jaganjacob91

Thinking my chance at school B (my dream school) is over, I started talking about research and life at school A to multiple professors at school A. I feel like I have built a very good first impression with them. But school B is my dream school. I wish they had sent the offer before April 15! I know this is once in a lifetime opportunity to study at a school I had dreamt for since the start of the application season, but I feel really guilty of wasting the time of graduate office and international students office at school A. Will this withdrawal after April 15 negatively affect my reputation in the academic circle? Will it affect placement in a school after 5 years? ( I think I am starting to get paranoia) Btw, thanks a lot for your input guys. Thank God for gradcafe and its members!

Hello all, Initially I got an offer from school A and was denied by school B (was told there was no more seats available). So I took to take the offer at school A and even started the I-20 form procedure/University ID creation/housing application etc. But few hours ago (i.e. after April 15th), my top choice school B informed me about an additional seat there and asked if I am interested in joining there. I would really love to join school B but at the same time would it be extremely unprofessional on my side if I withdraw my acceptance at school A? Also, is it even against the contract/illegal to pull out after April 15th? I really don't want to burn any bridges, but at the same time school B is my dream school. Thanks

Hello, I have fully funded PhD offers in Operations Management from both USC Marshall School of Business and University of Rochester Simon School of Business. I know both are excellent schools, but I do not know which one to formally accept. In rankings USC is slightly better than URoch. But the living cost in LA is far higher than Rochester. Both the schools are offering me exactly the same amount as fellowship ($30,000 per year + tuition + health). The faculty at Simon seems more friendly and helpful. Three different professors from URoch have contacted me asking if I had any queries or doubts regarding the school and the program as whole. So basically it comes down to : URoch : Low cost of living, more helpful faculty (atleast that is what I felt) but horrible weather and ranked lower than USC Marshall USC : Higher ranked but very expensive What is your suggestion? Please help.