hi guys,

first off, i'm an international student and i'm extremely happy with my results (thanks BTG!).

i applied to six schools, and so far i've been admitted to two:

- ucsd (rady) - with $$$ (more than half of tuition)
- cornell (johnson) - WL for scholarship

i've also been invited to interview for two other schools:

- kellogg - done / waiting for decision
- duke (fuqua) - interviewing next week

i haven't heard from stanford and wharton. Regardless, i'm in a bit of a bind. between rady and johnson - the latter would have a more established program. and so, despite rady's generous offer, i'm inclined to pass. i sure hope i'm making the right decision. i ran the numbers and johnson, even without a scholarship, seems to have the better ROI. i would have to take out a hefty loan and beg my relatives for support, but in the end it should be worth it.

but my dilemma doesn't end there. the deposit deadline for johnson is on march 9. but decisions for the four other schools don't come out until end-march. in hindsight, i should have planned my submission dates better but i thought dealing with six schools all at the same time would be too toxic. and if something like this were to happen, it would be a "happy problem".

moving on - i think i did really, really well when i interviewed for kellogg (conducted by an alum who's president of her own company) and my fuqua essays i believe are my strongest. ergo, i think i really have a good shot with these two schools. i LOVE, LOVE all the schools i applied to BUT if i were to have an order of preference it would be stanford, wharton, kellogg, fuqua, johnson and rady.

if you were in my position, would you:

1) ask johnson for a deposit extension? wouldn't hurt to try but do you think they'll extend the deadline to end-march? if they won't, then you'll be stuck in the same situation again! also, won't this hurt your $$$ chances?

2) pass on johnson's offer sensing an admit from kellogg and fuqua (and then hit your head on the wall if you're wrong)?

3) pay the deposit and then respectfully withdraw later if you're admitted to a school you personally ranked higher? is withdrawing for "personal reasons" a valid excuse? it may seem unethical, but you did pay a deposit (you're willing to give up) and i'm sure dozens of WL'ed applicants would be willing to take your spot, right?

what do you guys think? also, am i right to take the rady offer out of the picture at this point?

opinions / thoughts would be highly appreciated! all the best to all the other b-school applicants!

cheers!

JP