csApplicant Posted February 12, 2009 Posted February 12, 2009 supposedly we have until march/april to make a decision. i received a friendly note from the admissions office that i should really let them know either way as soon as possible. the note was friendly, but the undertone was TELL US NOW. this is a great school and i am concerned that i am receiving this kind of pressure. any comments? so far, of the schools i've been accepted to (just got a few accepts today- i hadn't realized it because my email server was having problems) this school that is "asking me politely" to make a decision is my top choice. do i take it or what should i do?
LostInTranslation Posted February 12, 2009 Posted February 12, 2009 this school that is "asking me politely" to make a decision is my top choice. Why are you hesitating? Have they not discussed funding with you?
csApplicant Posted February 12, 2009 Author Posted February 12, 2009 i'm fully funded. i am waiting on two other schools i would really like to go to. it's my top choice of the schools i've been accepted to so far is what i wrote.
socialpsych Posted February 12, 2009 Posted February 12, 2009 If you are not ready to take it, don't take it. PhD programs need to give you until April 15th. Fortunately you have the upper hand here because they have already given you the offer. Let them know that you realize this has been a competitive year and they would like to get their entering class sorted out, and you certainly would have let them know if you had gotten a better offer and were not excited about theirs, but you don't have enough information to commit right now, or somesuch. Depending how strong that undertone was, you could also maybe ask outright whether you were mistaken in your belief that you have until April 15th. Again, you are in a strong position because you already have the offer in hand. It is unfair for a school to pressure you this way before or after accepting you, so do not feel guilty about taking your sweet time given that you have the offer. Also...congrats!!
riss287 Posted February 12, 2009 Posted February 12, 2009 I didn't think they could do that. I thought, legally, that they weren't allowed to give your acceptance/funding package away until April 15th. You don't have to make a decision until then. Like the others said, you are in the best position. Don't make a rash decision based on pressure.
csApplicant Posted February 12, 2009 Author Posted February 12, 2009 yes, but i don't want to make anyone mad. i'll be spending 4-6 years there. i'm worried that this might be indicative of how the school run things. i called another school today and asked if they could tell me what my status was because my school wanted an answer, and they told me that that was "against the rules" for a school to do that - that schools have agreed that they will give applicants until whatever date - i forgot what date he said. if so, is this indicative of how things are run there and also how i might be treated as a student? is this a red flag?
IvyHope Posted February 12, 2009 Posted February 12, 2009 No. Believe me, a year from now none of this will matter. They just want to get some things sorted out, probably to try to move some people off the waitlist or something. This is just as much about them sorting out their decisions as it is about you sorting out yours. For what it's worth, your statement about this being the school, of the ones you've been accepted to, that is your top choice was very unclear. You have until April 15 to make your final decision. It will not matter after that. They will not hold this against you- the notion is pretty ridiculous.
socialpsych Posted February 12, 2009 Posted February 12, 2009 I wouldn't think too hard about it. Schools vary. Some perfectly nice schools are just notoriously weird about admissions, as far as I have heard. Don't worry about making anyone mad, but also don't overprocess on this--it is not a reliable indicator of how your experience there will be.
yivorechecho Posted February 12, 2009 Posted February 12, 2009 Is the April 15th thing for Ph.D only? I was accepted to some MA programs and one of them is asking for a reply and $300 within 30 days. This has caught me off guard, as I thought I didn't have to decide until April. The other program is asking for a reply by April 15th.
Tritonetelephone Posted February 12, 2009 Posted February 12, 2009 i called another school today and asked if they could tell me what my status was because my school wanted an answer, and they told me that that was "against the rules" for a school to do that - that schools have agreed that they will give applicants until whatever date - i forgot what date he said.? It's April 15th - and they're right. My guess is that the school putting on the pressure is trying to get people who have already made up their minds (but are hesitating to tell them for whatever reason) to come forward. That's reasonable, but there's nothing they can say that should make you feel pressure to make up your mind too early. It's a good idea to tell them that they're your top choice but you're not ready to make a final decision. It won't affect your future relationships if you do choose to attend. From the Resolution of the Council of Graduate Schools... 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 Resolution acknowledges that students, after having accepted an offer, may change their minds and withdraw that acceptance. 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.
socialpsych Posted February 12, 2009 Posted February 12, 2009 Is the April 15th thing for Ph.D only? I was accepted to some MA programs and one of them is asking for a reply and $300 within 30 days. This has caught me off guard, as I thought I didn't have to decide until April. The other program is asking for a reply by April 15th. Unfortunately I've heard it does vary in Masters programs...depends whether they belong to the Council of Graduate Schools. Sorry...but congrats on getting accepted!
rising_star Posted February 14, 2009 Posted February 14, 2009 It varies with master programs insofar as some of the schools could possibly not be a member of CGS, but that's unlikely.
poiuyt Posted February 19, 2009 Posted February 19, 2009 ...i received a friendly note from the admissions office that i should really let them know either way as soon as possible. the note was friendly, but the undertone was TELL US NOW. I tend to agree with socialpsych. Something that says "Thank you for your note. I will indeed let you know my decision as soon as possible." should get your point across to them as well. Also, this tells you nothing about the program beyond the fact that their number people are trying to make sure they get as many students as they want. The sooner they know if you're in or out, the sooner they can figure out whether they can accept the people on their waiting list. You shouldn't let any of this get to you. You need to be your only priority. I say sit on all of your acceptances until you're sure. Be polite but firm - if they are in CGS they need to wait for you and cannot punish you for it. I was "nice" once and told an awesome school I would not accept their offer very early on, and then the school I chose screwed me and I had no backup. Luckily that worked out awesome for my life, but it still sucked at the time.
