littlestranger

I've made my decision and notified all of the programs that accepted me whether or not I'm coming. So whew. I am probably a lone voice in this forum! However, there are still 2 programs that I haven't heard back from. One of them, I have heard nothing since the confirmation that they recieved my application. From the other, I went on an interview visit 2 weeks ago and still haven't heard a decision. Frankly, I think both programs are being incredibly rude at this point, I wouldn't be surprised if I got rejected from both, and it's really no big loss because I'm really happy with the program I chose to attend. I feel weird having these two applications floating out there, though, having accepted an admissions offer from another program. Do I need to withdraw my applications? How do I even go about doing that?

I was accepted to multiple PhD programs and have whittled my decision down to 2 schools. Since my field is small, I don't want to give names. School A is slightly better regarded in the field. There is only one faculty member in the program whose research interests match mine, and while she does work I find interesting, it's not a completely perfect match. The school is located in a small city, but the area is large enough that there is entertainment, nightlife outside of campus, etc. I would consider it to be my ideal location. The student body is less stressed than students I've met at other schools and are closer to my age. They are funding me on a teaching assistantship that is only 33% time, so the stipend is very low. School B has three or four faculty members who I would love to work with. I would consider the program to really be ideal in terms of research fit, as I could change mentors if my interests evolve. They are funding me on a research assistantship that is 50% time with a considerably larger stipend. But, the school is located in a very small town with little entertainment and not a large population outside of the university. The students are also a lot older than me and several of them have children, so they are probably not very social. Basically, I think my personal happiness would be better at School A, but my academic happiness would be better at School B. Is it worth it to give up the perfect fit to live in a better area??