Hoe to respons to prof emailing to follow up on offer

[1996kayden]

I have an offer and the POI has reached out to me again to say she hopes I come and to reach out if I have questions. I have responded to her two past emails since I got the offer (about a month ago) saying thanks etc and I'd reach out when I had questions.

I am waitlisted for my two top choice schools and am essentially going to wait for them. Do I tell her this? That I am on the waitlist and if I get off I will accept the other offer? That she won't have a firm answer from me for a while? I don't really want to tell her she's my backup option but I also don't feel right just making her wait indefinitely. Do I just tell her I don't have any questions right now?

Thanks!

[Ternwild]

2 hours ago, 1996kayden said:

Do I tell her this? That I am on the waitlist and if I get off I will accept the other offer? That she won't have a firm answer from me for a while?

No.  You absolutely should NOT tell her this.  That won't look good on you or give them any faith in your commitment to the program/school.  You know they can rescind acceptances, at any time, right?  People in this industry know applicants have multiple offers.  If you want to make your POI continue to be interested in you and not make them "wait indefinitely" try asking her some questions about her research.  Maybe ask about the program and the university.  You should be doing this anyway.  You want to know as much about the school you're going to attend anyway.  Esp since you have 3 universities to choose from, so far.  Ask questions and build a portfolio so you can make decisions based off the quality of the program and not just the prestige of it.