NEED HELP QUICK!!

[Guest confused]

ok... so, i JUST sent in my acceptance to program B (2nd choice) because i did not get funding at program A(1st choice). The funding from prog.B is awful (1/2 year covered). Then I get a call from prog. A today offering me full tuition + stipend. I am soo excited but what do I do?? can i reject prog B after I already accepted? Do people do this and is it possible to do legally as well as professionally? please help....

[Guest Ida]

I think it is perfectly ok for you to accept offer A and write to B to (regretfully) inform them you are no longer going there, because you were just informed about the acceptance from A, which is offering a full financial package. Since the program B is not treating you as nicely as A, they should not be surprised by your decision, or by your reasoning for the withdrawal. State that economic reasons are your motivation and you cannot study at B with this funding. And you just accepted B, so it should not be bad.

Just do it politely and you should be fine.

[Guest hydsnare]

as a first step u must read up on this resolution that many schools have signed up for at

http://www.cgsnet.org/portals/0/pdf/CGS ... ne2005.pdf

- once u read that perhaps you can make a more informed decision.... the ethical concerns are something that all of us wrestle with -my $0.02 is that you probably shoudl follow the rules that are laid out here as they do protect all the parties concerned

[Guest GRAD]

ok... so, i JUST sent in my acceptance to program B (2nd choice) because i did not get funding at program A(1st choice). The funding from prog.B is awful (1/2 year covered). Then I get a call from prog. A today offering me full tuition + stipend. I am soo excited but what do I do?? can i reject prog B after I already accepted? Do people do this and is it possible to do legally as well as professionally? please help....

You are not in a binding agreement so you can change your mind at any time. I think it is just one of those things that is considered bad form (breaking a verbal agreement, taking someone else’s spot whose first choice may be program B, etc.). However, given that you got into your first choice and there is such a difference in the financial situation, I think you are totally justified in your decision. You may want to consider talking with a professor you know well or maybe even someone at program A about how to handle this tactfully. You don’t want to burn any bridges.

[menachem]

By now you've probably already made your decision, but I would certainly have decided to go to place A. They two school are doing what's best for them, and you should do what's best for you. This is probably the only time in your graduate career that you'll have some control over your future; use it well. Explain to B that A was your first choice, and that they've given you a much better package. They'll understand; they deal with many of these cases every year. I'm sure some end up turning down B last second and going to A.

When I was in a similar situation, the head of a large department at a top school told me that if "something really good comes from the other places, you can change your mind. It isn't nice, but what choice do you have. You don't have to worry about anyone remembering this a few years down the line at the jilted school." In the end, I heard back from my first choice, where I was waitlisted, right before I told the other place yes, but I still would have gone to choice A, even if I had already said yes to B.