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Rejecting an PhD offer after accepting


2bphd

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Dear friends,

I have a very good phd offer from a university with an awesome funding package.

But I just interviewed with my dream company for a job that I would love to do. But the problem is that they are going to give a decision in May.

My situation is:

1) If I get a job offer (I m almost sure I will) from this company, I have no doubt that I will accept it.

2)But I will have to accept the offer for phd by april 15th.

So, My plan is to accept the phd offer and if i get the job , just reject the offer. That is I want to keep it as a backup if I dont get the job.

Are you legally bound if you accept the offer from a univ?? what complications are expected?

I think there can be a problem if I accept an offer from one univ and then want to go to another univ. Then I have to get the release form and everything. But this is a different story.

What do u guys think??

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http://www.cgsnet.org/portals/0/pdf/CGS_Resolution.pdf

"... However, an acceptance given or left in force after April 15 commits the student not to accept another offer without first obtaining a written release from the institution to which a commitment has been made. Similarly, an offer by an institution after April 15 is conditional on presentation by the student of the written release from any previously accepted offer."

Point one. Legally you are okay. The resolution clearly states that you can't go to another school, but nothing about a private job.

Point two. Ethically you are NOT okay. You are, as I'm sure you know, taking a position away from a deserving student. Perhaps they'll get off the waitlist, if your school has one. But they will know late in the game, which will cause that person undue stress. It's not fair.

Why don't you ask straight up to your employer: "Am I going to get this job? Because if not, I am going to enter a PhD program. It would help me to know so I can do the right thing and not fill up a spot I won't be taking." Maybe they'll let you know your chances, or just tell you straight up. It's worth a try. If you do this, at least you made an effort.

I understand -- you have to do what is best for you. I can't say I wouldn't follow your path if I were in your situation. But you might as well do good to everyone else in every way you can by trying to find out about your job. Even then, it's still ethically very dicey.

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Well, nobody will force you to go to grad school. Handcuffed TA-s might get bad evaluations. If you do not want to do anything with academia I do not think that you should worry the tiniest bit . Now the person who would have been getting in on a waitlist may be upset, but your university will not have to pay your cost, and they will be probably getting one more student next year for your funding.

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http://www.cgsnet.or..._Resolution.pdf

"... However, an acceptance given or left in force after April 15 commits the student not to accept another offer without first obtaining a written release from the institution to which a commitment has been made. Similarly, an offer by an institution after April 15 is conditional on presentation by the student of the written release from any previously accepted offer."

Point one. Legally you are okay. The resolution clearly states that you can't go to another school, but nothing about a private job.

Point two. Ethically you are NOT okay. You are, as I'm sure you know, taking a position away from a deserving student. Perhaps they'll get off the waitlist, if your school has one. But they will know late in the game, which will cause that person undue stress. It's not fair.

Why don't you ask straight up to your employer: "Am I going to get this job? Because if not, I am going to enter a PhD program. It would help me to know so I can do the right thing and not fill up a spot I won't be taking." Maybe they'll let you know your chances, or just tell you straight up. It's worth a try. If you do this, at least you made an effort.

I understand -- you have to do what is best for you. I can't say I wouldn't follow your path if I were in your situation. But you might as well do good to everyone else in every way you can by trying to find out about your job. Even then, it's still ethically very dicey.

I'm not sure I would say that this is exactly ethically horrible. You aren't taking away a spot of another student. Many programs don't have waitlists and the ones that do often don't use them much. Plus, it is your spot. It is also relatively frequent for these situations to occur, at least in engineering fields. So just do what you need to do.

Also, this will just increase the number of students next year. It isn't reallly possible to deny a student a spot since they will just let more in in the future.

Edited by zonko
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Exactly, that is how I feel. The department is one of the top 5 programs in the country and I was accepted by a professor for this project. I am already doing some literature study on the project and we are sharing emails all the time. He has stopped looking for any other student.

But the job offer will be a very difficult one to say no.

I believe I will have to be a little selfish and decide what is good for me.

I think I can talk to grad school for some more time to decide, but that will definately affect my relationship with my prof.

I can ask the company to decide early, but that might make me look desperate which I am not. If I tell them I have to accept phd offer by 15 april, they will think I am not sure of what I want to do.

Even if I get a phd, I will love to work for this company. I might get a better profile, but at the same time if I start now I might even grow to a better job profile.

tough decision.

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I'm not sure I would say that this is exactly ethically horrible. You aren't taking away a spot of another student. Many programs don't have waitlists and the ones that do often don't use them much. Plus, it is your spot. It is also relatively frequent for these situations to occur, at least in engineering fields. So just do what you need to do.

Also, this will just increase the number of students next year. It isn't reallly possible to deny a student a spot since they will just let more in in the future.

Perhaps my wording was strong. I still think transparency is the best option here. Be as open as you can while protecting your interests and that's the right thing to do.

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