jnah

Thanks for the kind words. I'm happy I was able to offer you the opportunity to be unpleasant.

Thanks for the kind words. I'm happy I was able to offer you the opportunity to be unpleasant.

Thanks for the kind words. I'm happy I was able to offer you the opportunity to be unpleasant.

Yeah, you should be outraged!  You are right that it's "utterly ridiculous."  
 
What a relief you are so smart and cunning to detect such a fraudulent scam.  How dare a program ask for a deposit to save a seat for an applicant that is accepted.
 
Don't all schools know that everyone who is accepted into a program will automatically attend?  It's not as if applicants apply to multiple schools and many get more than one offer. 
 
Yes, you should definitely complain to the graduate school.  They need to be admonished and rebuked for their greediness and for this ridiculous and absurd request.  They probably won't rescind your offer of admission and instead will reimburse you and offer you free tuition.  Don't they know how lucky they are to have you attend their program? So yes, they should fully fund you and heck, compensate you for your initial application too!
 
Hurry before it's too late.  Complain and protest immediately!  

Thanks for the kind words. I'm happy I was able to offer you the opportunity to be unpleasant.

Thanks for the kind words. I'm happy I was able to offer you the opportunity to be unpleasant.

Thanks for the kind words. I'm happy I was able to offer you the opportunity to be unpleasant.

Thanks for the kind words. I'm happy I was able to offer you the opportunity to be unpleasant.

It looks like you're my Californian counterpart then, because I also applied to the MA in Social Psych and am not a Canadian. Who's your POI? (Feel free to PM me.) It would be a pretty astonishing coincidence if we shared that too!