SashaM

Well my field is education policy, so the degree is in the graduate education school of each university I've applied to, but the program itself focuses on policy and research mainly. I think that means they count as the graduate school and not a professional school...the degree is an MA, also. The good news is that all of the universities I've applied to have signed the CGS, so that's very helpful to know! I definitely don't want to go back on accepting an admissions offer if I can help it. I suppose I'll find out more tomorrow when I contact them - if your point about not accepting an offer until you've received a funding package stands, though, that at least gives me some extra time where I don't have to feel pressured.

Hmm @TakeruK, that's a good point about not making decisions without a funding offer, I hadn't thought about it that way. I guess that makes it more reasonable to not want to make a decision just yet, and it won't necessarily look like I'm not serious about their program. I'm not sure what's typical for this field, my undergraduate degree was unrelated.

So! I got admitted to one of the schools I applied to for a masters degree. (Yay!) The downside is that, while I'd be glad to attend, they aren't my top choice. And my top choice school (and my second choice school) say to expect decisions in early March. Accepted School says they work on funding awards in February. Even if they technically don't *require* a decision yet, I'm concerned that if I don't commit I could jeopardize my chance at funding. On the other hand, I don't want to commit and then kick myself if Top Choice and Second Choice end up offering me admission. Is it a huge faux pas to accept an offer and then change your mind? Is it okay to wait to compare funding packages? I'm going to call them tomorrow to ask how long I have to make a decision, but somehow I doubt they're willing to wait a whole five weeks. :-/ Any experiences with similar situations would be greatly appreciated.