<p>If you accept admissions to a Grad school but something happens and you want to reverse that acceptance, is that possible?</p>
<p>I don’t believe so, but it is highly unethical. If you received a better offer elsewhere and want to reverse the acceptance because of that, you may find your admittance withdrawn by all universities. </p>
<p>Actually, for engineering grad schools. Accepting and then backing out of an offer to attend itself is not that much of an issue. You just need to read the fine print when you accept an offer.</p>
<p>What is a much bigger issue, is accepting funding from grad school and backing out of that if you get a better offer. Yes, this can come back at you and other grad schools could potentially withdraw offers to attend or other funding offers. To be able to back out of a funding offer in PhD or Master’s programs you likely need a written ok from the school whose funding offer you are backing out of. Usually, the deadline to accept an offer is April 15th…I think. You shouldn’t make a decision until then.</p>
<p>With all that being said, I’ve heard of potential grad students backing out of funding offers and getting away with it, but it has deeply angered professors and limited these grad student’s future opportunities. There are funding agreements between universities that have to do with the student accepting funding rather than the student accepting an offer for admission. Below is the link from the council of grad schools…</p>
<p><a href=“https://www.cgsnet.org/ckfinder/userfiles/files/CGS_Resolution.pdf”>https://www.cgsnet.org/ckfinder/userfiles/files/CGS_Resolution.pdf</a></p>
<p>In some ways this is not fair from the students point of view. You can’t back out of an offer after April 15th, but universities can make offers at anytime. It definitely can cause conflict…</p>
<p>Let’s say that it happens because you got in off the waitlist…</p>
<p>I’m asking this as well for a non-funded master’s program- student pays tuition and all expenses. A student is being asked for a decision before hearing from the other schools. I am assuming that this is similar to accepting a spot and then getting accepted to another college later off a waitlist. Since the student does not know if there will be other acceptances, there is no choice other than to accept this one. </p>
<p>Isn’t April 15th a universal acceptance/rejection date?
if not universal, then definitely national. </p>
<p>I thought April 15 was the date as well, but the information I can find on that is about funded programs. This one is completely student-pay. The letter mentions a large volume of applicants. My best guess is that they are asking for students to indicate if they are still interested at this time, which this student is. It is one of the student’s top choices. I am assuming that if they are asking for an early commitment, that they are aware that some students have not heard from all the schools. </p>
<p>A school asking for an official commitment before April 15th…really?</p>
<p>Schools certainly can ask to, as a courtesy, for accepted applicants to say if they are interested or not as soon as they know. A courtesy is something freely given, and giving this info before April 15th is not always possible. </p>
<p>Are the schools asking this on the list of Council of Graduate School list I provided?</p>
<p><a href=“https://www.cgsnet.org/ckfinder/userfiles/files/CGS_Resolution.pdf”>https://www.cgsnet.org/ckfinder/userfiles/files/CGS_Resolution.pdf</a></p>
<p>This is interesting…what type of grad schools are doing this? Seems like they are really playing hardball and putting loads of pressure on students to make a decision.</p>
<p>I don’t want to post too much identifying info. The letter stated that that there was a large number of applicants and they wanted to know the decision quickly. I am assuming that they are looking mainly for students who already know they are attending another program as that would open a spot to extend to others.</p>
<p>Yes, the school is on the list, but this list may only apply to programs where the student is being funded. There is no funding involved and the student is not responding to a financial offer.</p>
<p>@Pennylane2011 Did they give a deadline for the decision to be made or are they just asking that applicants get back to them as soon as possible? In my experience, graduate programs understand that applicants may be making decisions between different programs and are respectful of that. To be honest, I don’t know if I would want to attend a program that forced me to respond to their offer before an official deadline. If they are being pressured into make a decision immediately before whatever deadline there is for decisions, have they tried just letting them know the situation? Perhaps, they could say that they are very grateful for the offer and are highly interested in attending their program, but need some time to consider other factors. If they are concerned that this would show disinterest, then they could go to the other programs and ask if they know when decisions will be made, since they have already received offers from other programs. Is this a program that has rolling admissions?</p>
<p>@Vani603 It’s not illegal, but in my opinion, it’s bad form to accept an offer and then renege on it with no warning and no really good reason. Academia is small, and word spreads.</p>
<p>No, they gave a deadline. There really is no choice except to accept the offer. It is the only offer the student has, and it also is a top choice. I understand that it puts the student in a difficult position, but there is no alternative at this time. </p>
<p>The qualms are with the student, who would feel badly breaking a commitment. Perhaps this is not an issue to the program which will easily fill spots if any students decline. It’s a large and popular program with a large waiting list. There is no funding, teaching, or research involved, so they may not be held to the agreement of April 15 .It seems to be more like undergraduate programs with rolling admissions that can take students off the waiting list as they get an opening.</p>
