So I got into my dream PhD program at one of the UC schools, got offered an amazing financial package, and am 100% planning on enrolling. Yay.
However, I have held out on formally accepting the admission offer for various reasons. I mostly am just curious about what responses I will get from the other UC's I applied to, without their decisions being affected by the knowledge that I accepted another offer. I have a feeling these schools would find out if I had accepted another offer within the UC system. If anyone has any insights on this suspicion, I posted a thread about it in the "Waiting it Out" subforum here:
Anyhow, my dream school recently emailed me offering even *more* money, saying they really hope I will accept their offer. Someone else who was also accepted into the department and hasn't yet accepted the offer told me they got the same email.
I was ready to just accept the offer and get it over with, but now I'm wondering - should I hold out ever longer? Will the school continue courting me with even more $ added to my package? And how should I go about communications with the department/my advisor during this time?
On the flip side, is there any reason that holding out on accepting an admission offer is a *BAD* idea?
Any insights greatly appreciated!