Conditional Admittance- Negotiable?

[bluemuffinfairy]

I was accepted into my 2nd choice grad school for an MA in English Lit program on Conditional Admittance (rejected from 1st, but oh well).  All I need to do to make it Regular Admittance is get a 3.0 or better in one of the required English classes.  I don't feel like that will be a problem, as my goal is to eventually work towards a PhD and if I can't get a 3.0 or better I'm pretty sure that will kill my chances of getting into a PhD later.  

 

The issue, though, is I had applied for Graduate Assistant positions, but as a Conditional Admit I'm now ineligible for those.  In anyone's experience, is it an option, and a wise one at that, to contact someone in the admissions department and see if I can be admitted under Regular admission to remain eligible for an assistantship?  On one hand, if they didn't feel strongly enough about me to give me regular admission in the first place, they might not have granted me an assistantship anyway.  On the other, I felt like I was a strong candidate for the assistantship because I had spent almost two years working as a teacher's aide for a professor in undergrad who wrote an excellent letter for my application, which I thought would be strongly in my favor.  What are your thoughts?

 

Also, I did get regular admittance to my 3rd choice school, but that is also no funding, and it's more expensive per credit hour.  So I'm thinking the 2nd choice on Conditional is better than Regular to the 3rd choice, but am I totally wrong in that?

Edited February 21, 2014 by bluemuffinfairy

[ChasingMavericks]

I think it never hurts to ask. Perhaps if it was a test score or something that ultimately landed you on conditional admittance then who knows perhaps they will allow you to retake the test and if you score better become a regular admit. You just never know until you ask. It's up to you which school is ultimately going to be the best for you. 

 

Personally, I think you should totally go for the conditional admit since that is your 2nd choice, now 1st choice. It will be hard going without funding for the first semester, but maybe ask about opportunities for the second semester and then you will also be eligible for the next year as well. There are definitely still options down the line to help with funding, they just aren't right here right now. I am actually a conditional admit to my 1st choice and I am pretty sure I am still going to attend. I too am hoping to move forward to a PhD afterwards so we have to strive for those 3.0s anyway! 

 

Good luck to you!

[bluemuffinfairy]

Thanks so much for the response!  I was worried it might seem pushy if I tried to talk myself into a regular admittance, and I didn't want to offend them since I'm rather grateful they took me in the first place.  Luckily my current part-time job is flexible enough that I should be able to go to school and work, which will minimize the amount of aid I need.  Then I can try again for an assistant position next year.  

   Thank you again!  And good luck to you too!

[bsharpe269]

I agree, it doesnt hurt to ask!