pavloviandoggy

This may've been asked in some form before, but I'm deciding between a slightly less prestigious program. Here's the background. 1.School A offered me a $17K Fellowship stipend guaranteed for four years School B offered an assistantship with $14,500. 2.They're both in cities where it's possible to get a decent one bedroom for under $700, though School B is slightly less congested. 3.School B has been around longer, so it might be easier to connect with alumni on a job search. However, School A says that they've never had a problem with people having trouble finding a job in their field. 4.School B has been ranked higher and is more competitive. All my cohorts who applied to School A that I talked to at Open House were rejected from School B (They brought it up, then asked me if I applied when I looked uncomfortable). 5. I stayed with a graduate student in School B, who told me she taught all four years. I'm honored that I was given a fellowship. It's also my impression that I'll spend less time doing grunt work and more time doing research to put on my CV. I've been biting my nails over my decision for a month. My gut tells me to take the fellowship. What do you guys think? PS I accidentally posted this in the wrong section if this looked familiar. Is there a way to delete a topic?

I'm going to an Open House this week and next week. I think this is key. I've been given the option of staying with a grad student, which already gives me a good vibe about the program. If the students are willing to play host, I'm guessing they're more collaborative than competitive.

THIS. I'm going to grad school in a relatively new field, so there's not a lot of programs to choose from. When I told my friends that I was applying to a smaller public school in my university, they said, "Why aren't you applying to [Home State] University?" [Home State] University is a "public ivy", and it's great for undergrad, but they don't even have a program in my area of study. Someone from my church said this to me before I'd even heard back from my dream school. "You know, graduate school is hard. It's not for everyone. Just because you were one of the smart kids in high school and college doesn't mean you can handle grad school." I later found out that she'd gotten her masters from Kaplan College. So on one end, I have people criticizing my top choice school. On the other hand, I've got people acting like all degrees are equal.

Gosh, thank you for the responses and the advice. The school is a member of CGS, but I'm not sure if that applies because their offer didn't come with any funding or TA contract attached. I haven't actually physically signed anything with the department, though, just filled out the online acceptance form that's part of the university-wide system. The person who asked me to accept wasn't a faculty member; she was an administrator. I did get an email from a professor who told me I can wait to see if I get a fellowship, but at that point I'd already accepted. I already made hotel reservations for their Open House next week at School A. I'm going to ask them more questions about the funding process. It's possible they just haven't made decisions about TAs yet. In fact, from looking at the boards, not everyone has even been sent a rejection or acceptance letter. I'll also hopefully meet current grad students at the Open House and can see if they're happy with the program. In the meantime, I'm going to hold onto the offer from School B.

I've put myself in a bit of a pickle. I applied to only two doctorate programs. There were only a handful of programs that were in the specific area of psychology I wanted to study, had professors who specialized in research I was interested in, and were in a desirable geographic area. School A had an earlier deadline and let me submit electronic recommendations. School B was a direct receipt, paper application only. School A told me a month after I applied. I got an email from the graduate admissions office congratulating me, but it was automated. It didn't contain any information about assistantships or orientation. So I waited for information from the program. And waited. And waited. After two weeks, I emailed the graduate admissions office and asked where I could learn more information. They confirmed that I had been admitted, but said that I'd have to email the program directly for information. I waited another week and emailed the program directly. She also confirmed my acceptance, but gave very vague answers to my questions, telling me that they would discuss funding at orientation at "a later date." She also told me to please "accept or decline the admissions offer at this time." So I accepted. This same director also told another applicant that she could not be nominated for any fellowships until she accepted the offer. The emails seemed...curt. Then last week, school B sent me an acceptance letter, along with information on an assistantship I was awarded. I also got a phone call from a professor informing me about the admissions visit (it's on the same day as School A's admission visit). The whole process was more professional and organized. School B's program is also highly ranked. Now I'm having second thoughts about accepting School A. They still haven't sent me any definite information about funding. I'm wondering if I can back out of accepting their offer and what the repercussions will be. It's a small field, and I don't want to make any enemies. Is it too late to back out? And if not, what will happen if I do?