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No. The entire point of a non-refundable application fee is to show that the student is serious about their application by making them put some skin in the game.
It prevents students from wildly applying to many more schools than they have genuine interest in, and it also prevents underqualified students from applying, or at least makes them think twice.
Besides, whether you are accepted or rejected, it still cost time and money for an admissions officer or committee to process and consider your application. Actual human beings look at those, and it takes considerable time and university resources.
If the fee was refundable, then Admissions Offices would be overwhelmed with many more applications, by much less qualified or interested students, and would have less money to pay for staff to handle the applications.
Personally, I think they should...I work at a for-profit (that's for you counselor123) company and we do refund their money if not accepted. Some states are requiring refunds of appliation fees.
I don't get why so many people think that just because they don't like the outcome, that no one put any time in to produce it. If you don't like your doctor's advice, does that mean that he didn't spend time seeing you? Or time performing tests and evaluating the results? Do you no longer have to pay for your appointment and the tests?
It's no different with school applications. Just because you didn't get the result you wanted, doesn't mean the school administrators didn't spend time reviewing your application. They aren't volunteers, you know. They have to be paid for that time. You think the other applicants who were accepted should pay for the time it took to review both their applicant and yours? Why? If anything, theirs should be waived because they didn't waste the school's time. They actually submitted a worthwhile application.
On the one hand, it does take time and energy to evaluate an applicant. On the other, I think it's unethical when colleges encourage as many kids as possible to apply, despite knowing very well that only a small percentage will be accepted. There's a prestige factor that comes with having far more applicants than spots available.
I don't think a return of fee would result in a rise in applications. College applications still take an enormous amount of time to complete, and for many students the fee is the least of their concerns.
I don't see how anyone could successfully defend answering yes to this poll.
I'm inclined to start a sister poll: Should colleges refund tuition if they don't pass you based your coursework?
Indeed!
I was thinking "what a wierd question" when I saw the title but then I clicked the link and started reading....I can tell which people probably didn't get into college!
Anyone who voted yes to this question is an idiot. Mods can remove this post, but that is the truth
If colleges are required to refund application fees for rejected students, every 18 year old kid in the world would apply to Harvard, Yale, Princeton, etc.
..And I will add - what a waste of time all of the fee and refund processing would be.
If a college was dumb enough to do this, it should just save administrative costs by making the application free, and adding the fee onto tuition
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