April 15th Deadline & Waitlists

[orangegreenblue]

What if you accept your admission for a school but then you find out after the April 15th deadline that you also go into a school which you were waitlisted? Could you potentially go back on this commitment and go elsewhere? 

[Cowsy]

I'm hoping beyond hope that this doesn't happen to me. I would almost (ALMOST) rather get outright rejected than have to deal with the uncertainty of accepting one school's offer yet still holding out hope for another. And this doesn't even touch on the ethical issues and guilt I would feel from essentially going back on a promise. To actually answer your question though: from what I've read, at least, this does happen in our field and others, and while schools obviously frown on it, I don't think there's anything legally binding us to a school if we later decide on a different one. But I'm interested in any other insights...

[Tish22]

Although I have no personal experience with this, I do know this happens. Many universities often anticipate it, its sometimes the point of the waitlist? I have had friends who received calls a week before classes began (in August) from schools offering a seat in their program.  Schools try to bind you by typically having a ~$500 non-refundable deposit. But in many cases, this has certainly happened in the past. Especially when it comes down to funding and what not. It would essentially be hard to pass up a schools offer that would leave you less in debt.

Lets all keep our fingers crossed we get into our top choices before so we do not have to cross this bridge! 

[orangegreenblue]

2 hours ago, Tish22 said:

Although I have no personal experience with this, I do know this happens. Many universities often anticipate it, its sometimes the point of the waitlist? I have had friends who received calls a week before classes began (in August) from schools offering a seat in their program.  Schools try to bind you by typically having a ~$500 non-refundable deposit. But in many cases, this has certainly happened in the past. Especially when it comes down to funding and what not. It would essentially be hard to pass up a schools offer that would leave you less in debt.

Lets all keep our fingers crossed we get into our top choices before so we do not have to cross this bridge! 

Yeah, a $500 deposit would be essentially nothing if you could save thousands at a cheaper school that originally waitlisted you..

[slptobe92]

I've definitely heard of people doing this. I'm sure the schools it happens to don't love it but they probably expect it. You'll lose your deposit but it's worth it if you get into your dream school or somewhere with better financial aid.

[Tish22]

For those of you who have received acceptances, was april 15th your deadline? I heard of schools with deadlines pushed to May this year, not sure how true that is though.

I know its only march 3rd, but i already feel like april is right around the corner, I find myself more and more anxious

[talkingcake]

From an ethical standpoint, it would be a good idea to ask the original program about if you were to cancel, would they would be able to quickly accept someone off the waitlist to take your place?

I've heard stories of 2 nearby Occupational Therapy programs where the start date for one school is about the same as the admission notification date for another school (I think this was for winter/spring admissions?).  There were students in the past who would start attending the first school, only to get an acceptance from the second school and quit after a couple days.  In that case, you'd be taking away a spot that could've gone to someone else, not to mention you're taking away funding from the department!  So I'd say that would be unethical.

But if there are 400 applicants, and you go back on your acceptance many months in advance, and the committee will immediately accept the next person on the waiting list... I don't think that's nearly as unethical.  It is still a bit unethical because some people higher on the waiting list might have already started getting ready to go to another program, and maybe they're not so willing to switch anymore.  That being said, I understand that cancelling might sometimes be necessary.

[MangoSmoothie]

There are past threads on this you can search for more opinions, but yes, you absolutely can, and there's little or no ethical dilemma. However, I wouldn't even hint to the program you accept that you might withdraw after April 15th, because if you don't withdraw, then you've changed their perception of you. Graduate programs are well prepared for these things to happen, especially in professional master's programs.

Again, programs anticipate this happening. It's barely a problem if you do it soon after the 15th deadline, since they're likely already pulling people from the waitlist and that's just one more spot. You worked hard to get into a graduate program, and you should pick the absolute right pick for you, even if that happens after the April 15th deadline. You didn't do anything wrong by accepting an option that was presented to you at the time.

I may be biased because I did do this. The program I sent my intent to enroll in to was my top choice of all the schools I was accepted to before April 15th. Then my second choice program accepted me in early May, and I decided to attend because it would save me $35,000 in tuition. Oddly, none of the programs that accepted me required a deposit to hold my spot, but as mentioned, a nonrefundable deposit is the way in which they try to discourage this behavior (so clearly they don't like). Obviously, you do not want to abuse the system, but I personally think it's fine if you do this, and programs do expect it to happen. They maintain their waitlists and they can find someone to take your spot more often than not.

Try your best to not do it, but if it happens, it happens. The sooner the better, especially before June.

I will say, if you end up having to doing this, I would give a very polite, personal call or a personal email to the graduate program coordinator when you decide to rescind your acceptance. I did this, and the coordinator was extremely understanding and kind. She was very supportive of my decision, although she tried to get me to stay, and even offered to search for funding for me. You need to have your best interest at heart, and they know that.

[cmkay25]

I'm currently going through this dilemma. I was accepted into a program on 2/25 and they needed me to respond to this acceptance with a $500 deposit by 3/6. Now, this program is my fourth choice school, but I am so worried I will not get in elsewhere that I am going to accept their admissions offer and just hope I get into one of my top choices. It sucks that I have to put that much money down, but as mentioned above, if I can save $30k in the long run, I am going to take advantage of that if the opportunity presents itself. Stressing about this decision has really put a damper on actually getting accepted lol. 

[Tish22]

Wow! Thats so soon for them to expect you to make a decision! Especially when most schools do not contact students until mid-march! How stressful - congratulations and best of luck! I hope you still get into your top choice! despite the financial loss 

[cmkay25]

I know! I was so excited because the Dean called me, and then I got the letter a few days later and I was like oh  lol but thank you so much!! Best of luck to you as well!!