With the advancement of time, many students have already got an offer, however, this offer may only come from your guaranteed school, and you don't want to miss your dream school but are afraid that you won't study, so you can only choose to pay the reservation fee in the tossing and turning.
Just last year's 23 fall, Hong Kong universities were widely controversial because of the 170,000 Hong Kong dollars retention fee!
I thought that this number would be the limit, but 24fall still gave us some big shocks! The same school, the same major, from 170,000 last year, rose by 20,000+, to 19HK$70,000!
As in previous years, it is specifically stated in the admission documents that the money must be paid in one go, and once paid, it will not be refunded; Pay or not, students can be given time to think about it, but only 2 weeks.
So, what exactly is a reservation fee? What about his set of rules?
About the reservation fee
A deposit fee is a "deposit" that the school collects in advance to ensure that students are enrolled. Payment within the specified time will be considered as acceptance of the offer; If you give up the payment or fail to pay within the specified time, you will be deemed to have given up the opportunity to be admitted to the school.
By charging a reservation fee, the enrollment rate of the school can be guaranteed to a certain extent, so as to reduce the probability of dissatisfaction due to students suddenly giving up their studies.
The reservation fee can be used as part of the tuition fee to offset the tuition fee, and only the remaining tuition fee needs to be paid before the official enrollment.
In other words, the reservation fee is to spend money to occupy the pit to ensure that you have books to read.
If it's 120,000, that's fine, but some schools have a reservation fee as high as 100,000 yuan. For many students, it is not only a bit financially stressful to have to take out nearly 100,000 yuan at once in a short period of time, but also a lot of psychological burden. If you record a better school, hundreds of thousands of dollars will be equivalent to a waste.
Is the reservation fee refundable?
Generally, there is no refund of the reservation fee. If a student is unable to enroll due to the following force majeure, he or she may apply for a refund of the placeholder fee:
If you are unable to enroll in school due to school reasons, or if you are unable to attend school normally due to illness or accident, you need to have a relevant medical certificate.
If a family member dies due to illness and the accident is unable to continue to pay for the applicant's school expenses, relevant medical certificates are required.
If the visa is refused, provide a letter of refusal and consider it according to the reason for the refusal, for example, if you are rejected because the funds are not ready, the refund is unlikely.
If you have received a conditional offer but have not completed the conditions stipulated by the school, you can return it, but you must have relevant supporting materials.
If you want to take a gap year, you need to communicate with the school in advance, and if the school accepts it, it may be refunded.
For the above cases, students need to provide corresponding proof, such as visa refusal, and provide various materials to convince the school that you "really want" to enroll, but the visa application cannot be successful.
Retention fees for institutions in Hong Kong, China
The tuition fee for the Industrial Engineering and Logistics Management (IELM) major of the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Hong Kong is 280,000 yuan for the whole year, and half of the tuition fee will be paid, which is 140,000 yuan!
Business schools will never be absent from the "expensive" aspect. HKU Master of Global Management is HK$130,000, HKU Finance is HK$150,000, and Hong Kong Chinese Fintech is HK$170,000.
It's just that engineering and business are so outrageous, but the retention fee for social science and liberal arts majors can always be better, right? Hong Kong Chinese Public Policy Major: 850,000, 820,000, and the common law (CL) is almost 80,000 yuan.
In any case, not all Hong Kong school majors have sky-high retention fees. On the whole, except for most of the business and a small part of the engineering, most of the professional reservation fees are 5-80,000 Hong Kong dollars.
However, not only is the reservation fee high, but the reservation fee period in Hong Kong is even more headache, generally between half a month and a month, you have to make a decision.
Accommodation fees at UK institutions
It is also rolled up to take off, but British universities are much more humane in terms of retention fees in comparison, not all schools and majors have reservation fees, and some majors can be selected directly in the system. The period for which the reservation fee is considered may be several months.
In the UK, the applicant will generally pay a deposit according to the requirements of the school after accepting the offer, which is generally around 1000-2000 pounds. (about RMB 9,000-18,000).
Imperial College London.
