Explaining rejection of acceptance

[TMB8579]

I received an e-mail from a program whose offer I declined asking me to elaborate on why I rejected their offer. The letter says that they do this routinely with people who are granted admission but choose to decline. They also asked which program, if any, I chose to accept.

1. Is this actually normal? (has it happened to you?)

2. How do I respond? a lot of things affected my decision to not accept their offer but I don't know how honest I should really be. I would ofcourse be respectful but am unsure how specific I should get.

3. Should I disclose which program I will be attending? Call me superstitious, but I wouldn't want this to affect me in any weird way later.

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[psybee]

i got called by the dct of a program i turned down, asking me why i had chosen another program over thiers - def. not standard and very personal! i told him that while i loved his program (which i did, it was a top top choice of mine), and i was going to miss some of the unique opportunities presented by his program, the other program a) provided signifigantly more $ support, and that some of my other interests, such as research interests, ultimately were better suited towars the program i accepted.

 

[KillerDiller]

1. This has happened to me as well, but I wouldn't call it par for the course.

2. Respond in a way that will let them know how they can improve their program to make it more attractive to future qualified applicants--that's why they are asking.

3. I don't see how that could have any negative effects. Basically, the school wants to see what institutions provide its main competition.

 

[joetro]

I think this happened once or twice to me. Just be honest and polite. It will be helpful for that school to have feedback that could improve them for next year.

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

I had this....and it was a good way to provide some feedback.