General Admissions & OTCAS Offer Extensions....Anyone asked for one?

[FutureArmyOT]

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Hey current OT applicants. I currently have an offer on the table for a seat in an OT program, but am waiting on 2 more admission decisions for my #1 and #2 schools. The deadline to accept my offer will come before I hear back from these schools. Has anyone asked for an extension on responding to an offer? Or been in this situation? what did you do?

 

[OT_2015]

Hey current OT applicants. I currently have an offer on the table for a seat in an OT program, but am waiting on 2 more admission decisions for my #1 and #2 schools. The deadline to accept my offer will come before I hear back from these schools. Has anyone asked for an extension on responding to an offer? Or been in this situation? what did you do?

@FutureArmyOT - Congrats on your acceptance. Does the school that you're accepted to require a deposit to secure your place? If not, then I would go ahead and accept it and then withdraw it later on if you get into a more preferred school. It happens often so schools are prepared for this. But if it a deposit is required, then you can do a few things:

1) Ask the school that you were admitted to whether they would consider extending your deadline. Some schools will do this. The school that I will be attending this Fall actually offers this option upfront to admitted students so that they have enough time to make an informed decision.

2) See if you can use your acceptance to your benefit by letting your priority schools know in order to hopefully move along your application. I was in a similar situation. I got into my 2nd choice school prior to receiving notice of admission from my 1st choice. I actually levered this to my benefit by informing my 1st choice school of my acceptance in order to follow up on my application. As a result, I was given a monthly updates of the status of my application all throughout the process until admission. Take note that this is not the norm, but fortunately my 1st choice school was accessible and open to me.

3) Worse case option: If there is a deposit for the program that you got accepted to, pay it and forfeit it should you decide to attend your preferred school. I did this, but in the end it was a necessary evil since there is no way you can predict whether you'll get in elsewhere. Given the competitive nature of acceptance into OT school nowadays, you don't want to take any chances. I ended up forfeiting my deposit for my 2nd choice once I received acceptance from my 1st choice. Though it was a hefty amount to lose, I have no regrets since I'll be going to a state school that will offer me a significant reduction in my tuition since I'm a resident.

Hope that helps. Congrats and good luck!

 

[FutureArmyOT]

@OT_2015 Thank you so much for your reply! My window for the school I got into was only 1 week and there is a $250 deposit... so I think I will ask for an extension and explain to them that I just want to make sure I am making the best decision for myself and the school. In addition, I have a lot of other things factoring into my decision, because I have a fiance that is a Combat Veteran hoping to return to school too. I need to do research and make sure it is a military friendly school for him.

How did you go about explaining your desire for an extension? I don't want to give the impression that I am not interested in their school, because like you said, OT school is competitive, so getting in anywhere that is accredited is an accomplishment and I want to become an OT, no matter where I receive my education.

I really could benefit from 1 week extra to decide, 2 weeks tops. I should be hearing back from my other 2 schools this week. Where will you be going?

 

[OT_2015]

@OT_2015 Thank you so much for your reply! My window for the school I got into was only 1 week and there is a $250 deposit... so I think I will ask for an extension and explain to them that I just want to make sure I am making the best decision for myself and the school. In addition, I have a lot of other things factoring into my decision, because I have a fiance that is a Combat Veteran hoping to return to school too. I need to do research and make sure it is a military friendly school for him.

How did you go about explaining your desire for an extension? I don't want to give the impression that I am not interested in their school, because like you said, OT school is competitive, so getting in anywhere that is accredited is an accomplishment and I want to become an OT, no matter where I receive my education.

I really could benefit from 1 week extra to decide, 2 weeks tops. I should be hearing back from my other 2 schools this week. Where will you be going?

I actually did not request an extension from the 2nd choice school. They gave me a month to make a decision. In the interim, I asked my 1st school whether they would be able to give me a decision before the deposit deadline of the 2nd choice school. Though they couldn't, they did provide me meaningful updates on my application from that point on.

I ended up not asking for an extension from my 2nd school because I did not want to seem like I wasn't grateful to be accepted (I was! and I would have been more than happy to attend their program had I not gotten into my first choice school). In addition, when I interviewed with them, one of the questions I was asked was why I wanted to attend their school over others so I figured that it might seem insincere on my part if I ended up asking for an extension especially after being given one month to decide. I weighed the pros and cons and just decided to pay the deposit and wait for everything to play out. Either way, I was already accepted into a great program so it wasn't necessarily a bad situation to be in.

If they don't allow you to extend then I would suggest paying the deposit. You already have a school so it's really only uphill from this point!

I'll be attending UIC in the Fall.