Hi all,

I have been awarded some scholarships with very tight deadlines to confirm my intentions. Is it ok to later decline the offers? I was very concerned that it wouldn't be ethical, but there is a waiting list.

Thank you,
Gigi

[Edited by gigiguler on Feb 19, 2017]

Hi Gigi - I'm having the same problem with a merit scholarship I was granted. However they have allowed me to confirm my spot by April 1st.

Which is your deadline?

Hey, thanks for the response!

Unfortunately, my deadlines are in the end of February and the beginning of March. I think I could ask the schools to extend the term until April 1st in accordance with the Statement of Good Admission and Financial Aid Practices for LLM Programs published by the LSAC.

However, extending the term until April won't probably solve my problem. The results for the home country scholarship that I am hoping to get wiill be announced in June. That's why I was considering taking the offers.

I don't know exactly which school offered you the scholarship, so everything i say is speculating, but keep in mind:

It is at least not unusual that you have to contractually guarantee to withdraw your applications to other schools when accepting a scholarship offer. As far as i have heard from other applicants in the past, some schools tend to be very strict, if you break your promise - meaning that they inform other schools and your references about the situation. So I would consider it seriously if you really want to accept an offer, knowing that you will probably decline in later...

Thanks for the response. For those who may experience the same problem, I solved it by contacting the schools and they were very helpful about extending the deadlines.