csApplicant Posted February 21, 2009 Author Posted February 21, 2009 how did the school screw you? are they allowed to do that? don't they have to give you the offer they said they would give you? please explain.
poiuyt Posted February 21, 2009 Posted February 21, 2009 Yes they do have to give you what they offered. And it really wasn't the school but my POI. And no she wasn't allowed to do that. I'll pm you.
daveyinaz Posted February 23, 2009 Posted February 23, 2009 To the OP: ...sounds like the high pressure tactics of U of Mich.
hausdorf Posted February 24, 2009 Posted February 24, 2009 Looks like someone's facing the same problem I have, but mine is more serious... the offer email states clearly "You should fax or e-mail the acceptance or rejection of this offer by Thursday, February 26. We may be making a second round of offers to another deserving applicant if you are not able to accept this offer." I asked for an extension, but the chair of the dept said "you will give your positive reply to our offer at a timely manner"... How am I supposed to do? This is actually my safe school. Feb 26 is tooooooo early, isn't it? Anyone please give me some help? Thanks a lot
hausdorf Posted February 24, 2009 Posted February 24, 2009 PhD...it's an offer of admission and fellowship
poiuyt Posted February 24, 2009 Posted February 24, 2009 Looks like someone's facing the same problem I have, but mine is more serious... the offer email states clearly "You should fax or e-mail the acceptance or rejection of this offer by Thursday, February 26. We may be making a second round of offers to another deserving applicant if you are not able to accept this offer." I asked for an extension, but the chair of the dept said "you will give your positive reply to our offer at a timely manner"... How am I supposed to do? This is actually my safe school. Feb 26 is tooooooo early, isn't it? Anyone please give me some help? Thanks a lot I'm sure this was written 15 times already, but here's 16: If your school is a member of the CGS the deadline by which you need to reply is April 15th. In the meantime, report them for pressuring you and they will no longer be a member of CGS, and then people won't make the mistake of applying to them. The CGS was made for a freaking reason! If your school is NOT a member of CGS you are s*** out of luck, and you need to follow whatever deadline they set. And let me preempt you - list of CGS schools can be found here: http://www.cgsnet.org/Default.aspx?tabid=102
GraduateSchoolNut Posted February 24, 2009 Posted February 24, 2009 What I would do is see if you get other offers, and when you do, turn them in. Let me make one point - if this admissions person was this point blank about breaking the rules, you really don't want to be at that institution. This is a big indication of the culture/environment. I would seriously turn them in and save the emails. This won't happen again from that school.
plisar Posted February 24, 2009 Posted February 24, 2009 His school is a member of the council. That is really heinous. Accept the offer but maintain all your e-mails. Plisar.
poiuyt Posted February 24, 2009 Posted February 24, 2009 His school is a member of the council. That is really heinous. Accept the offer but maintain all your e-mails. Plisar. That's disgusting! Ok I have a new evil plan. If you get any other offer before their "deadline" just ignore the pushy school - screw them - don't let them know anything. If not, then accept (only if desperate), and then (this is where the evil plan comes in) once you get accepted by another school, report the pushy school to CGS and withdraw your acceptance, then accept the other school! I know... that's way too complicated... Man, I'm sorry this is happening to you hausdorf... You probably don't want to go to this school anyway. If this is how they treat potentials can you imagine how mean they must be to the people who are already committed.
lifeincartoonmotion Posted February 24, 2009 Posted February 24, 2009 If your school is a member of the CGS the deadline by which you need to reply is April 15th. In the meantime, report them for pressuring you and they will no longer be a member of CGS, and then people won't make the mistake of applying to them. The CGS was made for a freaking reason! Thanks for this info. I have a March 12th deadline and my school is on this list. May I ask where it talks about April 15th on the site? TIA!
poiuyt Posted February 24, 2009 Posted February 24, 2009 Thanks for this info. I have a March 12th deadline and my school is on this list. May I ask where it talks about April 15th on the site? TIA! http://www.cgsnet.org/Default.aspx?tabid=201
yivorechecho Posted February 24, 2009 Posted February 24, 2009 So this does not apply to MA programs? Because I have been pressured into sending in a $300 deposit by School A that was due within 30 days of receipt of the acceptance letter. I do want to go to this school, but they have not given me any financial info yet and I haven't even heard back from 4 other programs. They made it sound like I would be getting a competitive offer (and I'm already in-state), but they don't know their budget yet and so can't make an offer yet. They are waiting on information and yet I have to decide now? This doesn't seem fair. The other 2 I have heard back from have April 15 deadlines. About 2 hours after I sent in my deposit to School A, School B called and offered me a $28,000 merit scholarship to their MA program. I'm also waiting on financial info from School C. I am assuming it's kosher, if the finances don't work out, to write to School A and withdraw my acceptance and simply forfeit my $300. I'm OK with losing the money. But I didn't just irrevocably bind myself to School A, did I?
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