GRA offers after 15th of April

[likescience]

I know that the final deadline for accepting offers is 15th of April, but I was wondering if it is possible to receive admission/GRA offers after that date if a faculty members wants you to join their lab. 

[trollsloot]

Yes. I had the opportunity to ask how offers are sent out with the chair and admissions coordinator of a department at school known to be slow on decisions. As I've been told, the April 15th deadline is only for their strongest applicants. They implied that there is a filter in place because they reviewed 2500+ applications in a month and sent out initial waves already. Everyone else is on some waitlist. There are two waitlists, one for the department and faculty. The chair told me that a faculty member might have 2 spots open but 10 students they're interested in. Since students decline offers they start going down that list in order (usually after the deadline). As a result, applicants could receive offers by the end of May or even June.  

[Ternwild]

On 3/23/2019 at 7:27 AM, trollsloot said:

Since students decline offers they start going down that list in order (usually after the deadline).

This is true only if the number of students admitted is less than their quota.  Universities often over admit knowing that most students will decline.