Unofficial offers

[havoks]

I received a phone call from a potential supervisor saying they were interested in taking me on as a student (they weren't my original POI). However, they basically wanted me to let them know this weekend if I was interested in going to their school, even though if I received an offer I would have until April to accept. I took this to mean that they won't bother sending me an official offer if there's a chance of me rejecting it.

I wouldn't mind going to this school, but it definitely isn't one of my top choices. I'm thinking I could say I'll go, and then reject the offer if need be, but that's in poor taste. On the other hand, I'm afraid that if I'm honest and say I'd like to make a decision after hearing from other schools, they might not even send me an offer.

Any advice or thoughts?

[Eigen]

My guess is that the situation is a little more complex than that they won't send you an official offer if you might reject it.

Since you got the call from a PoI, it's more likely that they're considering using their "clout" to push for you to get an offer if you're sure you're interested in coming. You might still get an offer anyway, but there are only so many students each year that a PI can really admission for- since they can only take a few of them. If they have several students they would want to work with, they want to make sure they don't use up their influence on someone that isn't that interested in coming and/or working with them.

Just my guess.

I'd respond with something very similar to what you posted here- that you're interested in the PI and the school, but you can't committ without seeing a concrete offer, and comparing it to the others you've received. It's a very fair answer, and since you say it isn't one of your top choices, would it be that big of a deal of they didn't offer you admission?