Opinions wanted, mostly about timing and reading too much into things

[Dry]

So I applied (really early) to 4 places

3 PhD programs and an NIH internship. 

 

There are two programs that I really would love to get into, 1 that would probably not be ideal for me due to being in a big city, and the NIH internship would almost certainly mean moving back to the DC metro, which isn't ideal either

 

I'm married, so I limited my searches to states/regions that my wife and I were both willing to live in.  This essentially limited us to the deep south and the west coast, which is why my # of schools is pretty low. 

 

The first choice is in a great college town, and one that I'm pretty familiar with.  It has great access to my intense hobby, and decent diversity.  Its probably my favorite University, but the program ittself does seem a bit stuffier than some others.  I have semi-similar research interests to what they do, and they have a ton of funding for many students.  I have a higher MS GPA and better GRE scores than they want, but I do have 1-2 big holes in my transcripts eg they want way more chem background than I have.

 

At this school I have e-mailed with a few professors, one of which was nice enough to invite me up to talk with him/her last year.  I think it went very well and everything, and we've stayed in touch every now and then during the past year since.  I try not to beat around bushes so last year I plainly asked if based on my current status if I would be a potential candidate.  He said yes, but obviously that's no guarentee.  I just got word from him that, "They have my materials and will make their decisions in January after they learn how much funding they have)

 

The other top choice school is, as far as I have heard, also in a great town.  I've never been.  Its a little further away from diversity and urbanization, but still seems to do okay for itself.  They don't have a lot of access to my hobby but with like $1k I can build whatever I need for it anyways, and I didn't have any access at my current MS program's school but I built it to something pretty cool in 1.5 years.  This school has objective GPA/GRE scores which I surpass, and have no specific course requirements other than a master's in a related field.  Their big thing is that you must have 1 faculty member willing to take you on and fund you, where as other programs in my discipline seem more like communal funding.  But from what I can tell they seem a little bit less formal and easier going, which could be really important for me because I am huge ball of stress and when I get near other stressful people it doesn't go well

 

At this school I've e-mailed with a few people and one has been nice enough to talk to me on the phone for an hour or so about their work and how I might fit.  Another professor got their PhD from where I got my undergrad and I know (they don't remember me, probably) all of their advisors.  I haven't heard a response from this person yet.  A third professor shared interests with mine, but will be retiring in the spring and won't take on any more students.  He ended his e-mail with, "....., I believe _____________’s program could be an ideal place for your doctoral studies.  I urge you to contact Dr. ________ to discuss his/her work."  So that is decidedly more positive than the other school.  This University does not have rolling admissions and sends their info in Feb/March and funding info in April/May

 

It seems as though if I do get into the first choice, I will know about funding right away, so I could potentially find out fully about that school in January.  I'd assume that I'd have to commit to that school before March or potentially May where I'd find out from the other school.  What do people do in this situation?  Take the first one immediately because you never know about the second one? A few people in my cohort suggested you'd accept the first one, and then just take it back if the second one offered something better, but that kinda sounds like a scum bag move. 

 

tl;dr I'm counting my chickens before they've hatched and asking what to do about getting into two programs that haven't accepted me yet, and asking what to do if the commit deadline at one school is before the acceptance date at another.

 

-I'm sorry if I'm flooding your forum with the same questions you always get.  I haven't spent too much time here but I've spent a lot of time on the various forums and know how annoying that gets.  I did try to search some and read the longer threads.  Thanks in advance for your time/help

[fuzzylogician]

If and when you get an offer, assuming it has an early decision date, you ask to extend it. Most PhD programs will be bound by the April 15 deadline even if they would prefer it if you decided earlier (and may try to pressure you into doing so). You will not be the first person to encounter this dilemma, and they will understand. Just see what you can negotiate. Then contact the school whose decision you are still waiting on, explain that you have another offer with a decision deadline, and ask when you might expect to hear back from them. It may speed the decision/notification along. Also FYI, if a school is bound by the April 15 deadline, that also means you can change your mind about accepting their offer without repercussions until that date. However, I would recommend against doing this if possible because even if it's allowed, you might upset people unnecessarily. So basically, wait it out, negotiate more time to decide if needed, contact other schools to expedite your decision, and decide when you have all the information.

[TakeruK]

The quick answer to your question is that in general, many programs adhere to the "Council of Graduate Schools Resolution" aka the "April 15th resolution" http://www.gdnet.ucla.edu/asis/entsup/resolution.pdf where many schools agree to not ask their applicants to accept or reject a financial offer before April 15th. Note that this is a resolution about financial offers, not admission offers, but in funded PhD programs, those two are almost synonymous. 

 

Thus, the quick answer is that a school that makes an offer in January will hopefully allow you to wait until April 15 to decide, so that you don't have to accept it before learning about other outcomes. This might not always be the case, since there is no legal binding power of the above resolution. But, in general, many schools will grant you an extension on your decision timeline if you ask for one and let them know there is another decision you are waiting for.

Edited December 11, 2013 by TakeruK

[Dry]

If and when you get an offer, assuming it has an early decision date, you ask to extend it. Most PhD programs will be bound by the April 15 deadline even if they would prefer it if you decided earlier (and may try to pressure you into doing so). You will not be the first person to encounter this dilemma, and they will understand. Just see what you can negotiate. Then contact the school whose decision you are still waiting on, explain that you have another offer with a decision deadline, and ask when you might expect to hear back from them. It may speed the decision/notification along. Also FYI, if a school is bound by the April 15 deadline, that also means you can change your mind about accepting their offer without repercussions until that date. However, I would recommend against doing this if possible because even if it's allowed, you might upset people unnecessarily. So basically, wait it out, negotiate more time to decide if needed, contact other schools to expedite your decision, and decide when you have all the information.

 

Thanks, I know that for my MS program, they wanted me to commit literally the day of my interview with a second program.  I mailed it in and said better safe than sorry.  I didn't realize that there was a little flexibility.  I definitely won't say yes and then take it back, after all I may want to work/post doc there and that may hurt that chance

The quick answer to your question is that in general, many programs adhere to the "Council of Graduate Schools Resolution" aka the "April 15th resolution" http://www.gdnet.ucla.edu/asis/entsup/resolution.pdf where many schools agree to not ask their applicants to accept or reject a financial offer before April 15th. Note that this is a resolution about financial offers, not admission offers, but in funded PhD programs, those two are almost synonymous. 

 

Thus, the quick answer is that a school that makes an offer in January will hopefully allow you to wait until April 15 to decide, so that you don't have to accept it before learning about other outcomes. This might not always be the case, since there is no legal binding power of the above resolution. But, in general, many schools will grant you an extension on your decision timeline if you ask for one and let them know there is another decision you are waiting for.

Thanks.  If/when this becomes an issue I'll just make my situation known and be sure to communicate with both schools about it