<p>Hi, I have just read some thread on this site which was similar to my situation.</p>
<p>That person’s case was undergrad school, but I think it is very similar.</p>
<p>He said that he got in to UofChicago, but he paid the deposit to defer the admission.</p>
<p>Then he wanted to apply to the Ivy’s but he was afraid of getting caught.</p>
<p>All the people who gave replies for the post were being harsh on him.</p>
<p>Now, here’s my situation.</p>
<p>I got into TC-Columbia University for the masters program for fall 2007. I defered the admission(and paid the deposit) because I still had to take some courses to graduate.(I would have had to take three courses in the summer until July and start my grad studies in the fall. I didn’t really want to do this)</p>
<p>Then I wanted to apply to few more schools including Harvard and some Canadian ones(much cheaper tuition) this year.</p>
<p>If I do this, will it cause huge problems? I never knew about this whole thing. My advisors didn’t warned me and nothing was mentioned on the TC Columbia admission letter about(prohibiting) applying to other schools.</p>
<p>Am I screwed now? (Some people on this forum has told me not to attend TC due to their unoganized nautre)</p>
<p>I really didn’t know about this because I don’t live in the states, and again there was nothing explicitly mentioned on the admission letter about the rules.</p>
<p>Thank you</p>
<p>P.S. If this is the case, there’s no use of retaking the GRE unless I am going for the Ph.D in the future?</p>
<p>Grad school is not like undergrad with rules about ED and acceptances and so forth. If you’re not going to attend, just write them a letter (physical) stating that you have chosen not attend and thank them for their offer and time. Be sure to mention that you understand whatever the status of the deposit is, i.e. non-refundable or partially/wholly refundable.</p>
<p>You are comletely free to apply to other schools. At worst, you’ll have lost your deposit at TC Columbia.</p>
<p>Your GRE scores are good for 5 years, so unless you think you can raise them significantly there’s no reason to retake the test until you have to.</p>
<p>Thanks for the reply.</p>
<p>I talked to this other advisor at my school, and he says that grad school are like the undergrad too.</p>
<p>I understand that I could apply to other schools if I CANCEL the defered admission at Columbia.</p>
<p>However, what if I apply to other schools WHILE I am still holding the spot for Columbia</p>
<p>Will this cause problems?</p>
<p>I am also afraid that I might get rejected from every single school after canceling the admission from Columbia.</p>
<p>Thank you</p>
<p>I would definitely go with your advisor’s advice, though like you, I have never seen anything in an offer letter that states you can’t continue to apply to other other schools. </p>
<p>Admittedly, I’ve only seen a handful but you would think that there would be a written contract somewhere that spells that sort of thing out like there is for undergrad.</p>
<p>Why not call an admissions advisor at TC-C and talk it over? Just say you’re unsure of yourself, want to explore other possibilities during your deferment period and ask if that is OK. That way you’ll get the true answer with no guesswork.</p>
<p>And good luck no matter what happens!</p>
<p>what program at TC?</p>
<p>Wouldn’t they get offended if I ask them this question directly?</p>
<p>It’s kind of obvious that I would probably chose other schools over Columbia just for asking this question.</p>
<p>If the reason you’re applying is because of finances, that is a valid reason, and you shouldn’t feel like that’s not something you can discuss with Columbia. Believe me, they are aware that grad students weigh cost heavily in their decisions.</p>