Hi,
I was accepted to an MS/EdS program for the fall. It's certainly exciting to have an offer in hand, but (1) they want an answer by early March and (2) they will not be telling students about what aid/assistantships they have been awarded until "later in the spring/summer."
They don't mention a deposit in the letter, just a marginal fee for a background check, but I assume that's part of accepting the offer? I've written an email to the department to try to clarify some of these things, but I was wondering if anyone has experience with either early deadlines (I assumed everyone had until April 15, and I wanted to wait to hear back from other programs) or needing to accept offers without knowing how much it will cost. These seem weird to me! I want to know if they're red flags about the program or if I should just calm down, provisionally accept the offer and rescind if I end up choosing somewhere else (especially if there actually isn't a deposit...???).
