I'm in a pickle. Help?

[daydreamer254]

I appled to two schools in the US in October and February, and this month I should hear from them. I applied to a school in London which accepted me on Wednesday and I need to respond with my decision immediately, but I can't do that until I hear back from the other two schools. I'm getting anxious.

 

Anyway, the London school is so efficient, and from the emails I received the faculty are really nice and knowledgable. I'm tempted to accept their offer...

 

What should I do?

 

[queenleblanc]

Where do you really want to go? If you had offers from all three, where would you choose? I would contact the US school that is your top preference to see how soon decisions will be issued. If you would choose the London school over the others even if accepted, then it is okay to go ahead with that opportunity, as long as you know 100% that you would say no to two other potential acceptances.

[fuzzylogician]

What about funding at the London school - has that been decided? I know that sometimes takes longer and is not necessarily guaranteed, and it's definitely something that should factor heavily into your decision. As suggested, you can contact the other schools to ask where the decision process stands and see if you can't get anything out of them. If you have to wait a while longer, ask the London school for more time; I'm sure this happens all the time and they must understand your predicament. Unless you're absolutely sure the London school is your #1 choice (and that it can fund you!), I think it's important to wait for the other decisions.

[sshopeful]

I have been met with a similar situation, but with domestic schools. I requested an extension from the one school that requested a decision by mid-March, citing finances as part of the reason behind my request. Consequently, the school that has asked for a quick turnaround is the only one that has provided me with a very detailed (and very generous) funding package. I communicated that I was very interested in the program, but that I believed I needed more time to make a financially responsible decision given the circumstances. Be as honest as possible, but I wouldn't encourage you to dismiss any institution without having all of your offers on the table first. I won't be hearing about funding from one school until April 1st, and I don't even hear about admissions from 2 of them until mid to late March. It would be awful for me to commit to one school and then potentially make a decision I regret. 

 

If you are certain that you want to go to the London school and if you can secure yourself funding, then go for it! But-- remember, graduate school is expensive, so any offer of funding is worth considering. I'm sure you didn't apply to schools you would not attend, so try to ensure that you can get some more time to see if you get better offers. 

 

I'm just an applicant, and I've yet to hear from the school (that I just wouldn't reject right off the bat... I love the program) about the deadline extension... but that does not make me any less optimistic.