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Definitely ask what it's for. I know University of Washington does that as well (around $250 I believe), but the money eventually goes into the student fees for the first quarter, so basically it was just paying some of the fees earlier. Not entirely sure why some schools do that. I would be quite alarmed to have to pay $1000 upfront though!

Thanks everyone, in the end I decided to stay at my current institution! Hopefully I'll be able to work in one of those internships and this will be a good experience!

I should also note that my current school is very large, the program has 170 faculty available, and I will be switching advisers and gaining a new network.

I am trying to decide between two schools, and I am cutting it really close to the deadline. This is for a PhD in cell/molecular biology Here's the breakdown: School A -What I would consider a top 15 school (not really sure where people are getting their rankings from since there's so many variables) -Well known for its research -I went to this school for my BS -Very low requirements (low coursework, no TAing, gets you into research quickly) -great atmosphere, great people -cohert is about 9-10 people per year -Full funding for all years -Program doesn't formally organize a ton of activities, but sounds like students organize professional stuff (like mock interviews and getting industry to come in and speak), and there's a variety of things going on around campus School B -Next state over, top 20ish school (maybe top 25) -Not as well known for research. Seems to attract people from smaller schools that are not research institutions -Offered me a $5000 bonus on top of the full funding. The bonus would last for 4 years -Wasn't super enthralled by the people or the overall atmosphere. They were nice, but didn't really excite me. -I don't know that I would have given this program as much thought as I had if I hadn't gotten the bonus offer -Lots of classes first year, but those taper off enough by 2nd year -Two semesters TA required (but I'm told the amount of time you spend in each TA can be variable depending on what kind of experience you're looking for) -Has a semester long career development workshop for non-academia track careers -Definitely more structured overall. This program seems to have more structure (in terms of required classes and seminars and such), and the program at my school doesn't seem to have enough So it comes down to: Do I stay at the school I love but face the stigma of staying at the same place? Or do I go to a place that would be fine to get a new experience, but I'm not super excited about the school? I'm fairly certain that I don't want to pursue the academia/tenure faculty route seeing as that outlook is so bleak. But I'm told that as long as I do my postdoc somewhere else the whole staying at the same school isn't a super big deal, especially since my school is well known. I will probably end up in industry, which I why I'm hoping to get a biotech internship at some point during my grad career. There's no guarantee that I'll get one at either school, but it seems more likely to happen at my current school. At the other school I was told that the most feasible way he could see that happening is if I did a collaboration with a biotech company on my thesis, and I'm not sure how well that would work out.

I would just tell him that you have two/three programs that you're seriously looking at. You could even just tell him what those programs are, and then if he asks "Oh what about the LocalU?" you can just tell him what you told us. But perhaps instead of telling him it wasn't a good fit, say that you feel that the other programs offer a better fit. Might be a good way to let him down gently without directly saying "I don't want to work with you anymore". That could make your remaining time there very strenuous! In regards to the whole leaving early thing, I would be careful about that. People in this field have steel trap memories, and even though it sounds like you'll be deviating from your PI's field you don't want to leave a bad taste in his mouth that could get to people you might care about in the future. Personally, I would say unless he seems like he might be amicable to the idea of you leaving early I would stick it out to the end. My understanding is that early rotations don't necessarily get you ahead all that much, so unless you have a very specific reason for doing an early rotation that would make staying even worse than leaving, I would just stick it out.

If this is a PhD program and the date they set for you is before April 15th they can't do that. You have until April 15th to make your decision. Now that being said, I'm not really sure how you handle a school that is telling you to respond before then without coming off as belligerent. Anyone else have any thoughts on that? But I would strongly advise against accepting the offer and then declining later. That will give you a bad name in your field and it's just generally frowned upon

Thank you so much everyone! I'm hoping that I'm in a second round of interviews for the program I'm interested in (it's a PhD program that I know has interviews in late Jan/early Feb). Crossing my fingers!

I've noticed on the results section of this website that in the past few days a handful of people received interview invites for programs I'm interested in. Does the fact that I haven't heard from the programs mean that I was probably rejected? It's probably different for every school. I'm just wondering if anyone has any experience with this? Is there a point where, if I haven't heard, that I should email/call the school and inquire about my application? Thanks!