appropriate to let school know of another schools decision?

[bm08]

I have found out that I was accepted into a program. The program I was accepted into asks for a security deposit by a certain date and they say they are "first come first serve" in terms of seats. I am still waiting to hear from another school who says they notify decisions between March-May. That is a huge gap and I do not want to risk losing my spot in the other school. Is it ok to notify the school that I have been accepted into another program and would like to know when admission decisions will be released?

 

 

(I attended their open house and they had said we could do this, let them know of any other schools decisions but I still feel weird actually doing that... I wanted to know other opinions)

Edited March 5, 2013 by bm08

[Grev]

I don't think it's strange at all, especially when you have one school putting pressure on you the way you do. 

 

Are you looking at Masters or PhD programs?  And are the schools in the US?  I know most US schools can't demand a decision from you before April 15, so you may have a little wiggle room to push back on the program who wants a deposit.

[TakeruK]

Most US schools that are offering you a financial package (e.g. fellowship, TAship, or RAship) and that are part of the CGS Resolution (http://www.cgsnet.org/ckfinder/userfiles/files/CGS_Resolution.pdf) have mutually agreed to not make their students decide before April 15. But there is nothing practically stopping them. 

 

I think it would be a good idea to let your other school know that you have a time-sensitive decision with the school that has already accepted you and that you would like to know what timeline you could expect for their decision making process.