<p>how do you write back saying you re not joining the program after all... this is after they ve offered you admission? its seems like a very awkward email to be writing.. any suggestions?</p>
<p>There was a thread to this effect not that long ago. Thank you for the opportunity to meet your faculty and learn more about your program but after careful consideration, I won’t be accepting your offer of admissions. I wish your program all the best in the future.</p>
<p>I second belevitt’s post. As others have said before, just keep it professional, sincere and brief. Grad programs understand that applicants generally have several offers to choose from and they understand that not all of their offers of admission will be accepted.</p>
<p>Congratulations on (presumably) having decided where to go. :)</p>
<p>Of course, if you want to have a little fun, you can always take the time to craft your own rejection letter to the school!!!</p>
<p>“After careful consideration of your offer and all of your accompanying materials, I regret to inform you that I did not reach a positive decision regarding your school’s candidacy. Due to the overwhelming number of offers received every year (BS alert!), I simply am not able to offer my attendance to all well-qualified institutions. I wish you the best in all of your future student searches.”</p>
<p>Ok; now that that’s out of my system! Of course, you could never do anything quite so enjoyable, as there are probably plenty of people in your field at the schools that you may need to work with in future years :P</p>
<p>What Aceflyer say. Understanding grad programs won’t take your decline personally. They want to be sure that you’re going to choose a place with a good fit. It doesn’t hurt to let them know where you are going as well for future networking connections… (academia is a small world after all)</p>
<p>What if you’ve been in careful correspondence with certain professors over the entire process, and they are now emailing you to ask if you had any further questions, if they can help you with your decision, etc? I’ve already decided to go elsewhere… should I do something different for corresponding with professors? I feel ultra awkward especially for the programs I was really sincerely interested in before. I feel like I totally led them on.</p>
<p>Nobody is going to take it personally. By the time we got to the stage where we were interviewing for places, everybody I spoke to had 2 to 5 interviews lined up. That means most people had to turn down at least one, but probably many more schools and their associated faculty. With the yield rates that grad schools get, they must be used to having candidates turn them down.</p>
<p>Joel418, you slay me!</p>
<p>ymmit, please end it asap. just say thank you and you decided elsewhere. you can say why or not. they are used to it, and your decline can open a spot for someone else, so get right on it.</p>
<p>It’s a hard email to write because, as a prospective grad student, you are given so much personal attention, usually including an all-expenses-paid visit… Nevertheless, the programs know that you will only be able to choose one of them, and will not take your rejection personally. They will, on the other hand, very much appreciate to be informed ASAP, so they can offer your spot to someone on their waitlist.</p>
<p>Because of the bad economy, shrinking endowments, and across-the-board budget cuts, many programs accepted fewer students this year, and will draw more from the waitlists.</p>
<p>I officially declined those schools which I will not be attending. I either got no reply or a friendly email asking where I was going, and wishing me well.</p>
<p>By asking them for fellowship of 2,000,000 $…</p>
<p>I did the same thing to one of the “top 12” U</p>