Thank you for spending some time with us at NIU today. We hope you have a feel for our program including the faculty and students that make NIU a great place to be!
The faculty will be meeting next week to discuss admission decisions, and the first offers will be made soon thereafter. Because we only make the number of admissions offers that we have full funding to support for our Ph.D. program, many of you will be viewed as well-qualified for our program but will be waitlisted. This is a fluid process; as one student turns down an admission offer; we will make another admission offer to an applicant until our cohort is complete. Thus, if you are informed that you are on the waitlist know that we think you would be great in the program and there still is a good chance you will receive an offer from us. Keep us informed of your decision-making process and we will do the same.
While you have the right to hold an offer until April 15, 2026, based on universal policies, we strongly encourage you to not hold multiple offers (it slows the whole system down). If you get two offers, take some time to decide which you prefer and decline the offer you don't want to pursue. This allows others to learn they will be receiving an offer.
Thanks again and we hope to be in touch very soon!