PhD Wait List offer at Top Choice after Accepting Another Offer

[ts1493]

I have been waiting for a while to hear back from my top choice (a social policy program).  I've been admitted to three other PhD programs and one of them had a deadline of March 24th.  I know that is unusual but it's a great program and that's how they choose to do things.  

I wrote to the top choice letting them know that I was going to be in town in mid March and I would love to stop by,  and also that I had another offer that was requesting that I respond by late March and asking whether they might have any update by mid March or so on my application.  I didn't receive any response from the admissions department to my email and there have been no updates on the admission page since I applied in December. 

Without any other information to go on, I accepted the offer at my second choice, also to make sure that other schools would have time to make offers to their other candidates.  And then several days later I received an email from the top choice school saying I was among the very strongest applicants and that they wanted to offer me a spot on the wait list.  The email says I would likely hear back from them at the end of April on whether or not there is a spot in the program next year.  

What are my obligations to the top choice school (offering me a wait list spot) and the second choice school (where I have already accepted)?  How do things work with admissions after April 15th?  I understand that admissions programs have until April 15th but hearing on March 26th and not getting any information at all when I emailed in March put me in a tough spot.  I also feel like the experience has been so different with that admission program, where things have felt pretty impersonal along the way.  I felt I made the best choice I could with the information that I had, but if a spot opened up at my top choice I would want to take that spot.  thoughts? 

[GradSchoolTruther]

Where you offered funding by the school that you accepted? The April 15 resolution only applies to funding.

[ts1493]

On 3/29/2016 at 3:07 PM, GradSchoolTruther said:

Where you offered funding by the school that you accepted? The April 15 resolution only applies to funding.

Yes, i was offered a generous funding package.