an estimate of the "average" cost per student and my fear is that out of state students will be forced to shoulder much of the burden and it will be more than $4,000 for me. so now, all of a sudden, maybe not much difference in cost between the two schools, but school B's deposit deadline has already passed. i want to contact school B and see if i can still get a spot, but further complicating this, i'm still waiting to hear from state school C, which i would attend over either of the other two.

what should i do???

[Maddie]

ok, so here's my predicament: i was offered admission at state school A and private school B and i am waiting to hear from state school C. all are comparably ranked and in places i would want to live although i would marginally prefer the location of B over A. i am out of state at state school A but at the time of acceptance, it was possible to get in-state status after 1L year. easy decision. since then however, school A's state government has passed a law making it harder to get in-state tuition (yeah nice timing). this makes things a little more difficult, but school A's tuition (even out of state) was still significantly cheaper than private school B. so i mail my deposit, no big deal.

TODAY, i find out school A perhaps wants to increase tuition by $4,000 in order to fund expansion. this is an estimate of the "average" cost per student and my fear is that out of state students will be forced to shoulder much of the burden and it will be more than $4,000 for me. so now, all of a sudden, maybe not much difference in cost between the two schools, but school B's deposit deadline has already passed. i want to contact school B and see if i can still get a spot, but further complicating this, i'm still waiting to hear from state school C, which i would attend over either of the other two.

what should i do???

Your dilemma reminds me of an LSAT question!   

My rule to live by is that it never hurts to ask.  The worst they can say is no and you are in the same position you would have been otherwise.

[pete.]

yeah, that's what i'm worried about. i can't commit absolutely to attending B until i hear from C. perhaps i could simply say that i would immediately mail my deposit which is true and would leave me some wiggle room.

on the other hand i could wait for C (before contacting B), but i feel like with each passing day the likelihood of them reconsidering decreases...

[pete.]

So if A and B end up costing ~same, B would be your preference over A and C pwns both A and B?

C>B>A?

correct

[Bulldog86]

It certainly doesn't hurt to ask at B, but they might ask proof that you've withdrawn everywhere else (although I assume they'd probably only know about A, since you'll tell them that, but it's rarely a good idea to try to trick a law school...).

What are your (honest) chances to get into C? If you can't objectively say they're pretty damn good, then you probably need to do whatever B asks you to do. Unless you're comfortable going to A for three years, which it seems you're not.

Oh, also, if it's just financial at A, you might ask if they could grant an out-of-state tuition waiver. Some schools/states have those and use them as a type of scholarship. It's worth a shot, especially if you're willing to say, "I can only attend your school if I can get in-state."

[littlebit]

A lot of schools deposit deadlines are soft.  Call and ask if you can still send in a deposit.  If so, withdraw from the other school and you should be good to go.