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Followed. I'm currently wondering the same thing. Graduate housing at my uni is on campus, furnished, washer/dryer unit, utilities included in rent... BUT you're randomly paired up with a roommate. Kind of sounds like a nightmare to me, lol. At the same time, I know I'll be lonely living on my own. It's a tough choice to make! I would browse listings in the area and, if possible, get in touch with current graduate students at your institution to see what they do for housing. I would also recommend making a list of the amenities that you want in a living space -- your options will be easy to narrow down from there.

Hey folks! I notice that of all the other disciplines on "the menu" seem to have more active forums than this one. I'd love to cultivate a bigger and more poppin community here for those in the physical sciences to engage with. So... let's introduce ourselves: what do you study and what attracted you to the physical sciences? I'll be studying geospatial science come Fall and have been fascinated by the physical sciences ever since I was a kid. I studied applied physics as an undergrad with the intent to go into astronomy, but later realized I wanted to change my career path to something earth / environmental science related. (I'm still interested in astronomy as a hobby, though!) The choice to study geospatial science was honestly on a whim, but I'm very excited to start. Your turn! ?

Hi all! Any incoming BGSU students? I'll be studying applied geospatial science. We can make a groupchat if there's a handful of us. ?

But in the OP's and most cases, they do intend to attend provided that they do not get off the wait list at their top choice. I don't think it's fair to say that anyone who does not receive a proper answer by April 15th should either surrender their position on a wait list or reject their safety offer. In my opinion, that defeats the purpose of the wait list somewhat... I've been told that accepting & then later declining is not uncommon. It is not necessarily a good thing to do, but schools are used to seeing it. This is a program that you'll be attending for the next 2-5 years of your life, after all -- it's okay to act in your own best interest here.

I reached out to a school I haven't yet heard back from and was told that the applications committee was still in the process of review due to having to adjust to new working conditions, presumably because of COVID-19. I'm sure a lot of them are in the same situation. It doesn't hurt to write to them and ask when to expect an answer. As for accepting now and rejecting later, I'm told this is actually a common practice, albeit a little shady. You want to guarantee yourself an option if the others fall through, but if they don't, you shouldn't feel obligated to go with your initial choice when another one suits you better. Sure, it risks burning some bridges with the faculty there and sucks for those on the wait list, but I think it's completely understandable -- you've gotta do what's best for you, bottom line. Curious to hear others' thoughts on this...

If you have the money to apply, it doesn't hurt to. So why not? I don't think 3.35 is a bad GPA for a Master's program (though that can depend on the school), and you can always explain the family illness situation in your personal statement. I say go for it! Better to get a definitive answer than to look back and wonder "what if".

Though it's a few years old, I stumbled across this thread after searching how to decline offers of admission. All of the comments here were super helpful to me -- it's nice knowing that others are experiencing the same feelings as I am throughout this process. I just pulled the trigger on a rejection email and there is definitely a sense of loss even though I know the program wasn't a good fit. It's nice to think that someone on the wait list will be ecstatic to receive admission because of my decision, though. To answer the OP's question: I responded to my offer by thanking the department for their kindness & consideration, then explained succinctly that after much deliberation, I would be better suited to a different program. Said it was a pleasure to meet them and that I hoped they could offer admission to another eager candidate. Figured I'd bump this thread for others as the April 15th deadline approaches. Now it's time for me to dump my electronics out the window so I don't have to read the grad school's response. That's self care, babey.