Bird of Passage

Dear all, Thank you so much for taking time and giving me valuable advice. I have decided to go for the second offer because I actually talked to someone who told me that the career path with the second choice school might be more relevant and in demand in future than the first choice. Realizing this is such a relief. Also I cannot wait for one year - that's what I know for sure. Second choice gave me the full scholarship and as I was told it is very rare and I think I should appreciate it. Thank you for all your responses! It was helpful. Good luck with everything.

Ask for the extension. This worked for me because I was in a similar situation

@TakeruK 1. My first choice school gave me the hald of tuition. Actually both schools gave me more or less the same money, but the tuition at my first choice school is twice as much at my second choice 2. Yes, they increased by a very small amount (by 2 %) 3. I think that they might have a spot for me (not sure of this too), definitely not the scholarship. 4. No, it will be impossible to attend the school with full governmental scholarship. I need to have some sort of scholarship from school too. The scholarship that I have from the first school is considered as advantage among other students applying to governmental funding. It will be too much money to ask from government and I don't think they will give me it too. 5. No, I have not accepted anything yet and have not paid deposit as well.

@thelionking The scholarship will open in couple of days and every time I call them now they tell me to wait until they officially open the applications and then I will have the opportunity to attend the information sessions. So I am just waiting for their information sessions which will be held in couple of days. I talked to few past scholarship applicants and they all have received the money. I am not sure if I can defer the second choice school for a year. I really want to go to grad school this year because I think I will waste one more year continuing doing what I am doing right now. If I stay one more year then I need to do something different - accumulating the experience (volunteering abroad) that will get me to the better school than my second choice.

@ATMITAsk University A to extend the decision deadline. It's a common practice. I just asked my university to extent it. I explained that I was waiting for the response from other school and they said yes, it was not a problem.

@TakeruK Thank you for your response and explaining me in detail the CGS resolution. It makes more sense now. The first choice school is a very competitive one and I guess if I text them back in July they may have a spot for me but not the scholarship. I guess they will disburse the scholarship to accepted students. Few days before they gave me the additional scholarship (incremental though) and I guess that's because some people declined their offer.

@limonchello thanks for taking an extra time to discuss my case. I appreciate it. My second choice school is fully funded, I only have to pay the living expenses. My first choice school is excellent in my field of study and it more aligns with my career goals. I talked to recent scholarship recipients and they said it's almost impossible for me not to get the scholarship from government if I have everything in order (Good GPA, work experience, the school ranking, etc.) which I have. There is a guy who had half of my funding last year from the same school (first choice) but still got the rest of the funding. I have studied in the US during my undergrad for a year and I know how competitive the job market is. I am afraid of not getting job I dream about after I graduate from the grad school. I don't know. I asked them to extend the decision deadline a little bit so I can maybe reconsider everything one more time

Thank you so much for your responses. Yes, it´s an external scholarship from my government (I am an international student) - I hate that they don't release the decisions until July. I am still negotiating on scholarship with my first choice. I imagine if I go for it, set all the expectations and then the scholarship committee says no - I will not have any chance to attend because the tuition is too expensive. I'll see what the school tells me about increase of scholarship and I'll make the decision accordingly. Thanks a lot!

Thank you for your response. Yes, both of them are part of CGS res. I was thinking about asking for an extension but probably they will not extend the deadline till July.

Hi guys, Is it very bad if you decline already accepted offer (where you paid a deposit and signed) after the deadline ? The thing is that I will hear from an external scholarship in July which will allow me to study at my first choice school, that means that I will have to decline my second choice school. If I go for only first choice school now there is a chance I won't receive the scholarship from external source (which makes it impossible for me to study) and that means that I will lose my second choice school too where I have very generous scholarship. If anyone has some experience in this I would greatly appreciate your input. I don't want to break the promise with my second choice school and, on the other hand, accepting both offers now seems like a safe option. I have to make the decision before April 15. Thanks a lot.

Hi, I am not sure if I can help you but I am at the same situation too. I've been accepted to MALD, GHD and Korbel in Intl Development. Have you made the decision yet ?