How to decline an offer?

[toomanycooks]

Hi all,

 

There are a few programs which have offered me admission and I wish to decline. I have read threads on other GradCafe forums which explain how to do so tactfully, and also a great blog post here: http://science-professor.blogspot.com/2010/03/go-ahead-reject-me.html

 

However, many have noted that programs may be interested to learn where you have decided to ultimately attend. My problem is that I have not actually made a final decision, but I know I would choose the 2-3 programs still in the running over X University's program.

 

Given how tight knit the research community is (especially since I am a MA student with solidified interests and applied only to programs who excel in that area), how do I decline an offer quickly so as to make room for those who would like to attend, without having to show my hand?

 

Has anyone declined offers so far? Was this even an issue for you?

 

Thanks in advance for your responses!

[.letmeinplz//]

If you would still like to tell them where you have decided to go, you could always wait until you made the final decision.

 

So

> Gracefully decline their offer without naming names

>> They ask for names

> You wait to reply until you have finally decided on your school.

 

Don't feel like you have to respond to their response email immediately, I'm sure they will take your response whenever you decide to give it (I guess they use the knowledge for statistics?).

[brokenwindow]

I would simply politely decline via email, explaining that you are still deciding between a couple other programs but wanted to open up this spot in their cohort.

[alienatedlabor]

After you formally decline an offer, do you email all the professors/POI who have reached out to you to let them know?

 

I emailed a few professors who had detailed conversations with me, but there were some POIs who simply emailed me with "congrats! let me know if you have questions". I suspect that they are busy people who don't really keep track of this and don't care that I've declined the offer, but I don't want to inadvertently leave them hanging or something, especially since the academic world is pretty small.  

[faculty]

You don't have to email anyone other than whoever is running admissions (DGS, chair, administrator, or someone else).

 

If there is someone who really went to bat for you or worked hard to recruit you or something, it might be nice to say thank you and let them know, but the admission folks will share the news soon enough so it's really not necessary.

 

If you don't jerk people around in the process, you're not going to generate ill will.

[Darth.Vegan]

The hardest one was a potential advisor at the University of Victoria. She had written me detailed emails and was very generous with her time. I just wrote her a very polite email and explained that I really appreciated the time she put in with me but that I had chosen a different program for x,y and z reasons. She was very understanding.