Time Period for Offers of Admission

[josierita]

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I am applying to several schools with differing time periods of offers of acceptance/interviews. For example, Mayo has rolling admissions so they could offer interviews any time, University of Minnesota is also somewhat of a rolling admissions so offers of admission are typically process 4-6 weeks after application submission, University of Wisconsin - La Crosse offers of admission are in mid January, and University of Washington is in mid February. So my question is, if (fingers crossed!) I get offered admissions to these schools how long do I have to accept before the offer is rescinded? I don't want to accept an offer at a 2nd or 3rd choice school just because I won't hear back from my top schools for another month, but I also don't want to decline the offer or have it "expire" on me and then not get into my top choice schools and have no options. Basically I'm asking, for those who have been accepted or have first hand knowledge of this, how long of a time period do you have to notify the school of your acceptance before you lose your spot?

 

[nicolej5]

If you accept an offer at your 2nd or 3rd choice and then down the road (a few months maybe?) your top choice offers you, all you have to do is withdraw from the 2nd/3rd choice and accept the 1st choice. Yea, you eat the $ you spent on the deposit for the 2nd/3rd school, but its worth it if you get in where you really wanted to. This is true especially if the 1st choice school is cheaper. As far as how long you have to decide, I believe schools give 2 weeks- 1 month. It differs

 

[DPTHopeful921]

yeh, every school will have an acceptance deadline.

 

[josierita]

If you accept an offer at your 2nd or 3rd choice and then down the road (a few months maybe?) your top choice offers you, all you have to do is withdraw from the 2nd/3rd choice and accept the 1st choice. Yea, you eat the $ you spent on the deposit for the 2nd/3rd school, but its worth it if you get in where you really wanted to. This is true especially if the 1st choice school is cheaper. As far as how long you have to decide, I believe schools give 2 weeks- 1 month. It differs

Ah that helps a ton. I was under the impression that when you accepted you were locked in to that school, no backing out (with the exception of extreme circumstances of course). Thanks for the info!

 

[nicolej5]

nope, the only reason you would be obligated to attend a school is if you applied for early decision and were accepted.