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Jumping the April 15th deadline

Posted: Wed Mar 18, 2009 6:10 am
by admissionprof
I have heard that one school (that I'd rather not name) has told some accepted students that they must give them an answer by the end of March. That school, along with several hundred others, has agreed to the Council of Graduate Schools Resolution which I have copied below. A school did this last year (it was an admissions director who simply didn't know about the resolution)--I contacted a friend (who is also an admissions director) who complained directly to the graduate Dean at that school, and the deadline was immediately extended (with apologies). I am perfectly willing to do this again.

So if you get an offer that requires you to decide before April 15th, you should (a) respond to this thread and (b) just accept it, and then you can change your mind before April 15th (actually, wait until that day---it'll serve them right).

Here is the resolution:

Acceptance of an offer of financial support (such as a graduate scholarship, fellowship, traineeship, or assistantship) for the next
academic year by a prospective or enrolled graduate student completes an agreement that both student and graduate school
expect to honor. In that context, the conditions affecting such offers and their acceptance must be defined carefully and under-
stood by all parties.
Students are under no obligation to respond to offers of financial support prior to April 15; earlier deadlines for acceptance of
such offers violate the intent of this Resolution. In those instances in which a student accepts an offer before April 15, and sub-
sequently desires to withdraw that acceptance, the student may submit in writing a resignation of the appointment at any time
through April 15. However, an acceptance given or left in force after April 15 commits the student not to accept another offer
without first obtaining a written release from the institution to which a commitment has been made. Similarly, an offer by an insti-
tution after April 15 is conditional on presentation by the student of the written release from any previously accepted offer. It is
further agreed by the institutions and organizations subscribing to the above Resolution that a copy of this Resolution should
accompany every scholarship, fellowship, traineeship, and assistantship offer.
The following list includes CGS member institutions that indicated their support of the Resolution:

Re: Jumping the April 15th deadline

Posted: Wed Mar 18, 2009 6:19 am
by lokai_
(b) just accept it, and then you can change your mind before April 15th (actually, wait until that day---it'll serve them right).
Will it also serve the students on that school's wait list right?

Re: Jumping the April 15th deadline

Posted: Wed Mar 18, 2009 12:08 pm
by admissionprof
lokai_ wrote:
(b) just accept it, and then you can change your mind before April 15th (actually, wait until that day---it'll serve them right).
Will it also serve the students on that school's wait list right?
Good point. Yeah, once you know for sure that you aren't going, tell them.

Re: Jumping the April 15th deadline

Posted: Wed Mar 18, 2009 1:54 pm
by FNR
Dear admissionprof,

what would happen with the international students? This might not be a problem for prospective domestic students, but I believe that the international students would be in serious trouble if they are to make decisions this March, and not April.

On the other hand, please consider this case:

International student A has officially accepted the offer from grad school XXX. For some reason (visa problem, ticket, health issue, international embargo, whatever), he/she could not leave his country to the United States, and unable to come for Fall Admissions. However, student A has also applied to other grad schools outside United States, and he/she has no problem at all to leave for this particular country (for example: A Chinese student who has accepted an offer from Harvard, but somehow couldn't leave for the United States. However, he/she could leave for Japan since it's closer and -probably- easier to apply for visa once he/she accepts an offer from a Japanese grad school. Tokyo University, for example).

Would it be considered rude and impolite for student A to withdraw his/her application AFTER previously accepting the offer? To make things even worse, international student A told grad school XXX that he/she somehow withdraw his application way after April 15th deadline. On the end of May, for example.

This is a very serious question, since the financial crisis has somehow made it kinda difficult to travel from one country to another for an 'Average Joe/Jane'.

Re: Jumping the April 15th deadline

Posted: Wed Mar 18, 2009 2:17 pm
by admissionprof
FNR wrote:Dear admissionprof,

what would happen with the international students? This might not be a problem for prospective domestic students, but I believe that the international students would be in serious trouble if they are to make decisions this March, and not April.

On the other hand, please consider this case:

International student A has officially accepted the offer from grad school XXX. For some reason (visa problem, ticket, health issue, international embargo, whatever), he/she could not leave his country to the United States, and unable to come for Fall Admissions. However, student A has also applied to other grad schools outside United States, and he/she has no problem at all to leave for this particular country (for example: A Chinese student who has accepted an offer from Harvard, but somehow couldn't leave for the United States. However, he/she could leave for Japan since it's closer and -probably- easier to apply for visa once he/she accepts an offer from a Japanese grad school. Tokyo University, for example).

Would it be considered rude and impolite for student A to withdraw his/her application AFTER previously accepting the offer? To make things even worse, international student A told grad school XXX that he/she somehow withdraw his application way after April 15th deadline. On the end of May, for example.

This is a very serious question, since the financial crisis has somehow made it kinda difficult to travel from one country to another for an 'Average Joe/Jane'.
This is an important question. If that happened to us, we would not consider it rude or impolite IFF there was a reasonable reason, such as a visa problem or health issue. If it's "I prefer the other place", then it would be rude and impolite (although there isn't much they could do about it--they would remember, and one likes to be on good relations with everyone). Technically, you're supposed to get written permission from grad school XXX, but I've never heard of a school forcing someone to attend.