mresene

I've been talking to multiple professors about this, OldGrad2014, and the consensus is that no one wants you to be unhappy in your graduate school choice. So, if you have accepted an offer and then are offered something which is a better fit, you should politely request to be released from your prior obligation in writing. Most schools will accept your decision gracefully. I hope this helps anyone else who has this dilemma as well. As for me, I am now in the happy position of having two offers from very reputable children's literature programs - Ohio State and University of Connecticut. Now, I have to decide whether I want a Ph.D. through the School of Teaching and Learning (at OSU) or English (at UCONN). The schools are tied in my mind in every other regard (location, fit, knowledgeable faculty, etc) with the exception of funding. I'm in the process of visiting with professors in both English and Education now in order to make a decision in the next week or two. Wish me luck!

I had not heard anything from University of Connecticut, and I could not take the waiting anymore, so I called the graduate school yesterday. They told me they had not heard anything on my application since they sent it to the English Dept. in March, so they transferred me to Mary Udal. I ended up with her voice mail, so I sent her an e-mail inquiring about my status. It turns out they mailed my acceptance letter to me (dated February 24th), and I never received it! She e-mailed me all the details -- accepted into the PhD program in English with a Children's Literature Specialization for Fall 2012. It's a fully funded assistantship including out of state tuition remission and a health insurance subsidy. I am super excited! I wanted to pass this along in case any one else has given up on a program after not hearing from them. It might be worth calling just in case. Good luck!

I was accepted to the PhD program at Middle Tennessee via mail yesterday, which is wierd, because I've always read that good news comes via phone or e-mail...Anyway, I can't complain. They offered me a $14,000 a year assistantship. I'm considering it at present; however, I have to hear back on funding from at least one more school before I can make a decision.

Thank you, everyone, for the helpful, pragmatic advice. I will contact my top two programs on Monday and give the one in question a tentative acceptance pending funding information if nothing more appealing is offered before their deadline. Who knows? Maybe hearing that I can't accept their offer unless it comes with financial assistance will motivate them to offer it to me. I've been holding off contacting the other programs because I didn't want to come across as a nuisance; however, considering that it is late March, I think it's justified at this point. To think that a few weeks ago, I was a wide-eyed optimistic graduate student assuming I'd hear back from all my programs by Spring Break. On the up side, I did get another acceptance (this one with funding up front) over the weekend. So, at least I know I have options. I would be curious to hear from anyone who accepted an offer and then received a better one on or after the April 15th deadline. How did you (or how would you) handle that?

Good evening. Let me begin by saying that I've found the "Waiting It Out" board to be a *huge* comfort as I alternate between checking my e-mail 30 times a day or saying "screw it," pulling on a pair of comfy, worn out pajamas and spending my time eating ice cream and watching cartoons. Phineas and Ferb, Rocko's Modern Life, and a series of progressively stranger anime, if anyone's interested. Moving on to the point of this post, I have what you might call a situation. I've been accepted to one very highly ranked PhD program; however, I am still waiting to hear from three other programs that are equally good. Program A wants to know whether I'm accepting their offer by March 23rd, even though my department won't even be able to give me information about funding until late March/early April (I'm *really* hoping for a fellowship or at least an assistantship). Not to mention the three programs I'm still holding out hope for...I was under the assumption that April 15th was the deadline, but one of my current professors just informed me that there isn't really an *official* deadline schools have to follow. So, how should one respond in this situation? If I do give them a tentative acceptance, is there a professional way to bow out if I'm given a better offer later? I don't want to damage my relationship with potential future colleagues. However, I need to make the best decision for myself and my future. Any advice would be appreciated.

In the "for what it's worth department," when I was waiting to hear from Master's programs it took them until late April to make decisions, because they always make decisions on PhDs first. Now that I'm applying for PhD programs, I'm finding out that the wait time isn't much better. I contacted my top choice school and they said I should expect to hear from them by Mid-March even though *multiple* people have already been either accepted or rejected. Same thing with my second choice. Oftentimes when a school does not contact you, and you see other people have received both positive and negative results, it means that you have been "secretly waitlisted." Many top schools will not bother to notify you of this status unless you contact them directly. I applied to a total of seven schools. My current status is accepted to a very high ranking program that was in my "mid-range," rejected at a second program in my mid-range, wait-listed at my third choice and on the "silent" wait list at my top two (meaning I had to call to find out). The bottom two (which include the school I currently attend) haven't even *started* the process yet. So, the bottom line is that no news is good news. It means they aren't willing to let you go quite yet. If you *do* find out you've been waitlisted, consider sending a letter thanking the school for continuing to consider you and letting them know any new achievements you've made since your application was sent out. Remind them why you're such a good fit, etc. Think of it as a second, revised letter of intent. Also, consider sending an additional letter of recommendation that helps to flesh out your qualifications. Do NOT do this if you have been directly forbidden (obviously); however, in all other cases my professors tell me it helps to remind the school of your dedication, etc. Best of luck everyone!