How do I formally accept an offer of admission?

[Inez90]

What initially seemed to be a straight-forward question now has me stumped. I'm struggling to find information on how to formally or properly accept an offer of admission. Is it acceptable to send an e-mail (professionally written of course) to the Graduate Coordinator or should I fax/mail a typed letter instead? I have an idea of what the content of the letter should be like, but any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

[Inez90]

Also, how long should it be? I would REALLY appreciate some advice.

[pears]

i wrote an email, as my advisor-to-be is in a different time zone and we both have funky work hours. that said, the program and my field of work/study tend to be really, really informal; i'm already on a first-name-and-casual-quick-emails basis with a few professors there. if there's an online form, i would follow up with a cordial email or phonecall. the exact wording depends on the formality of the department and your field.

[mrmolecularbiology]

What initially seemed to be a straight-forward question now has me stumped. I'm struggling to find information on how to formally or properly accept an offer of admission. Is it acceptable to send an e-mail (professionally written of course) to the Graduate Coordinator or should I fax/mail a typed letter instead? I have an idea of what the content of the letter should be like, but any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

The program I accepted an offer from sent me a form to sign as an official acceptance. I called a few faculty members a few days before I accepted (to chat more about their research and whether they were taking students etc.) and let them know I planned on accepting soon. Followed up by signing and scanning the from they sent me and emailing it to the graduate coordinator.

[ion_exchanger]

My acceptance to a program was through email. It was pretty informal. They won't be expecting anything profound. To sum it up I just said that I appreciate the consideration and offer of admission, I'm excited to accept, I look forward participating in the program. Did your acceptance come in the form of an email? If so, this format is ok.

[Grev]

In your case, you could easily email the Graduate Coordinator and tell them you're happy to accept.  Also ask if there's anything you need to do to formalize your application.  My school had an online portal where I had to click a few things and submit a deposit in order to formalize my acceptance.  Your department will be very happy to help you through the process.

 

And also, congratulations!

[TakeruK]

Many schools will require you to formally accept or decline the offer. Some schools have an online form you fill out. My current school required me to sign a piece of paper, scan it, and email it back to them. However, it's also a good idea to email the profs (and maybe grad students) you've talked to and let them know you will be coming! 

Edited March 15, 2013 by TakeruK

[Inez90]

Thank you for the advice. I was definitely over-thinking this one. I do have to sign and return a form confirming my assistantship, but I wasn't sure how to go about accepting the entire admissions/assistantship offer. I ended up sending an email to the Graduate Coordinator similar to what ion_exchanger had described. Thanks again!

[ruud9]

It is simple.

 

Ask your grad coordinator what would be considered as an acceptance (email, fax, written letter signed, etc...). They themselves will tell you. In general, an email to the Director of Graduate Programs of your department should suffice.

 

There is no need to take so much headache. To find a format to acceptance you can always google it.

 

Thanks,

ruud9.

Edited March 16, 2013 by ruud9