Advice: if you're on a wait list don't give up early, don't settle because you don't want to wait until late afternoon on the 15th.

[philosopher king]

It's scary but don't give up. It could matter a huge amount for your future, if you get into the better program.

Edited April 15, 2016 by philosopher king

[R614]

Does anyone know how late offers might be extended? I've been told that I must respond to my current offer by 4:00 PM Eastern, which is only 1:00 PM for one of the places on the west coast that I'm waiting on..

Edited April 15, 2016 by R614

[TakeruK]

If possible, if you are holding out for a waitlist offer, ask for an extension with your top-choice accepted school (decline all your other offers) and check in with your waitlisted school(s) to find out what their post-April 15 plans are. Some schools will be able to make new offers as soon as they get declines on April 15, others might take a few days to re-evaluate their pool and make offers on the next business day.

[philosopher king]

1 hour ago, TakeruK said:

If possible, if you are holding out for a waitlist offer, ask for an extension with your top-choice accepted school (decline all your other offers) and check in with your waitlisted school(s) to find out what their post-April 15 plans are. Some schools will be able to make new offers as soon as they get declines on April 15, others might take a few days to re-evaluate their pool and make offers on the next business day.

that IMO shouldn't happen and, to my knowledge, won't be permitted by most schools.

[TakeruK]

20 minutes ago, philosopher king said:

that IMO shouldn't happen and, to my knowledge, won't be permitted by most schools.

Maybe a difference in fields then! Sorry if this wasn't relevant to philosophy programs (still, I'd say it won't hurt to ask, if it was not already April 14)

[rising_star]

10 hours ago, philosopher king said:

that IMO shouldn't happen and, to my knowledge, won't be permitted by most schools.

Actually, there are schools that do permit it because they would rather do that than turn down people on their waitlist only to have a spot open up later after you decide to ask for a release from your offer.

[AnonymousMonad]

12 hours ago, R614 said:

Does anyone know how late offers might be extended? I've been told that I must respond to my current offer by 4:00 PM Eastern, which is only 1:00 PM for one of the places on the west coast that I'm waiting on..

Might be worth telling the west coast school that you have an offer you have to accept by 4ET/1PT? Maybe tell them in the guise of asking what they would advise you to do.

But I've no experience with this. Just making up stuff as I go.

I know one of the places I'm waitlisted at gave their prospectives with offers until 4:30 ET. Which is great for me. The one offer I'm holding on to gave me no such deadline, but just as soon as I know, before the end of the day.

Edited April 15, 2016 by AnonymousMonad

[philgrad]

12 hours ago, R614 said:

Does anyone know how late offers might be extended? I've been told that I must respond to my current offer by 4:00 PM Eastern, which is only 1:00 PM for one of the places on the west coast that I'm waiting on..

I know at least one MA program that has some degree of flexibility on this, precisely for your situation.  Not sure about PhD programs but I can't imagine it being impossible.

If I were you I would definitely email your current offer school to let them know that you're waiting on a west coast school's decision (and give them the specific deadline of that west coast school so they know you'll respond within the day) and ask for an extension by a few hours.  You might also consider emailing the west coast school to let them know that they're your first choice (that is if they are), and let them know this situation as well, so that they will notify you as soon as your status changes.

Good luck!

Edited April 15, 2016 by philgrad

[Kel Varnsen]

Are schools actually allowed to compel a decision by a certain time prior to 11:59 pm?  The CGS rules state "students are under no obligation to respond to offers of financial support prior to April 15".  Nothing about precise times is mentioned.

[Davidspring]

It sounds like many applicants still hold out multiple offers at this point...This doesn't make sense, right?

[AnonymousMonad]

10 minutes ago, Kel Varnsen said:

Are schools actually allowed to compel a decision by a certain time prior to 11:59 pm?  The CGS rules state "students are under no obligation to respond to offers of financial support prior to April 15".  Nothing about precise times is mentioned.

Wouldn't "prior to April 15" strictly speaking mean "April 14th or earlier"?

