Tight Deadline to Accept Offer from 3rd Choice Program

[kyle_xy]

Hi guys,

I received a fully funded admission offer from a Canadian University (let's call it school C). I was very excited about it until I realized I only have till 2nd March to respond to the offer. This is the only University I have heard from so far and I am eager to hear from the others, especially my top 2 choices (schs A and B).

I believe I have a reasonable chance of getting a funded admit from at least one of my top 2 programs and I really, really want to hear from them before deciding to accept any offer. However, it is quite unlikely that either of those schools will make a decision before 2nd March. School C's program is quite new and not very well reputed yet (the 1st batch of their undergraduate students will graduate this year). So I believe given the choice, I will be better off at either A or B. They are my dream schools and I really love them (hint: one of them is the absolute best in Canada).

I had contacted my POI at sch C before applying and he has been very supportive so far. By the time I received the admit offer, we had exchanged almost 20 emails. A week before I received the official admit offer, the POI informed me that I had been approved and that after I receive the admission offer, I should contact him directly if I have any questions about it.

Guys, what do you think I should do? Should I contact my POI and ask for an extension? How do I even ask for that, without making it look like I don't want to accept the offer? Because if A and B is off the table, I will be perfectly happy to accept C. Will it be wise to contact A and B about the situation? What will I do if the extension is not granted?

Edited February 24, 2018 by kyle_xy

[TakeruK]

In Canada, grad admissions are like a job offer (hence, you are asked to discuss it with the POI specifically, not a grad student coordinator etc.) So, like job offers, you are able to negotiate a bit and ask for some things. 

So, you should definitely ask the prof at School C if you could have more time to decide. They might ask you how much time you want/need. So, it might be a good idea to reach out to both Schools A and B and let them know that you are very interested in their program and you currently have another good offer expiring March 2. Ask these schools if they know when they would be able to make their decision, politely. Then, ask school C for an extension to the decision date of Schools A/B plus 4-7 days (in case Schools A/B is late, and 1 or 2 days for you decide).

If you don't get an extension or if you don't get a firm answer from School A or B, then you have a tough decision to make. In the real working world, and later on in your academic career if you go that route, you will often be in situations where you apply to several things and hear back from some with deadlines before you might hear back from others. So you might have to make a hard decision. Good luck!