Early decision deadlines

[walkersanders]

Hi,
I recently got an admit from UofT for the MScAC program. But the deadline for accepting in one month, ie. till January in this case. But I have applied to 12 more programs and even though this program is really good I have some others that I rate definitely higher than this one. I was not expecting the results to come till say February and the decision date then would be till March. But this is now a conundrum for me. Can someone suggest a way out? What would be the consequences of accepting and not joining in case I prefer to go for another program?  

[izabela.s]

I am going through the same. Have to accept or decline until February but still some schools told me I will only hear from them by March. Don't know what to do ?

[ecemag]

Most US schools respect the April 15th rule. That is, they all agree to not require a decision prior to April 15th to accept or decline financial support in the Fall semester.

https://cgsnet.org/april-15-resolution

Apparently, admission decisions do not fall under this resolution. I think most schools give you until April 15th to accept admission anyway, but perhaps that is changing.

Most likely, your program wants to know right away so that they can make offers to other students in case you decline. I recommend that you request an extension of this deadline. Worst case is that they don't grant the extension, and you will have to make a decision by their deadline.

[Phoenix88]

On 12/28/2019 at 1:22 AM, walkersanders said:

Hi,
I recently got an admit from UofT for the MScAC program. But the deadline for accepting in one month, ie. till January in this case. But I have applied to 12 more programs and even though this program is really good I have some others that I rate definitely higher than this one. I was not expecting the results to come till say February and the decision date then would be till March. But this is now a conundrum for me. Can someone suggest a way out? What would be the consequences of accepting and not joining in case I prefer to go for another program?  

This also happened to me with a different school! But they only gave me a 15 day decision window and a $100 deposit "to hold my place". How did you go about asking for the extension? I'm a bit hesitant on that email. 

Edited January 23, 2020 by Phoenix88