what if schools notify after April 15th?

[Amalia222]

Hi all,

My first response was, amazingly, a yes. It's a great offer, and I'm stoked, but it makes me wonder---

What if some of the other schools I applied to notify after my April 15th date? If I got another acceptance from a "better" program after April 15th, that would be a horrible situation to be in, to have to back out after the deadline (and thus piss off one school), or (even worse?) turn down a great opportunity in order to avoid causing problems.

What to do?

[Kathiza]

My application process is different, but we handle it like this: We have to make the official decision by the end of April. And it happens every year that schools didn't send out notifications by then, but we HAVE to decide. So we decide and then the schools (the ones who haven't sent out anything) are notified that we're no longer available. So nobody is pissed off and you won't even know whether you'd get an acceptance or not or if the offer is better or not. We were told that backing out after accepting is a no go and could cause us to lose both spots and even our grant.

[Amalia222]

My application process is different, but we handle it like this: We have to make the official decision by the end of April. And it happens every year that schools didn't send out notifications by then, but we HAVE to decide. So we decide and then the schools (the ones who haven't sent out anything) are notified that we're no longer available. So nobody is pissed off and you won't even know whether you'd get an acceptance or not or if the offer is better or not. We were told that backing out after accepting is a no go and could cause us to lose both spots and even our grant.

How do the other schools know that you've accepted an offer?

[Kathiza]

How do the other schools know that you've accepted an offer?

I'm a Fulbrighter, so if we accept an offer, Fulbright knows. And they are the ones that notify all the other universities that I don't take their offer or that they don't need to send me their decision because I already accepted another offer.

[lexicana]

I am wondering the same thing. I'm on the waitlist so if someone waits until the last minute to reject and they offer a spot to someone higher on the waitlist and they reject it could go past April 15. Do schools simply not offer spots after the 15th. Maybe they just have a smaller cohort? Has anyone experienced getting an offer after the 15th?

[jprufrock]

If you get into your top choice: Accept by April 15th and be done with it, even if other schools haven't notified.

If you are waiting on your top choice but have been accepted elsewhere: Decide from your current accepted list where you'd like to go by April 15th. Contact the other schools and decline their offers. Contact your best accepted choice and request an extension beyond April 15th (maybe a week, maybe a month), explain some reasonable circumstances, and wait for your top choice to notify. This also may work if you're on a waitlist.

Do not: Accept a school's offer only to renege later; it could result in a revocation of both offers. Even if not, you may be burning bridges in a niche field which will hinder your career down the road. However, if you do this, you usually must get written permission from school A to be able to change your choice to school B. This is the most diplomatic way to do so, but it still seems wrong; one must remember that the acceptance of an offer acts as legal contract.

[Amalia222]

If you get into your top choice: Accept by April 15th and be done with it, even if other schools haven't notified.

If you are waiting on your top choice but have been accepted elsewhere: Decide from your current accepted list where you'd like to go by April 15th. Contact the other schools and decline their offers. Contact your best accepted choice and request an extension beyond April 15th (maybe a week, maybe a month), explain some reasonable circumstances, and wait for your top choice to notify. This also may work if you're on a waitlist.

Do not: Accept a school's offer only to renege later; it could result in a revocation of both offers. Even if not, you may be burning bridges in a niche field which will hinder your career down the road. However, if you do this, you usually must get written permission from school A to be able to change your choice to school B. This is the most diplomatic way to do so, but it still seems wrong; one must remember that the acceptance of an offer acts as legal contract.

THANKS!!! This is great advice. Most likely, I will take the offer I have on the table. It's a great school/great offer, and a good program. It's just hard, though, because I don't want to be thinking about the "road not taken" two years down the road. I want to make sure I made the right decision. But you're right, I can easily notify my "less desirable" schools now, because I already know I won't be going there, even if I got in. Good suggestions!

[jblsmith]

Hi all,

My first response was, amazingly, a yes. It's a great offer, and I'm stoked, but it makes me wonder---

What if some of the other schools I applied to notify after my April 15th date? If I got another acceptance from a "better" program after April 15th, that would be a horrible situation to be in, to have to back out after the deadline (and thus piss off one school), or (even worse?) turn down a great opportunity in order to avoid causing problems.

What to do?

I'm also worried about this. I posted a smiliar concern in the "April 15th Deadline is This Week Freak-Out Forum." I've been accepted to 1 school with funding and another, more prestigous school, where I've been waitlisted for funding. I don't want to accept School 1's offer only to find out on April 16th that School 2 has funding for me. I've let School 2 know my situation, now I just hope they take it to heart and come back with an offer before April 15th.

Anyone else in the same boat? Anyone got any suggestions?