bizarrely early deadline to accept a decision?

[the lee]

so first, YAY i got accepted into maryland-collage park's phd program, which was in the middle of my preferred schools list (so not having to settle or anything like that).

but second, what? that was awfully fast. and now that i'm reading the acceptance letter, i have to let them know of my decision by march 1st. that sounds awfully early, and i'm... vaguely suspicious about this as a deliberate strategy on maryland's part: my top choice schools won't let me know of my status until march/april.

so uh... what can I do in this situation? ask maryland to give me a longer deadline? ask the other schools to hurry up?

Edited January 12, 2012 by the lee

[kaykaykay]

I do not think that they are allowed to do this if the acceptance is comming with a fellowship. http://www.cgsnet.org/?tabid=201 See whether they are a signatory to this resolution and ask about the deadline again accordingly.

[ANDS!]

You can always withdraw later.

[MCS_aspirant]

UMD college park is a signatory of this resolution. I would politely mention to the admissions office/department office and ask to clarify. Congratulations btw.

[50_50]

Hi Decaf,

Curious which PhD program you applied to at UMD. (I have applied to Policy Studies.)

[danielcharles87]

Hey, the lee,

I'm also interested in which program you applied to at UMD. It mentions you are interested in Sociology, which is the program I've applied to. Was it a PhD in Sociology you applied to or something else?

[Agradatudent]

As a grad of UMD, I can tell you they frequently say one thing and do another.

[the lee]

Hmmmmmm! Thanks for the link to that resolution. I'm going to have to email the department and see what's what.

Hi Decaf,

Curious which PhD program you applied to at UMD. (I have applied to Policy Studies.)

Hey, the lee,

I'm also interested in which program you applied to at UMD. It mentions you are interested in Sociology, which is the program I've applied to. Was it a PhD in Sociology you applied to or something else?

Some schools I did STS-y soc programs, but for UMD I did their school of information. Nice profile pic of Goffman btw (is it too nerdy that I recognized him off the bat?).

As a grad of UMD, I can tell you they frequently say one thing and do another.

Oy. This'll be fun

Edited January 17, 2012 by the lee

[thankGrapes]

I also was just accepted into UMD School of Information Ph.D program, with funding.

I am not surprised at how quickly they sent out acceptance letters; six days after submitting my application in November, I received a request for a phone interview. At that time they said their goal was to get the letters out before the holidays but that it may take them until early January.

The March 1st deadline for acceptance does seem like a nasty trick to get us to accept before hearing from the rest of the schools we have applied to. My plan is to call the Director of Student Services (who signed the acceptance letter) in mid-February if I would like an extension. If they won't, I will be in a bind: do I accept with the potential of backing out, denying funding to another student, or do I decline? But that is an issue for later.

Let me know if you get any resolution from emailing them!

[the lee]

I also was just accepted into UMD School of Information Ph.D program, with funding.

I am not surprised at how quickly they sent out acceptance letters; six days after submitting my application in November, I received a request for a phone interview. At that time they said their goal was to get the letters out before the holidays but that it may take them until early January.

The March 1st deadline for acceptance does seem like a nasty trick to get us to accept before hearing from the rest of the schools we have applied to. My plan is to call the Director of Student Services (who signed the acceptance letter) in mid-February if I would like an extension. If they won't, I will be in a bind: do I accept with the potential of backing out, denying funding to another student, or do I decline? But that is an issue for later.

Let me know if you get any resolution from emailing them!

hey a potential cohort!

my plan is to not email them until one of my other schools gets back to me (they should come to a decision within a couple weeks, if their website is to be believed). at least that way i have a bit more ammo (mentally) if they don't have a crazy early deadline, since otherwise i just have that resolution.

[thankGrapes]

hey a potential cohort!

my plan is to not email them until one of my other schools gets back to me (they should come to a decision within a couple weeks, if their website is to be believed). at least that way i have a bit more ammo (mentally) if they don't have a crazy early deadline, since otherwise i just have that resolution.

You and I, we think alike! Another one of my schools should be letting me know in 2-3 weeks, according to the follow up email they sent after receiving my application. We won't just have more ammo mentally, with another offer on the table it should be easier to get them to work with us.

[Aztecson23]

I got into U of Maryland's doctoral program in English--received a phone call this morning from one of the professors I mentioned in my SOP. He said they would be mailing out a letter with the details but that the financial package would be "nice". I've no idea what this means but as it was in my top three, I'm going to relish U of Maryland's acceptance for today!