Edited April 15, 2016 by AnonymousMonad

[AnonymousMonad]

9 minutes ago, Davidspring said:

It sounds like many applicants still hold out multiple offers at this point...This doesn't make sense, right?

I'm only holding on to one offer right now. But I can imagine a scenario in which someone might have good reason to hold on to multiple offers. For example, if School A is trying to match or beat School B's offer, and School A's success would be decisive.

I don't know if that happens this late. But it happens.

Edited April 15, 2016 by AnonymousMonad

[Davidspring]

1 minute ago, AnonymousMonad said:

I'm only holding on to one offer right now. But I can imagine a scenario in which someone might have good reason to hold on to multiple offers. For example, if School A is trying to match or beat School B's offer, and School A's success would be decisive.

I agree that holding on to two offers is reasonable.  But I have to say that more than that would throw our waitlisters into fire...

[WillComeTrue]

Hi, I am new to this topic, the insurmountable anxiety led me here. Still waiting at my top/only choice. They specifically stated that they would let their waitlisted applicants know about their status before or by 4/15, which is TODAY.

I still haven't heard anything, and while I am trying to be patient, I am thinking about sending them an email reiterating my interests in the school, and that it is my top choice and I would like to find out about my waitlisted status at this point.

This school does not have PI admitting each student, but mass interview invitation leads to ~10 offers and ~10 waitlists. They did not specify the selection process but I assume factors such as research interests overlap matter to avoid competition for resources.

Would this hurt me, letting them to think that I can't wait for just one more day? or would this at least make them think that I am really interested in getting in that it would make a bit of difference in re-evaluating the last-minute offers going out possibly today?

I have not sent a single email after they let me know that I was on the waitlist, so I guess one email wouldn't hurt and seriously nothing would actually matter at this point so it may at least bring the news faster, but at the same time I think to myself why not wait one more day, they value student's patience.

 

[R614]

1 hour ago, philgrad said:

I know at least one MA program that has some degree of flexibility on this, precisely for your situation.  Not sure about PhD programs but I can't imagine it being impossible.

If I were you I would definitely email your current offer school to let them know that you're waiting on a west coast school's decision (and give them the specific deadline of that west coast school so they know you'll respond within the day) and ask for an extension by a few hours.  You might also consider emailing the west coast school to let them know that they're your first choice (that is if they are), and let them know this situation as well, so that they will notify you as soon as your status changes.

Good luck!

Thanks for the advice! I've emailed both places, so I guess it's just waiting game now. Although, given the time constraint, would it perhaps be more sensible to call these places? I'm quite anxious, as it's already 12PM ET.

Edited April 15, 2016 by R614

[philgrad]

19 minutes ago, R614 said:

Thanks for the advice! I've emailed both places, so I guess it's just waiting game now. Although, given the time constraint, would it perhaps be more sensible to call these places? I'm quite anxious, as it's already 12PM ET.

Probably everyone is close to their email today, including program directors.  But if say within the next couple of hours you don't get a response from the current offer school either way, then call to make sure they received your email.  When doing so you'll likely also get your answer over the phone as to the possibility of an extension.

I wouldn't call the west coast school unless you just want to make sure they received your email, since it's out of their hands whether current offer holders decline.  It's only 9am over here so it's still several hours away.  You've done all that you can now that you've reiterated your clear interest in their program.

Try to distract yourself for the next two hours!

Edited April 15, 2016 by philgrad

[R614]

1 minute ago, philgrad said:

Probably everyone is close to their email today, including program directors.  But if say within the next couple of hours you don't get a response from the current offer school either way, then call to make sure they received your email.  When doing so you'll likely also get your answer over the phone as to the possibility of an extension.

I wouldn't call the west coast school unless you just want to make sure they received your email, since it's out of their hands whether current offers holders decline by 1pm.  It's only 9am over here now so it's still several hours away.  You've done all that you can now that you've reiterated your clear interest in their program.

Try to distract yourself for the next two hours!

Thanks again for your input! I wish distraction was even reasonably feasible for me, but I've obsessively refreshing my email for hours now. Hopefully some clarity is provided to all those in a similar position somewhat soon.