So I have slight interviewing issue that I thought i would throw out there to see what yall think....
Got an interview offer from school X recently and I have to tell school X within a short specific amount of time if I'm coming or not. The thing is, I have already interviewed at school Y and it is way up towards the top of my list (possibly #1 depending on a few other interviews) but definitely above school X. I will hear from school Y soon, but not soon enough for school X's deadline (will hear a couple days after the deadline).
If I don't get into school Y, then I would definitely want to interview at school X. BUT, if I agree to interview there and then find out I got into school Y, I don't want to retract a confirmed commitment but nor do I want to go to an interview knowing there is a slim-to-none chance I will be going there.
Thoughts?? Should I just say yes (in case I don't get into Y)?
Blind Chaos-- Are you applying to some sort of MA/PHD program? I do not know for a fact about PsyD, but I do know for a fact that by APA regulations, schools are NOT allowed to force you to commit. By APA guidelines, you have until April 15 to decide, and all schools know this.
EVEN IF they are waiving a financial aid deadline in your face, they know they are acting against APA regulations...hold on, I will look this up for you.
Okay...according to the "Insider's Guide to Graduate Programs in Clinical and Counseling Psychology," "By APA regulations, you have the right to consider offers until April 15, at which time an offer may be withdrawn. To protect appliacants from making hasty, premature decisions, all APA-accredited programs and most others have agreed to allow candidates until April 15 for a final decision (or the first Monday after April 15 if April 15 falls on a weekend). This is in accordance with a resolution adopted by the Council of Graduate Schools in the United States in 1965, approved by 317 Universities and colleges, and further modified by the Council of Graduate Departments of Psychology (COGDOP) in 1981. As presented in the Graduate Study in Psychology, this resolution reads as follows:
Acceptance of an offer of financial aid (such as graduate scholarship, fellowship, traineeship, or assistantship) for the next academic year by an actual or prospective graduate student completes an agreement which both student and graduate school expect to honor. In those instances in which the student accepts the offer before April 15, and subsequently desires to withdraw, 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 the commitment has been made. Similarly, an offer by an institution 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"
Therefore, in my view, you have a few options..
1. Carefully and politely ask the institution which is pressuring you if they adhere to this deadline. Don't be rude, but simply ask for clarification ("Oh, I just wasn't sure, because I had heard that the APA guidelines were that I had until April 15th to decide...are your institution's policies different?")
2. Accept the offer of this school, and then when and if you get accepted to the other school, accept THAT offer, and rescind your acceptance of the other schools. ****This is considered bad form, but as seen above, it is allowable until April 15, and besides, the institution pressuring you is acting in bad form as well, and they know it.****
3. Write off the institution that is pressuring you. As a professor at an interview told me, "If this is how they treat you BEFORE they have you hooked (breaking rules they know they shouldn't break and hoping you are ignorant of said rules), how will they treat you when you're locked into their program for five years?"
Hope this helps!
Don't let yourself be pushed around into making a decision you are uncomfortable with!