<p>I understand that there is no offer of financial support here, but for most grad schools, especially PhD programs and some masters programs, there is no difference between accepting admission and accepting the financial aid offer. Many PhD programs will not make an admissions offer without an accompanying financial aid offer. This means that backing out of an acceptance before April 15th should not be an issue. While the Grad School Council agreement specifically refers to financial aid offers, it kinda is assumed (and left unsaid) it also applies to accepting admission.</p>
<p>I’d say the student should not feel bad about withdrawing the acceptance before April 15th. It also seems like this grad school isn’t quite playing fair. It is unlikely to come back at this student.</p>
<p>With that being said, speaking to an official from the Grad School Council or from the student’s undergrad academic advising might be useful. </p>
<p>Seems like a unique situation that I’ve not seen before.</p>
<p>Yes, it seems odd to me too. This is a master’s program, and not connected to a PhD. Hopefully the other schools will send some information soon, and it will be determined at least by the deadline.</p>
<p>There are two sorts of answers to these questions: The ethical one and the practical/real world one.</p>
<p>The April 15 deadline applies to doctoral programs that offer funding and have signed the Council of Graduate Studies agreement. MA programs and programs that have not offered you funding, as well as any programs that aren’t signatories of that agreement, are not required to give you until April 15 to decide.</p>
<p>If a program suggests that you decide early as possible because they want to offer to other students, please ignore this suggestion and take as long as you need to, within reason. The decision about where to spend the next 2-7 years of your life, and possibly tens of thousands of dollars, isn’t one you can rush. And the university/program is looking out for its best interests when it tells you to rush - they want to snap up all the good students before someone else does. You are not concerned about that; let them worry.</p>
<p>If a program requires you to respond before the April 15 date/before you are ready/before you have decisions from other schools, that’s trickier. Generally, accepting and backing out later on <em>funded programs</em> is NOT a good idea, and should be a very last resort.</p>
<p>Pick up the phone and explain your circumstances to the school. Tell them that you really want to attend their program, but you’re waiting to hear back from other places and ask if they can give you a little more time. Many schools do this. On the other hand, you can call the programs you have ranked above this one and ask for their timeline, letting them know that you have another offer you are seriously considering. Some programs will speed up a little bit or give you a bit of information about where you stand if you do this.</p>
<p>If the program won’t budge, or you still haven’t heard back from Top Choice U by April 15, or you know you’re on the waitlist, you’re in a pickle. This is where ethical vs. practical comes in. Ethically, if you accept an offer, you should honor that decision and at least try it for a year before you leave or transfer.</p>
<p>Practically speaking, IMO, you have to do what’s best for you and your needs. Let’s say you are waitlisted for Top Choice U - where the top scholar in your field would be your adviser, there’s a 100% placement rate and everyone goes off into Happy Professor Land after graduating 4 years into the program - but accepted into Third Choice U. You accept 3CU by 4/15 but find out in July that you’re accepted off the waitlist to Top Choice U with full funding. Ethically, sure you should go to Third Choice U, but realistically speaking? Do you. No graduate program wants an unhappy student who’s constantly wishing they could’ve gone somewhere else. Yes, you may burn a bridge or two (or more) if you tell Third Choice U a month before the start date that you got accepted somewhere else and won’t be attending anymore. You have to decide whether attending your top choice is worth that to you. Remember that academia is a small world and the faculty at Third Choice may not be the only people who’s view of you is affected. Word can spread. But generally speaking, if it’s a clear choice/matter of research interests I think few sane professors/departments will really bedgrudge you for that long.</p>
<p>In my opinion, this applies to funded programs ONLY. If you’re considering some unfunded MA program (or, heaven forbid, an unfunded doctoral program) sure, go ahead and tell them you’re coming if you’re on the waitlist somewhere else, then back out later. They are making no commitment to you and can pluck another student off the street, and if you are paying $$$ out of your own pocket, it’s a different story.</p>
<p>Also in my opinion (which may not be worth anything to you), programs that force students to decide far too early are being the unethical ones here. I’m not saying each program needs to adhere to the April 15 deadline, but honestly I think anything before about late-ish March sounds like a program that is not confident in its own strengths/attractiveness/marketability and feels like they need to ensnare students early, before they commit to other places. Fortunately these places tend to be unfunded MA programs or PhD programs with crappy to no funding anyway, so again, personally I would have no qualms about telling a program who wants a decision by March 5 - and is rigid and douchey on that when you ask for an extension - “sure, I’ll come.” They know exactly what they are doing, and they’re not operating in good faith. So why should you?</p>
<p>NOTE: I hesitate to compare it to undergrad college. College is more or less a requirement in many people’s minds for a middle-class lifestyle and many many careers; graduate school largely is not. There’s always next year; you can always choose to go nowhere, so it’s not really the case that you have “no choice” but to accept a specific program. If a program is too expensive, or not the right fit, or you feel uneasy but you haven’t been accepted to a favored program, do NOT attend just because you got accepted nowhere else. Decline and try again next year.</p>
<p>Julliet- thanks for the great response- and it covers all scenarios. I agree with you that how a program operates says something about fit, and this is an important consideration.</p>