guttata

Even if it is pretty affordable, I get the feeling the package may still not be enough. They're asking him to pay $3500 a year, so essentially reduce his stipend by that much. If they're asking him to pay, my suspicion is the initial offer isn't that high to begin with.

Yep, definitely call to clarify. I'd say a tuition reduction is very different from a tuition waiver, esp. considering the wording in that letter. They tell you you're going to have to pay tuition!

Definitely a school by school basis. I know some schools do only admitted student interviews, ie you have to be accepted to even get to come. On the other extreme, I got invited to an interview back in the Fall before I had even submitted my application just from expressing interest with an advisor. I know one or two people who have been accepted and shown up without ever having a face-to-face meeting with anyone in the dept. Don't stress about it unless you have hard confirmation about what the school in question does.

Let's see.... One school never received my GRE scores from ETS despite me filling out the school code the day of the test. Coordinator was very helpful though and let me scan my copy to get my scores in. Eventually they let me know they got my actual official scores - in January, after I took the test in August. I sent my transcript to another school in October but didn't submit my application until November. Because of this, they never matched up my materials and I didn't notice until the end of January that they still listed my transcript as missing! A third school keeps sending me emails demanding a final transcript with degree shown before they will forward my application to the department. One problem: I'm a senior in college and don't HAVE a final transcript yet. No one in their admissions dept can quite figure this out, despite numerous phone calls. The best one that's actually my fault, though, is waiting until 6:52 pm to submit my NSF GRF application for a 7pm deadline!

Contact them and point out that in accordance with the Council of Graduate Schools, YOU are under no obligation to inform them of a decision before April 15. I don't know how they can even get away with trying to force that deadline on you.