Congrats to everyone! Please remember the APA guidelines for accepting an offer...
1. As soon as you have two offers, decide which is the better one for you and politely refuse the other.
2. Repeat this comparison and decision as you receive each new offer.
3. Terminate the process as soon as you get a satisfactory offer from the school you prefer. Accept that offer verbally and in writing and advise the other schools of your decision. They will appreciate your thoughtfulness in opening the way for another student.
4. On occasion you may be pressured to accept an offer before April 15. In the event that you have accepted such an offer, you should be fully aware that you have the right to resign the original acceptance before April 15 to take an alternative offer.
5. When you have voluntarily accepted an appointment, even prior to the April 15 date, do not take your obligation lightly. You are committed to that acceptance. Attempts to be released from an agreement may spoil your reputation with all of the institutions involved and with your sponsors.
Wouldn't it be handy to have similar ethical guidelines for the schools to follow? e.g.,
1. If you have GRE/GPA cut-offs, publish them in advance to avoid fruitless (expensive) applications.
1a. If a candidate applies who does not meet your cut-off, your application system should reject the application without accepting payment.
1b. If you allow exceptions to your cut-off scores, you should make that clear as well and, to the extent feasible, warn candidates who do not meet the cut-off.
2. Your decision process should be transparent. Applicants shouldn't have to guess about who is actually making the admissions decision, or when. E.g., if a committee will decide, make that clear. If individual professors decide, make that clear.
2a. Professors should be as clear as possible about whether or not they are accepting new students in the coming year. If the professor knows, it should be on their faculty web page.
2b. If an index of numeric scores is calculated (e.g., a function of GPA, GRE, etc.), that formula and the meaning of the values produced by that formula should be published.
2c. The schedule for interview invitations and decisions should be published in advance and followed.
3. When a decision has been made about a candidate, be it rejection or wait list or interview or acceptance, notify that candidate as soon as is practical. If this means putting someone on a wait list then taking them off when some other candidate drops out, so be it.
4. The statistical profile of applicants, interviewed students and those accepted should be published.
Yes, I realize that there are existing ethical guidelines for the schools as well. But what would the harm be in following these as well?
