Asking for early decision - round 4

Question

Hi,
So I have an admission offer form another school and a deadline (that’s quickly coming up) to accept it. In the meantime, I’m also waiting for LBS admission decision (June 10) but the timelines don’t align ( I either have to accept the offer I have, or reject it and wait for LBS decision)
Does anyone know if I can email LBS and request an early decision? Would that reflect badly on me and my application? Do you know of someone else who was in the same position and how they handled it?
LBS is my number one choice but I also don’t want to waste an opportunity and still not be able to go to LBS

Thanks!

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madhurajmishra · Answer

Yes, you can share your situation and ask for their opinion

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thembaexchange · Answer

There’s no harm in asking for an accelerated answer from LBS as long as you handle it tactfully. You should call (rather than email) the admissions office and ask to speak to the Dean of Admissions. You may not get past the gatekeeper but it is worth a try. If you can’t get past the gatekeeper to talk to a real adcom senior person, get the email of the Dean of Admissions rather than just emailing the standard admissions mailbox (which will almost certainly be answered/monitored by a gatekeeper who may have a standard “we don’t provide early feedback” canned response). This contact information really isn’t that hard to find if you look. Any current student could pull it for you. Regardless of how you disseminate your request, the point that you want to make is that you are very excited about LBS and that it is your top-choice school. You are grateful to have an offer in-hand to a school with a deposit deadline prior to the LBS decision (include the deposit deadline for the other school so they know how much time you/they have and to indicate that you aren’t bluffing. If this is over email, I’d consider providing an acceptance letter as an attachment if an email is in order). Make it clear that you’d prefer to attend LBS if you are lucky enough to get acceptances to both programs.

If LBS won’t provide an accelerated answer, you have a couple of options:

1. If both of these schools are European, the deposit to secure your spot at the other program may not be as enormous as US schools. As long as the deposit isn’t binding, you could consider depositing at the school to which you have already been offered admission and continue to stay the course with LBS. Obviously, this may be an expensive proposition, bc you’d ultimately lose that deposit money if you are accepted to LBS and decide to go there instead, but it could be worth it to you. If you do this, make sure to follow-up with LBS to let them know that LBS is still your top choice school, even though you had to deposit to secure a spot at the other program (this will let them know that you are not a “yield risk” and that you’ll likely attend if they admit you). Obviously, read the fine print and don’t go back to LBS and tell them about this if the deposit to the first school is binding. LBS likely knows which deposits are binding and it would be a bad look to continue an application with LBS after depositing to a binding program.

2. Ask for an extension with the deposit deadline with the other school. You really don’t have much to lose with this strategy. This might be turned down but given that the school has already accepted you, they really don’t have that much to gain by stringently enforcing the deadline and it might buy you some time. It also may buy you a scholarship, as this signals to the school that you have other options, and they may want to “buy yield” with a scholarship. This scholarship could then be used as a negotiating chip with LBS if you gain acceptance there, too. That could end up being the cherry on top of all of this if you do end up ultimately getting into LBS.

Best of luck to you!

Admissionado · Answer

Teekyu :

Yes, definitely inquire. You will be annoyed with yourself if you do not.

Our friends at thembaexchange do a great job of laying out reasonable tactics to gain the extension and what to do if not.

Worst case scenario, you pay the deposit and eat the cost if you end up getting in elsewhere that's more desirable. That's ultimately the cost of having the optionality and guaranteed safety net.

Good luck,
Admissionado

ExpertsGlobal · Answer

Hello  Teekyu ,

You can most definitely write an email requesting an early decision. This approach is not unheard of and will not reflect badly at all.

All the best!

Teekyu · Answer

Thank you all for your feedback - I emailed LBS and requested a call with my Regional Admissions Manager, fingers crossed!

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vincerock · Answer

Hello  Teekyu , did you receive any useful information from your admission manager regarding this matter?

Thank you in advance
Vince

Teekyu · Answer

She said to draft an email explaining the case and attach all supporting documents so that she can forward it to the Admission Committee for consideration- I think they approve or reject the request on a case-by-case basis

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bb · Answer

Asking for early decision - round 4

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