Odd Question Re: Accepting an Offer

[MTAdventuress]

If you applied and are accepted into multiple schools, when you accept one of the offers, are all of the schools alerted or able to see if you've made an admissions decision?  I.e. I got into XYZ and UVW.  I accept UVW, can XYZ see that I've accepted an offer? 

I can definitely share the background reason for this question, but it's not as shady as it seems, I promise

[DiscoTech]

No.

[ThousandsHardships]

46 minutes ago, MTAdventuress said:

If you applied and are accepted into multiple schools, when you accept one of the offers, are all of the schools alerted or able to see if you've made an admissions decision?  I.e. I got into XYZ and UVW.  I accept UVW, can XYZ see that I've accepted an offer? 

I can definitely share the background reason for this question, but it's not as shady as it seems, I promise

No, their records are separate and they will not see if you've accepted another offer. However, please alert the schools that you do not plan to attend ASAP to help out the poor souls out there who might be waitlisted for either admissions or funding.

Edited March 30, 2017 by ThousandsHardships

[MTAdventuress]

Thanks @DiscoTech and @ThousandsHardships

I did respond to my offers as I narrowed them down for that exact reason.  There's just one school that I plan to deny, but the school has been really reluctant to refund me the money I spent to visit (I received a recruitment scholarship to visit).  I was just worried that they would make the process even more difficult if they knew I wasn't going to attend.  That may just be in my head, but it has been such a difficult process that I want to avoid making it harder.

[TakeruK]

1 hour ago, MTAdventuress said:

Thanks @DiscoTech and @ThousandsHardships

I did respond to my offers as I narrowed them down for that exact reason.  There's just one school that I plan to deny, but the school has been really reluctant to refund me the money I spent to visit (I received a recruitment scholarship to visit).  I was just worried that they would make the process even more difficult if they knew I wasn't going to attend.  That may just be in my head, but it has been such a difficult process that I want to avoid making it harder.

Schools are used to reimbursing people that don't attend their program. As long as you have it in writing that they will reimburse you, then it should not affect things. 

You don't have to say, but it might help to answer: What do you mean by "reluctant to refund [you] the money". Are they saying that they don't want to do it? Or is the process just slow? For a point of reference, you should expect reimbursements to take up to 3 months** to finish, especially if you are not a current student or employee there (so even if you accept their offer, it won't make things any faster since you won't be a student there until the fall). 

(** Note: 3 months is an extreme case: my slowest reimbursement came in May for a February visit. 2 months (8 weeks) is more normal. One school did not even start the reimbursement process until 1 month after my visit because they had such a big backlog of other requests.)

So, if they had already said they will reimburse you, then you shouldn't have to worry about your decision affecting this. 

[MTAdventuress]

16 hours ago, TakeruK said:

Schools are used to reimbursing people that don't attend their program. As long as you have it in writing that they will reimburse you, then it should not affect things. 

You don't have to say, but it might help to answer: What do you mean by "reluctant to refund [you] the money". Are they saying that they don't want to do it? Or is the process just slow? For a point of reference, you should expect reimbursements to take up to 3 months** to finish, especially if you are not a current student or employee there (so even if you accept their offer, it won't make things any faster since you won't be a student there until the fall). 

(** Note: 3 months is an extreme case: my slowest reimbursement came in May for a February visit. 2 months (8 weeks) is more normal. One school did not even start the reimbursement process until 1 month after my visit because they had such a big backlog of other requests.)

So, if they had already said they will reimburse you, then you shouldn't have to worry about your decision affecting this. 

Ah, I guess that time frame helps. I had one school refund me in about a month, so that's what I was thinking would be average. 

By "reluctant" I meant that when I inquired about it, they suddenly needed more proof about the items I submitted.  It just felt like they were looking for reasons to not refund me the amount they said would be reimbursed.  While I work at a university and have to deal with justifying my expenses a lot to get reimbursed, it's usually a pretty quick process of letting me know what they need.  In this situation, there's a middle man which just makes it harder.  I worry that if I'm not checking in, something will get missed or not done.  The encounters I've had with the department have just left me slightly on guard. 

I appreciate your input and it's reassuring to know my decision shouldn't affect it!

[TakeruK]

On 3/31/2017 at 8:26 AM, MTAdventuress said:

Ah, I guess that time frame helps. I had one school refund me in about a month, so that's what I was thinking would be average. 

By "reluctant" I meant that when I inquired about it, they suddenly needed more proof about the items I submitted.  It just felt like they were looking for reasons to not refund me the amount they said would be reimbursed.  While I work at a university and have to deal with justifying my expenses a lot to get reimbursed, it's usually a pretty quick process of letting me know what they need.  In this situation, there's a middle man which just makes it harder.  I worry that if I'm not checking in, something will get missed or not done.  The encounters I've had with the department have just left me slightly on guard. 

I appreciate your input and it's reassuring to know my decision shouldn't affect it!

Glad to be helpful. If it also helps to add: every university is different. I've been at 3 different schools and submitted reimbursement requests for many others that I have not attended/worked at and those are different too. Some schools require very detailed information like itemized receipts while others are happy with just a per-diem! So I wouldn't say that asking for a lot of details means they are trying to avoid paying it, but the people asking you for the details are just doing their job and following school policy. Hope it works out!