Waiting till April 15

[That_One]

Okay, I get this offer from one of the schools I applied to and I have to fill out a form that has the choice between accepting, waiting or declining. This might be a stupid question, but if I choose to wait, does it mean they will not give the package to another applicant until they hear from me again? I hear that students are not obliged to accept offers before April 15, does that mean I can wait till April to make a decision (i.e. to notify the department of my acceptance/decline)? It's not my number one choice, but I still would love to go there, so I just want to make sure I don't blow this. I just want to see what other offers I get!!! Thanks!

[coqui21]

Okay, I get this offer from one of the schools I applied to and I have to fill out a form that has the choice between accepting, waiting or declining. This might be a stupid question, but if I choose to wait, does it mean they will not give the package to another applicant until they hear from me again? I hear that students are not obliged to accept offers before April 15, does that mean I can wait till April to make a decision (i.e. to notify the department of my acceptance/decline)? It's not my number one choice, but I still would love to go there, so I just want to make sure I don't blow this. I just want to see what other offers I get!!! Thanks!

By law, they cannot give your package to someone else until after April 15th. So yes, you can wait until then to make your final decision. Choose 'wait.'

'

[Tritonetelephone]

Nick's right. Here's the legal support:

The Council of Graduate Schools has published a statement entitled "Resolution Regarding Graduate Scholars, Fellows, Trainees and Assistants" since the mid 1960s. The Resolution is concerned with the conditions surrounding the acceptance of offers of certain kinds of graduate student financial assistance, namely, scholarships, fellowships, traineeships, and assistantships. The general spirit of the Resolution is that students should have an opportunity to consider more than one offer and should have until April 15 to do so, that institutions and students should be able to view acceptances in force after April 15 as binding, that everyone should know what the rules are, and that an offer by the institution and its acceptance by the student constitute an agreement which both expect to honor. The intent of the Resolution is to provide a uniform and widely acceptable framework for so doing, one that provides protection for both student and institution.

[slothy]

Is a resolution from CGS really legally binding? My understanding is that the CGS is a private nonprofit with no governmental ties whatsoever. I would agree that any department that tried to force decisions prior to 4/15 could get into serious trouble with its university grad school and/or CGS, but I don't think the CGS resolution could really be the basis for legal action.

[ewurgler]

SLothy--whether its legally binding or not, all of the programs go with april 15th as the deadline. All of their websites say that. Don't worry.