The reservation fee is 10% of the first year's tuition fee
For all master's students, they will receive an invoice by email within 5 working days of accepting the conditional offer, and the fee needs to be paid within 30 days of the invoice date.
University College London.
Reservation fee: 5,00-4,000 yuan, most majors are 2,000 yuan
For majors that require a deposit, the deadline for the deposit is usually within six weeks of the date of receipt of the offer letter.
University of Edinburgh.
Reservation fee: 1,500 for most majors
Payment is required within 28 days of receiving the offer.
University of Manchester.
For professions that require a deposit, it is generally 500-3,000
If the student receives a conditional offer and does not meet the requirements, and the visa is denied, the student can apply for a refund of the deposit.
King's College London.
Reservation fee: 2,000 for international students
For all master's students, the speed of offer is different for each major, and the DDL setting for the reservation fee for each course is also different.
University of Bristol.
Reservation fee: Normally 2,000
University of Warwick. Reservation fee: 1,500
For all master's students, the payment is required within 4 weeks.
University of Leeds. Reservation fee: 1,500
Once you have accepted the offer and received the deposit email, you need to pay it 4 weeks before the start of the course.
University of Glasgow.
Reservation fee: Some majors do not require a deposit, and those that do require a deposit generally need to pay 500-5,000, which varies according to the major, Durham University.
Reservation fee: 1,000- 2,000
Except for the 2,000 for all majors in the Business School, the retention fee for all majors is 1,000, and the expiration date is usually within 5 weeks after receiving the offer.
University of Southampton.
Reservation fee: 2,000
Accept the offer within 28 days of receiving the offer, and pay within 30 days after accepting the offer.
University of Birmingham.
Retention fee: 2,000 for business school
University of Nottingham.
Reservation fee: 2,000
University of Sheffield.
Reservation fee: 1,000
The reservation fee deadline is usually 4-5 weeks after the offer is issued.
Newcastle University.
Reservation fee: 1,000
U.S. Placement Fees
Most U.S. colleges and universities require a reservation fee, but not all. Most science and engineering and humanities and social sciences programs have a reservation fee of a few hundred dollars, while some popular schools and programs, such as business, such as Columbia University, have also seen a trend of rising fees, from a few hundred dollars to thousands of dollars.
The response time for an offer from a graduate student in the United States generally ranges from two weeks to a few months. Some of the more competitive institutions and programs will give a tight response time, requiring a decision to be made within two weeks or a month of the offer issue date, while schools or programs with more lenient time requirements will generally respond to the offer on or before April 15 of the year of admission.
How do I pay the reservation fee?
The reservation fee needs to be paid within a limited time, and the payment limit will be marked on the offer, most of which are within one month (28 days) after receiving the offer, and if it is overdue, it will be regarded as automatically giving up the offer.
If you only have one offer in hand for a period of time and the response date is approaching, it is best to accept it, regardless of its personal preference and difficulty of application, so as not to miss out on the admission of the year due to unexpected circumstances.
If the offer you have received is almost ready to be answered, but the project you like has been submitted for more than six weeks and there is no progress, you can consider using the existing offer to urge the latter.
If you feel that the response time is too tight after receiving an offer, you can kindly try to ask the school if it is possible to extend the response time, such as using a credit card for temporary inconvenience, the person is temporarily absent from the usual place of residence, etc., but whether the extension can be successful in the end is still at the sole discretion of the school.
If you receive a conditional offer, you will consider whether this admission condition is likely to be met, and then decide whether to pay the reservation fee. After all, if the school you want to go to in the end does not meet the requirements, and you receive an offer and miss it without paying the reservation fee.
If the offer you receive is only your own guaranteed school, you have a strong desire for your dream school, and you are afraid that you will drop out of school and the reservation fee will be lost, then you should evaluate the following points:
The probability of being accepted into a dream school.
The probability of going to a guaranteed school.
Is it possible to negotiate with the school for an extension of the reservation fee?
Which scares you more, school or money?
Whether you want to pay the reservation fee, you have to look at it comprehensively, and it is important to find your own position!