Accepting Another Offer While Waitlisted

[carolinian97]

Hi all - Forgive me if this is a silly question, I'm nascent to the graduate school process!

If I accept an offer of admission to another program while waiting to hear if I've been moved off the waitlist of my top program, will said top program be notified somehow? I only worry because the waitlist email specifically noted: "If at any point you choose to accept admission to another graduate program, please let me know as soon as possible, so that we can extend an offer to another individual." I want to accept the other offer in case this falls through, but don't want to jeopardize my chances at my top program!

 

Thank you :)

[cs99]

The university that waitlisted you will not be notified if you accept an offer from another university. Is this a large program at the universities you've applied to? If these are small programs (think < 20 people), it isn't very polite to accept an offer and then bounce without warning. What may be possible is for you to request an extension past the deadline to accept. This may give you time to hear back from the school that waitlisted you. I would also email the university that's waitlisted you to say that you'll be accepting the offer if you're admitted, and ask if they plan at this time to accept people from the waitlist (they may not know for sure at this point but they could have an idea). The university will understand that you have other offers and that you have to accept an offer by a certain deadline. If/when you accept the other university's offer, let them know that you've been waitlisted at another school and may be accepting an offer from them if given the opportunity. 

[carolinian97]

On 3/22/2022 at 4:25 PM, cs99 said:

The university that waitlisted you will not be notified if you accept an offer from another university. Is this a large program at the universities you've applied to? If these are small programs (think < 20 people), it isn't very polite to accept an offer and then bounce without warning. What may be possible is for you to request an extension past the deadline to accept. This may give you time to hear back from the school that waitlisted you. I would also email the university that's waitlisted you to say that you'll be accepting the offer if you're admitted, and ask if they plan at this time to accept people from the waitlist (they may not know for sure at this point but they could have an idea). The university will understand that you have other offers and that you have to accept an offer by a certain deadline. If/when you accept the other university's offer, let them know that you've been waitlisted at another school and may be accepting an offer from them if given the opportunity. 

Thank you so much for the advice!! I did reach out and ask for an extension and was granted one...but then they offered me a scholarship and pushed the accept date back up. The joyful rollercoaster of graduate school admissions!