Accepting multiple PharmD program offers???

[Luminitsa]

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Is it considered bad form to accept multiple offers from colleges of pharmacy to which I have been accepted so as to compare financial aid packages which are presented once FAFSA and what not have been completed in late spring, making a final educated decision once I have a better handle on the cost-benefit analysis for each school?

 

[Digsbe]

Most schools will typically require you to pay a deposit to formally accept an offer. Paying multiple deposits would be expensive especially if the reason behind doing so is waiting for them to send you info regarding financial aid. You may be able to acquire all the info you need regarding a school's financial aid package by contacting their financial aid office.

 

[Luminitsa]

@digsbe thank you for the suggestion. I am aware of the deposit some schools require. I'm willing to pay out a grand now if it may provide me the opportunity to save 10x that (or more). I will try contact financial aid but they won't be able to tell me anything definitive regarding need-based aid until after my fafsa has been filed (still waiting on W2's to file). I just want to know if it is problematic if I accept offers from 2 or 3 schools and wait to see what financial aid is offered before I actually decide.

 

[EBT12]

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[SuperDuperSuper]

Are you kidding me?

Not only is it bad form, but for each frivolous acceptance you send, you wait list 1 person. I mean, I get your reasoning, but you're forgetting that different schools will have many, many different costs that you're not accounting for.
Also, it would probably be easier to get in touch with the financial aid office of each school. Just saiyan.

 

[Notecard]

I'm willing to pay out a grand now if it may provide me the opportunity to save 10x that (or more).

You can't be serious. You're willing to dish out 1k for information you could find in about 5 google searches? If I find you all that info can I have the money you're about to waste??

 

[Indypharm]

Yeah, I don't understand how you can be willing to throw 1000 dollars away. You know if you are going to have to take a full tuition loan or not. This is a professional program, you get to borrow as much as you need. Look at the tuition costs online and your own personal finances. Don't prevent one or more people from getting into school by holding a place you don't intend to keep.

 

[xtsukiyox]

Don't prevent one or more people from getting into school by holding a place you don't intend to keep.

Don't worry, they'll fill the class up. That's the admissions office's entire job.

OP, honestly, you do what you think you have to do. I would compare total costs of enrollment between the schools and make my decision based on that, rather than paying out to hold a seat. The financial aid office CAN give you the information on total cost of enrollment, if it isn't already on the school's website (they have to provide this information to the government for loan purposes). I certainly wouldn't want to do all the paperwork for several schools and plan moving contingencies for each...

Guys, remember that it isn't infrequent that someone will accept a seat at one school just to make sure they get in, while waiting on an interview from a later school that they'd prefer to attend. This is a similar situation, although for different reasons.

 

[wsbkp08]

How about you got accepted and you have to pay deposit in two weeks but one school's interview date is set after that two weeks term and you can't change the date.
what would you guys do?

 

[xtsukiyox]

How about you got accepted and you have to pay deposit in two weeks but one school's interview date is set after that two weeks term and you can't change the date.
what would you guys do?

Ask for an extension on the acceptance. Alternately, if you really really want to go to the school you have the interview at, pay the fee for the first school & cancel if you get into the second school.

 

[Luminitsa]

@xtsukiyox: thank you for your objectivity.

@(most everyone else): Wow, I certainly wasn't expecting the aggressive responses some of you chose to throw around. Perhaps rather than making assumptions or sharing unhelpful opinions, those individuals should have just read my question as it really only required a simple yes/no answer. Apparently I should have clarified that I wasn't worrying about loans as I'm aware I can take out as much as I need. I am also aware of how to find out the cost of attendance to each school. I was just trying to find out if it would be problematic for me in the end if I accepted multiple offers, to which I have received my answer. So thank you for that.

To clarify further, the information I am waiting on from the schools (and what Google cannot tell me) is about need-based assistance. FinAid departments cannot provide information on whether or not you qualify for these scholarships/grants/assistance programs until after your FAFSA has been filed. I am also aware they are less plentiful during graduate/professional school than in undergrad, but that doesn't mean that they don't exist.

(even though I see no further need to continue this thread beyond this point as I have received the answer I requested, I'm sure there will be others who feel the need to get in their last word so please, don't refrain on my account)

 

[chemguy79]

@xtsukiyox: thank you for your objectivity.

