Asking for time to decide on an offer of acceptance

[ian_dsouza]

I just received an offer of acceptance from a graduate program yesterday (May 17th). I think the offer letter is a little generic. It says that I should get back to them "ideally between April 15th and April 30th" - which is way past.

I have another school which got back to me 10 days ago saying that the department has recommended me for admission and has sent this recommendation to the central graduate office for approval. The graduate office needs to send the official offer letter. I contacted the department yesterday and they said i should hear back from the office only next week.

The thing is I really want to consider both schools before I can commit, although I'm strongly leaning towards the second one. I do not yet know when the first school expects a reply back from me. I want to contact the first school but I'm not sure how to address the situation. Should I simply ask the first when they expect a reply or should I directly ask them for a certain amount of time to decide?

 

[marcusl]

Congratulations on your acceptances! I think it's entirely appropriate to contact your first program, thank them, note that the date in the offer letter is obviously not relevant, and suggest your own date. Two weeks ought to be seen as reasonable.

 

[ian_dsouza]

Thanks! Did so asking for two weeks. They were okay with it.