Program staff from all participating universities are reviewing the SROP applications. If they want to make an offer to you, they will contact you by email or phone. Hint: Make sure that you monitor your email inbox and voicemail. It is important to acknowledge receipt of the offer so that you establish contact with the program.
If you have applied to multiple programs, it is possible that you could receive multiple offers. If you have already accepted an offer from one university, you should not accept another offer. If you are waiting to receive an offer from one institution before making a decision about another, it would be helpful if you let the program staff know this.
To allow you time to consider multiple offers, SROP programs have agreed upon March 15 as the deadline for final and binding decisions. You must accept or decline your offer by this date. If you do not make a decision by March 15, we may rescind your offer and extend it to someone else.
We encourage you not to hold onto multiple offers while waiting to hear from every institution. For example, let’s say you applied to A, B, C, and D universities. You received an offer from B and C. You know that A is your first choice. Given a choice between B and C, you definitely prefer B. We encourage you to decline the offer from C so that another student can receive an offer for the space that you declined.
To continue the example, let’s say that you received an offer from D. You are still holding out for A, but you know that B is still your preference over D. Decline your offer from D while you wait to see if A will accept you.
This courtesy will enable more students to receive offers for a great research opportunity, and your program staff and mentors will be impressed with your professional and polished communications.