Council of Graduate Schools Acceptance Resolution

[MaytheSchwartzBeWithYou]

Hey all,

I don't know if this has been posted before, but I found this Council of Graduate Schools "Resolution Regarding Graduate Scholars, Fellows, Trainees and Assistants" on Cornell's website while checking my application status and thought it might be helpful. It basically states the conditions of accepting offers (they refer here specifically to financial offers) and affirms an agreed-upon acceptance deadline of no earlier than April 15th. At the bottom of the resolution is a list of schools in agreement with the resolution.

Take a look!

Council of Graduate Schools Resolution Regarding Graduate Scholars, Fellows, Trainees and Assistants.pdf

[Neist]

Link's broken. Here's a link to their page.

[MaytheSchwartzBeWithYou]

4 minutes ago, Neist said:

Link's broken. Here's a link to their page.

Ugh, sorry. I uploaded a PDF, so not sure why it's not working. 

Thanks!

[Eigen]

And as a PSA, remember that this is only a "gentleman's agreement" between schools to help prevent poaching. It is in no way binding on the schools, including the signatories of the resolution. 

It's also important to remember (as mentioned) that this *only* refers to financial offers. A school can still set an earlier deadline for acceptance to the program, just not any accompanying financial offer. 

Similarly, this resolution also requires applicants to obtain written consent from any school they have accepted an offer from after April 15th if they no longer wish to attend that school. Similarly, any signatory to the resolution is supposed to require the written consent from that other school before accepting an applicant after April 15th. 

Text here for those who don't want to follow the link:

Acceptance of an offer of financial support* (such as a graduate scholarship, fellowship, traineeship, or assistantship) for the next academic year by a prospective or enrolled graduate student completes an agreement that both student and graduate school expect to honor. In that context, the conditions affecting such offers and their acceptance must be defined carefully and understood by all parties.

Students are under no obligation to respond to offers of financial support prior to April 15; earlier deadlines for acceptance of such offers violate the intent of this Resolution. In those instances in which a student accepts an offer before April 15, and sub- sequently desires to withdraw that acceptance, the student may submit in writing a resignation of the appointment at any time through April 15. However, an acceptance given or left in force after April 15 commits the student not to accept another offer without first obtaining a written release from the institution to which a commitment has been made. Similarly, an offer by an insti- tution after April 15 is conditional on presentation by the student of the written release from any previously accepted offer. It is further agreed by the institutions and organizations subscribing to the above Resolution that a copy of this Resolution or a link to the URL should accompany every scholarship, fellowship, traineeship, and assistantship offer. 

[Neist]

No problem at all!

I've linked this site a few times over the last week or two, so this post is a great idea. Thanks for doing it!