March 15 vs. April 15

[daddys_girl]

So, I got two offers.. which I'm excited about: However... Here's the catch... I got full funding (stipend, tuition remission, etc) from Univ of Arizona. I've gotten accepted from UCLA.. however no word yet on funding/tuition remission... University of Arizona wants my answer no later than 3/15. I'm not sure that I'll have my funding package yet from UCLA...

I thought you had technically until 4/15 not 3/15... Has anyone else experienced the pressure to accept early?? I'm afraid if I say no to Univ of Arizona and yes to UCLA that I wont get any funding from UCLA... and I can't afford to go unless I get funding.. so I've got a little bit of a situation...

any thoughts??

[Dreams]

So, I got two offers.. which I'm excited about: However... Here's the catch... I got full funding (stipend, tuition remission, etc) from Univ of Arizona. I've gotten accepted from UCLA.. however no word yet on funding/tuition remission... University of Arizona wants my answer no later than 3/15. I'm not sure that I'll have my funding package yet from UCLA...

I thought you had technically until 4/15 not 3/15... Has anyone else experienced the pressure to accept early?? I'm afraid if I say no to Univ of Arizona and yes to UCLA that I wont get any funding from UCLA... and I can't afford to go unless I get funding.. so I've got a little bit of a situation...

any thoughts??

As the University of Arizona of a member of the Council of Graduate Schools, it has to hold you to the April 15 deadline. You may want to respond with something like "thank you for the generous offer. I am still carefully weighing my options and will provide a response very soon." Or something similar. If they actually then try to coerce you to make a decision now, then you could accept the offer and then technically withdraw if you get a better offer before April 15. It would upset them yes, but then again by joining the CGS, they should be held to the same standard as the other members.

But I think the suggested response would work fine. Many schools are just in a hurry to finalize their cohorts because of the large number of applicants this year.

[suwanee]

You can see the Council of Graduate Schools resolution at http://www.cgsnet.org/Default.aspx?tabid=201. It may be that Arizona is hoping to notify waitlisted applicants of their status as early as possible, so they want to know whether you will accept their offer. If you have the information you need and can make a decision by then, it will help them to know quickly, but they should not require you to respond by March 15.

[daddys_girl]

Thanks for the input... I plan on responding as soon as possible... however.. I want to have my other financial aid/money offer before I make my decision.. since that's a huge factor to my acceptance.

[daveyinaz]

Go to UCLA...UA is lame....believe me...i know... :|

[Spritely]

For what it's worth: I have come across similar pressure before but it seemed to depend on the source of the funding. I have seen fellowships and scholarships from the graduate school that were tied to a March deadline to accept or decline, whereas admission itself and TAships usually have till 4/15.

[C Laree]

I have to disagree with davyinaz, UA is not 'lame'. I don't know what program you are going into, but I love the linguistics department. The profs are very laid back and the school on the whole is very interdisciplinary. PhD students do a minor and the programs are often quite flexible. Tucson took some getting used to, but for a city it is really chill and the hiking is great.