How soon can I accept a school's offer?

[eponine10642]

Hi guys,

So I absolutely 100% know what grad school I want to go to. I interviewed there last weekend, and if I'm accepted, I should be getting a phone call with the offer next week (fingers crossed!).

My question is, since I know that if they offer me admission that I will accept it, can I just accept right then & there on the phone? Or is it expected that I wait until I receive the official letter in the mail?

Thanks!!

[welfareballer]

You know, I had the exact same conversation with a couple friends of mine. Here's what happened.

Friend: So how long should I wait before accepting an offer?

Welfareballer: A day.

Friend: So tomorrow.

Welfareballer: No, tomorrow, then a day.

Friend: So 2 days.

Welfareballer: Yeah, I guess you could call it that.

Other surly friend: 2 days is like industry standard.

Welfareballer: You know, I used to wait two days before accepting anyone's offer, but now it's like everybody in town waits 2 days. So I think waiting 3 days is kinda money.

Other surly friend: 2 days is enough to show you're not anxious.

Welfareballer: Yeah, 2's enough to show you're not anxious, but I think waiting 3 days is kinda mooooonnnnnneeeeeeeyyyyy.

Friend: What if I wait 6 weeks? I'll say "Oh hey, I was going through my wallet, and I found this acceptance letter. Who's this from again?"

Other token black friend: (Laughs) Ask them if you guys did research together.

Friend: Yeah, I'll ask, "Did we do research together?" Would that be the money, welfareballer?

Welfareballer: You know, joke all you want; but if you accept too soon, you'll scare off a prestigious school who's down to work together.

Edited March 1, 2012 by welfareballer

[busybee3]

In my experience, offer letters are also sent via e-mail and require signed acknowledgement of acceptance. I would suggest waiting for the e-mail so you can read details about funding and tuition waivers. If you plan to accept regardless of funding, I see no harm in telling them over the phone that you're excited about the offer and intend to submit your acceptance once you receive official documentation via e-mail or in the mail.

[surefire]

Hi guys,

So I absolutely 100% know what grad school I want to go to. I interviewed there last weekend, and if I'm accepted, I should be getting a phone call with the offer next week (fingers crossed!).

My question is, since I know that if they offer me admission that I will accept it, can I just accept right then & there on the phone? Or is it expected that I wait until I receive the official letter in the mail?

Thanks!!

Congrats on the positive interview and the warm fuzzies that the school is giving you!

My input: if you get an offer via a phone call (as opposed to notice via e-mail or the online app system), then there's a chance that it might be from the program director or a faculty member, that is, someone who is not equipped to take down an official acceptance. I know that that might seem silly, but the accept/decline letter that comes in the mail (or, in some cases, is part of the online process) is pretty specialized. Often, it asks you to check an "accept" or "decline" box (and in the case of the latter, there might be an additional option to elaborate on your decision, "insufficient funding" "already accepted elsewhere" ect;). As well, the form usually needs your signature and the date. A graduate administrator usually recieves this and ensures that the info is lodged in the right place. I'm not the type of person that plays it cool and coy with offers, so I won't tell you to NOT get excited over the phone; however, excitement and commitments over the phone do not an official acceptance make.

TL;DR: If you like it you must put a bureaucratic ring on it.

Edited March 1, 2012 by surefire

[J.Snow]

Do you think they have your funding set in stone when they call? I don't know how this works, but it makes me nervous to think they might actually give you less money if you said "yes" right away and super excitedly...

This is all new to me, so maybe this is just one of those extra, non-existant/unrealistic fears I've created in my mind with all this time to wait and think.

[ferhin]

Congrats on the positive interview and the warm fuzzies that the school is giving you!

TL;DR: If you like it you must put a bureaucratic ring on it.

I love it!!! I want to sing that to my dream school....and this whole process is a bit renascent of dating

[figuredso]

I didn't tell a school "yes" or "no" over the phone, but I did lie for no reason. They asked me what other schools I was still waiting on, and I said I was still only strongly considering "Insert Mediocre School Here" and that they hadn't secured funding yet. This wasn't even the truth--far from it, actually. I don't know why I did that--nervousness?

Anyway, if they give you an offer over the phone, I'm sure they would be more happy than anything if you accepted it immediately. It saves them headache, allows them to move closer to cohort finalization, as well as make any adjustments to the waiting list (which, in turn, helps out fellow applicants). I think this notion of 'an-immediate-acceptance-of-offer-lowers-your-perceived-stock' notion overthinks and overdetermines what is actually going on.

[eponine10642]

In regards to funding... for the schools that I've been accepted to, the stipend + tuition waver that was mentioned during the interview weekends is exactly the same amount that was expressed in the official acceptance letter. I assumed this is the norm, yeah? One grad student who I met at one of the weekends said that he actually got some kind of "bonus" in the stipend after a month or so had gone by after he received the acceptance... but I think this must be pretty rare.

But anyway. I guess if I get in, I'll try to wait until I receive info about how to "officially" accept... or at least, try not to squeal too loudly on the phone haha.

alhin -- totally agree that this is like dating!! I'm completely DREADING the "break-up" emails I'll have to send to schools.

Edited March 1, 2012 by purkinje

[splitends]

I don't think you should worry for a second of scaring anyone off-- once you're in, you're in. And the bureaucracy thing will work itself out-- if you say yes on the phone and the person calling you isn't equipped to accept your yes, then presumably they will tell you that and explain how you officially accept the offer.

The only reason why I would think you should put off saying yes right away is if you want to negotiate funding. I don't really have experience doing this, but I have to imagine that saying yes right away doesn't really help with that process.

[cyberwulf]

The offer letter is a binding contract, so you'll need to sign and return (or login and check a box) for your acceptance to be official. But I'm sure whoever you talk to would be glad to here that you have every intention of putting pen to paper (mouse to pad?) as soon as you get the official offer!