@(most everyone else): Wow, I certainly wasn't expecting the aggressive responses some of you chose to throw around. Perhaps rather than making assumptions or sharing unhelpful opinions, those individuals should have just read my question as it really only required a simple yes/no answer. Apparently I should have clarified that I wasn't worrying about loans as I'm aware I can take out as much as I need. I am also aware of how to find out the cost of attendance to each school. I was just trying to find out if it would be problematic for me in the end if I accepted multiple offers, to which I have received my answer. So thank you for that.

To clarify further, the information I am waiting on from the schools (and what Google cannot tell me) is about need-based assistance. FinAid departments cannot provide information on whether or not you qualify for these scholarships/grants/assistance programs until after your FAFSA has been filed. I am also aware they are less plentiful during graduate/professional school than in undergrad, but that doesn't mean that they don't exist.

(even though I see no further need to continue this thread beyond this point as I have received the answer I requested, I'm sure there will be others who feel the need to get in their last word so please, don't refrain on my account)

You could post said question in the threads for each respective school and see what they may have offered in terms of need-based financial aid. However, from what I've heard from colleagues, it is incredibly rare and I wouldn't expect to receive anything from most schools.

Furthermore, since pharmacy school is a professional school/graduate program, need-based aid that is offered is a drop in the bucket relative to the cost of attendance. Therefore, waiting solely for that decision isn't the most efficient use of your funds, especially if you're an applicant who is seeking need-based financial aid.

 

[owlegrad]

Many schools require a deposit when you accept offers of attendance. You will almost certainly not get enough aid from any school to make it financially worthwhile to accept several offers from multiple schools to try to figure out which school has the best aid package. You will end up paying so much in deposits you will lose in the long run. Alternatively, you can ask about this during the interview. I hope you find this helpful.

And I know you don't want to hear this, but getting any sort of significant aid is by far the exception, not the rule.

 

[Pharmizzle]

At my school, the need-based aid that most people get is, like, $300-1000. By this I mean the school-specific aid/scholarships that you get in addition to the federal loans that you would already get, regardless of what school you went to. From what I hear, it's similar in other programs. In addition, a large majority of the aid is also based on academic performance in pharmacy school, meaning you wouldn't even see it until Spring of your P1 year at the earliest. The schools you are considering may be different, so I suppose you could ask, but making even one or two extra deposits at multiple schools is clearly going to be a financial loss unless there is something very unusual and exceptional that you 100% know you would qualify for.

 

[SuperDuperSuper]

Don't worry, they'll fill the class up. That's the admissions office's entire job.

I don't think that's what the real issue is. I've got one buddy that was wait-listed right up until 2 weeks before classes began back in our P1 year.

Also, Owle's point is undeniable:
Spending one or two thousand dollars, just to see which school can offer the most debt is a lose/lose situation.

 

[xtsukiyox]

I don't think that's what the real issue is. I've got one buddy that was wait-listed right up until 2 weeks before classes began back in our P1 year.

I was wondering if someone was going to make this point. Let me see if I've got this right. Student Smith interviews at 3 schools. At the school Buddy wants to go to, there are 100 seats. Smith is ranked #90, Buddy is ranked #110 (waitlist). Buddy is upset because Smith, who ranked better than him, is accepting the seat he earned? This offer is independent of the other offers Smith might receive at the other 2 schools or Smith's motivation for accepting the seat. Buddy still would have probably been waitlisted regardless of Smith's decision. I reject that even if Buddy had seat #101, it is Smith's fault that Buddy didn't get a seat earlier.

Also, Owle's point is undeniable:
Spending one or two thousand dollars, just to see which school can offer the least debt is a lose/lose situation.

Unless I missed the sarcasm, I agree with the corrected statement above wholeheartedly.

 

[SuperDuperSuper]

I was wondering if someone was going to make this point. Let me see if I've got this right. Student Smith interviews at 3 schools. At the school Buddy wants to go to, there are 100 seats. Smith is ranked #90, Buddy is ranked #110 (waitlist). Buddy is upset because Smith, who ranked better than him, is accepting the seat he earned? This offer is independent of the other offers Smith might receive at the other 2 schools or Smith's motivation for accepting the seat. Buddy still would have probably been waitlisted regardless of Smith's decision. I reject that even if Buddy had seat #101, it is Smith's fault that Buddy didn't get a seat earlier.

