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Thank you all for your answers. I am fully aware that my commitment is important and wish it would have been wonderful if I do not have to worry about the situation. I hope there should have been no place where I had to make my commitment so early. Apart from the question above, can I ask you one more question? If you were me, what would you have done and what will you do? I think I did everything I could, requesting for extending the deadline, asking for another school about my status. Should I have not accpeted the fellowship without knowing what will happen? OSU is the school I wish to attend if I did not admitted from A school and I honestly thought that I was rejected because they did not answer me a single word. Or should I choose OSU even though my dream school gave me an admission? I really do not know what choice should I have made, or should make, so I really want to hear about your decisions if you were me. Thank you very much.

I got admitted from OSU, a PhD program, and a department's assistant sent me this letter. I have new information for you. Although you did not win a fellowship in the competition, the department is authorized to request a one year university fellowship for one of our applicants. The graduate studies chair has chosen you to receive the fellowship. Congratulations! Following the expiration of the fellowship, the department will fund you for up to 3 years as a graduate teaching associate. We would like to submit your name for the university fellowship, but we must have a commitment from you to attend OSU. If we submit your name and you decide not to attend OSU, we lose the ability give the fellowship to someone else, so it is very important for us to receive this commitment from you first. They gave me the deadline of Feb 28, and since decisions from other schools had not come out, so I asked them for deferring the deadline. Then they sent this e-mail. I have spoken with Dr.XXX, chair of the graduate studies committee, about your request to extend the deadline. She understands your circumstances, but unfortunately, she cannot extend the deadline because the department is also under a deadline to submit a name for the fellowship. Since I hoped for getting admission from "A" school, so I told them about my situation, and asked them to give me their decisions until Feb 27, but they did not answer my e-mail. So, I had no choice but to say OSU that I would accept the fellowship. Then, the school (not the department) sent me the official letter, and it says: I am pleased to inform you that in recognition of your scholastic achievements, the Graduate School has awarded you a University Fellowship for graduate studies at The Ohio State University. On behalf of the Graduate Faculty, I extend congratulations on your selection. We look forward to having you as a scholar on our campus. Please e-mail your intent to accept or decline this award to gsfellowship@osu.edu. Include your full name, your graduate program, and “UF” in your email response. Acceptances and declinations must be submitted no later than April 15, 2014. This national deadline is imposed by the Council of Graduate Schools and is firm. The Council of Graduate School’s resolution regarding graduate appointments is supported by virtually all of the graduate schools in the United States and may be found at http://www.cgsnet.org. Again, please accept our warmest congratulations on winning the University Fellowship. It is a distinction well deserved by your scholastic achievements to date. We hope to be able to welcome you to Ohio State this autumn. However, "A" school gave me an admission offer on March 5, and when I visited the website, decisions on funding would be made after March 17. I have not replied to OSU ever since I got the official letter from them, and would it be a much problem if I do not choose to attend OSU because I made my commitment to them? Or, do I still have freedom to choose "A" school before April 15? Since I am an international student who never visited USA, I need your help. ​Thank you, ** I found these on the websites: April 15 Resolution Resolution Regarding Graduate Scholars, Fellows, Trainees and Assistants Acceptance of an offer of financial support* (such as a graduate scholarship, fellowship, traineeship, or assistantship) for the next academic year by a prospective or enrolled graduate student completes an agreement that both student and graduate school expect to honor. In that context, the conditions affecting such offers and their acceptance must be defined carefully and understood by all parties. Students are under no obligation to respond to offers of financial support prior to April 15; earlier deadlines for acceptance of such offers violate the intent of this Resolution. In those instances in which a student accepts an offer before April 15, and subsequently desires to withdraw that acceptance, the student may submit in writing a resignation of the appointment at any time through April 15. However, an acceptance given or left in force after April 15 commits the student not to accept another offer without first obtaining a written release from the institution to which a commitment has been made. Similarly, an offer by an institution after April 15 is conditional on presentation by the student of the written release from any previously accepted offer. It is further agreed by the institutions and organizations subscribing to the above Resolution that a copy of this Resolution or a link to the URL should accompany every scholarship, fellowship, traineeship, and assistantship offer. CGS has prepared a shareable PDF of the Resolution that includes a list of CGS member institutions that have expressed support for the agreement. This Resolution was renewed October 2009. * This Resolution applies to offers of financial support only, not offers of admission. ------- http://www.gradsch.osu.edu/award-notification.html April 15 Resolution of the Council of Graduate Schools Ohio State follows the Council of Graduate Schools’ April 15 award resolution agreement. The CGS resolution states that fellowship recipients have complete freedom of choice in accepting their awards until April 15, with the last award accepted on or before that date being the one to which the student is obligated. Graduate programs may make offers in advance of this date, but statements must not be made to students that demand or imply that these offers are contingent on acceptance prior to April 15. Because Ohio State is a signatory to and supporter of this agreement, graduate programs must comply (http://www.cgsnet.org).