What do I need to know before accepting an offer?

[barndu]

Hi,

Context:

accepted to two MS degree programs in Biomedical Engineering, waiting on a few more decisions.

Questions:

1. One of the programs is asking for a decision by March 13th, giving me two weeks from notification to accept or decline. Is this common?
2. What is the general process for finding a lab in which I would work on my master's thesis? Does this come before or after I accept an offer? I feel like it would make sense to accept an offer based on knowing where I would be conducting research. Is it possible that the labs I'm interested in to fill their research assistantship spots by the time I accept my offer, thus resulting in me attending a school without an opportunity to conduct research I'm interested in?
3. Should I begin contacting faculty I'm interested in working with before or after I accept the offer? Should I contact multiple professors? (I've listed 2 or 3 faculty I'm interested in working with in my application/SoP).

I guess overall, how limited is the information available to me prior to accepting an offer of admission regarding funding, research, etc? Hopefully these questions belong in this subforum. Thanks, any input is appreciated. 

[qkhitai]

1) Yes, this is common - I had exactly the same thing.

2) I don't know about that, sorry. Something you need to ask the university about I imagine.

3) You should definitely be talking to current faculty/grad students at this point, especially if information so far has been limited. I'd probably start out with the professor you would most want to work with and see where it goes from there. You should also know what funding you will or will not be receiving before you accept anything.

[TakeruK]

For #2, definitely ask now. Ask the program how the MS advisor is assigned: do students pick one prior to arrival or is it something you sort out during the first semester. You should also contact your top MS advisor choices and see if they will take students. Note that some MS programs do not have thesis components and thus no advisor (assuming this is not the case since you are mentioning a thesis but just double checking). You wouldn't want to accept an offer to a school where all of your top advisor choices don't have time for you.

[fuzzylogician]

1) it happens, yes. 

2) contact the schools and ask. There's more than one way of doing things, and only the relevant schools can tell you their procedures. (Also check to see if there is information online on the department's website or in a graduate student handbook.)

3) yes, talk to professors. I would suggest talking to everyone who is a potential advisor. Personal connections are going to be very important to your success as a student. It's best if you can have a meeting in person, but even a Skype conversation will give you valuable information about how you feel interacting with each person. Also ask to talk to current students at the relevant labs you are considering, to get their take on their lab and school. Again, try at least for Skype conversations; email won't be as useful, because people may not leave a written record of their negative impressions, but they are much more likely to tell you in a one-on-one conversation.