Need help deciding on an offer of admission

[Negeen]

I applied late to only one university - let's call it C - in Canada last year (because I couldn't meet other universities' application deadlines), and got admitted into their MEng program. It's not a very good university in my field and I decided to defer my admission to Fall 2014 because I wanted to apply to some better-ranked schools in the US as well. I love everything about C, the only thing that made me hesitate was thinking that I could do better. I didn't want to have any regrets thinking that I didn't try for better schools.

 

This year, I applied to 10 universities, and haven't heard from any of them yet. The problem is, C wants me to accept/decline their offer by March 1. I'm starting to panic thinking I might not get an offer from any of these 10 universities (even though 7 of them are well aligned with my background and qualifications), and C might be my only chance

 

C requires a $250 deposit. What do you think I should do? Should I decline their offer and hope for the best? Or should I accept their offer, pay the deposit, and then turn it down if I get into a better school? Is this something that people do? Accept and then decide not to go? It feels so wrong to break a commitment like this...

[phdcandidate022014]

Don't break your commitment. Based on your message, it sounds like you'd definitely be happier with 7 of those schools (since you said 7 match up well).  So if you turned down C, and got turned down from all 7 that you say are a good fit, but got into one or more of the remaining 3, would you be happy?

 

Another thing to consider is whether the quality of the US schools you applied to are that much better than your C school.  If the difference is marginal, it may be better to go with the known commodity in C.  

[dhg12]

1) I am pretty certain I know which school you're talking about (irrelevant to my opinion, just wanted to throw it out there)

 

2) I feel that if you think you have a really good chance at getting into one of those other 7 schools, then it might be worth it to decline C's offer. Yes they have a good program, but just because it is a good program/a well known program does not mean that you would be happy there. You'll probably happier somewhere that better matches your interests. Otherwise, I would weigh out some of the financial aspects. What is the cost of living if you were to go to C vs the other schools? If you can get a good degree from a good program and end up in significantly less debt, then that is definitely something to consider as well (not saying quality should be forsaken for finances, because a lot of the pricy schools also offer great funding, but putting yourself in more debt than you need to is probably something to be avoided)

[Negeen]

So if you turned down C, and got turned down from all 7 that you say are a good fit, but got into one or more of the remaining 3, would you be happy?

 

I meant 7 of them are reasonable choices. The other 3 are a bit out of my league, so if I get into them I would be extremely happy. Overall, all 10 are better than C and I would be happier with them.

 

1) I am pretty certain I know which school you're talking about (irrelevant to my opinion, just wanted to throw it out there)

 

Actually it's one of the schools that you have applied to. Apart from C, I have applied to 2 other schools from your list Only these 2 in Canada and the rest in the US. If I get admitted into one of these 2 schools, I would probably choose them over the US schools. They are much cheaper and have very good programs. Not as good as my US choices though, but just like you said, I don't want to put myself in too much debt.

 

I guess I have to wait and see what happens. For now, I guess I have to let C go. All of the 10 schools that I have applied to this year have better programs than C, And I think I will get into at least one of them (fingers crossed).

 

Thank you guys for responding

Edited February 27, 2014 by Negeen