Council of Graduate Schools, before April 15?

[michaelwebster]

A school called me last week to tell my I was accepted and let me know they would give me one week to decide on accepting their offer. This is a state school that is part of the Council of Graduate schools, and has therefore agreed not to set their deadline earlier than April 15.

I asked the program director about this, and she said, "I am sorry, I dont know what that is." She said that her program sets their deadline whenever they want.

Well, as my last choice I turned them down, but I would feel bad for students who had a tougher descision.

What do you think?

[PRguy101]

A school called me last week to tell my I was accepted and let me know they would give me one week to decide on accepting their offer. This is a state school that is part of the Council of Graduate schools, and has therefore agreed not to set their deadline earlier than April 15.

I asked the program director about this, and she said, "I am sorry, I dont know what that is." She said that her program sets their deadline whenever they want.

Well, as my last choice I turned them down, but I would feel bad for students who had a tougher descision.

What do you think?

Depends....did you get a funding offer or just an admissions offer?

[michaelwebster]

Depends....did you get a funding offer or just an admissions offer?

One and the same. Every student gets tuition waiver( in state) or reduction to in state and 10,000 dollar assistantship. But I think even an award should be tied to this deadline as well, as it is a major part of the descision process.

[DariaIRL]

If they're listed on the Resolution and it was an offer w/ financial support, then they really shouldn't say they can set whatever deadlines they want.

[quark314]

DariaRL touches on a very important distinction, though. Just because a school is a member of the Council of Graduate Schools does *NOT* automatically mean they signed the April 15th Resolution. There are some schools who are members of the council but not signatories of that agreement. Only schools who have signed that agreement are bound by it. So when checking if a school is bound by that resolution you can't just look at the list of CGS members, you have to look at the actual list of schools that signed the agreement (see http://www.cgsnet.org/portals/0/pdf/CGS_Resolution.pdf).

Then there's one more complication. The April 15th resolution applies only to admission offers that include funding. If you receive an offer of admission with no funding, then even if the school signed that agreement, they can still set any deadline they want.

However, if you received an offer of funding and the school signed the Resolution, then they are required to give you until April 15th. If you find yourself in a situation where a school isn't abiding by that, you can escalate your issue to a higher official at the school itself (Department chair, Dean, etc) and/or write to CGS.

[michaelwebster]

DariaRL touches on a very important distinction, though. Just because a school is a member of the Council of Graduate Schools does *NOT* automatically mean they signed the April 15th Resolution. There are some schools who are members of the council but not signatories of that agreement. Only schools who have signed that agreement are bound by it. So when checking if a school is bound by that resolution you can't just look at the list of CGS members, you have to look at the actual list of schools that signed the agreement (see http://www.cgsnet.or...esolution.pdf).

Then there's one more complication. The April 15th resolution applies only to admission offers that include funding. If you receive an offer of admission with no funding, then even if the school signed that agreement, they can still set any deadline they want.

However, if you received an offer of funding and the school signed the Resolution, then they are required to give you until April 15th. If you find yourself in a situation where a school isn't abiding by that, you can escalate your issue to a higher official at the school itself (Department chair, Dean, etc) and/or write to CGS.

Yes, they have signed the resolution, and offered funding in the form of a tuition waiver and assistantship. Maybe those dont count as a funding offer, but the director seemed completely unaware of the April 15 deadline resolution.

[Riotbeard]

It could be a departmental deadline. I had one program put their deadline at 4/1, but when I had a better (at least fiscally) offer, they said take till the fifteenth, we just set this earlier deadline to make counter-offers, etc.

[marcopolo13]

Something really similar happened to me too. I received an e-mail from a school offering a tuition waver and funding, but said I had to respond in three days. I asked for an extension and was denied, and I frantically called all the other schools I was waiting to hear from, all of which said the same generic "we haven't made final decisions yet". I accepted their offer because I couldn't bring myself to turn it down in case I didn't get in anywhere else. This school also signed the April 15th resolution, so I guess my answer wasn't legally binding, right?

I'm really happy to get into this program, but I generally like to have all of my information before I make such an important decision.

[Jae B.]

This April 15 thing is confusing. One of my schools seems to imply an April 15 deadline, while the department offers until May 1. I e-mailed asking for a clarification, because I don't want to put my funding in jeopardy by waiting until May.