Quote:
Also, Owle's point is undeniable:
Spending one or two thousand dollars, just to see which school can offer the least debt is a lose/lose situation.
Unless I missed the sarcasm, I agree with the corrected statement above wholeheartedly.

Heheh, you got it right.

I was wondering if someone was going to make this point. Let me see if I've got this right. Student Smith interviews at 3 schools. At the school Buddy wants to go to, there are 100 seats. Smith is ranked #90, Buddy is ranked #110 (waitlist). Buddy is upset because Smith, who ranked better than him, is accepting the seat he earned? This offer is independent of the other offers Smith might receive at the other 2 schools or Smith's motivation for accepting the seat. Buddy still would have probably been waitlisted regardless of Smith's decision. I reject that even if Buddy had seat #101, it is Smith's fault that Buddy didn't get a seat earlier.
Unless I missed the sarcasm, I agree with the corrected statement above wholeheartedly.

Circular logic aside, he's not "accepting" anything.
He's clogging up an admissions process in order to complete a task he could and should be handling via phone and email with the school's financial department.

 

[xtsukiyox]

Circular logic aside, he's not "accepting" anything.
He's clogging up an admissions process in order to complete a task he could and should be handling via phone and email with the school's financial department.

He is accepting the seat that was offered to him.

Any other offers the school makes are independent events from his offer - and his right to accept that offer, regardless of motivation.

I understand pharmacy admissions are a charged time and competitive, but are you really placing blame on someone else for doing better than you? 😕

 

[owlegrad]

He is accepting the seat that was offered to him.

Any other offers the school makes are independent events from his offer - and his right to accept that offer, regardless of motivation.

I understand pharmacy admissions are a charged time and competitive, but are you really placing blame on someone else for doing better than you? 😕

That is not correct from a technical perspective. They only have so many seats to go around, so each admission is not independent of another. And it is sorta crappy to tie up a seat when you don't need to, IMO. Not the worst thing a human can do, but not the best either.

 

[xtsukiyox]

That is not correct from a technical perspective. They only have so many seats to go around, so each admission is not independent of another. And it is sorta crappy to tie up a seat when you don't need to, IMO. Not the worst thing a human can do, but not the best either.

What I was getting at is that it is based on individual merits. If your bud does poorly, he's going to get waitlisted for better individuals, regardless of whether someone ahead of him accepts the seat or not. If it's rolling admissions, you bet they're waitlisting very marginal people before they fill all the seats. If it's not rolling, my understanding is then that you ranked lower than all the other applicants who were offered a seat. Perhaps it is "kind of crappy," but you can't directly blame someone else taking a seat for you not getting one, even though it's more comfortable to blame than to look at the weaknesses in your application.

It seemed that people were blaming the OP for his reasons, rather than simply sitting on a seat that he didn't intend to take. It's no different than someone accepting an offer to their #3 school, then dropping it months later after their #1 school offers them a seat. It's the game we're all playing.

It is "kind of crappy" to sit on a seat longer than you have to for any reason, but if he wants to pay the deterrent, it's his right to do so. It's also "kind of crappy" when people take a long time to back out of a parking spot when you're waiting.

 

[xtsukiyox]

Y'know, just to say - I'm not completely heartless. I know pharmacy school is every applicant's hope and dream. All I'm sayin' is don't let the stress make you turn on someone else who's just trying to do what you're trying to do.

 

[SuperDuperSuper]

Y'know, just to say - I'm not completely heartless. I know pharmacy school is every applicant's hope and dream. All I'm sayin' is don't let the stress make you turn on someone else who's just trying to do what you're trying to do.

I'm a P3. I'm just tellin' it like it is; hardest part is over for me, so there's no stress involved in my participation in this thread.

I guess I see it from a different perspective. If one received multiple offers for a residency or job, and were to accept all of them to see what benefits were like, then quit the others when they proved to be less lucrative, it'd earn them negative points in the professional community.
Academia is different, and maybe that's where the disconnect in our logic resides/