How to Respond to an Acceptance Email in 9 Simple Steps

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Once you have applied to the colleges or graduate programs that you are interested in, there is nothing to do but wait to see whether you get admitted. 

You may find yourself refreshing your browser repeatedly, hoping the name of your first-choice college will pop up in your email inbox. 

No matter how long you’ve been waiting to hear back from a college or university, you may still find that when you finally receive an acceptance email, you aren’t quite sure what to say in response. 

Responding to an acceptance email from the admissions department of a higher education institution requires a high level of formality and should follow a specific template. 

Read on for some helpful tips and several sample responses for how respond to college acceptance emails in a variety of situations. 

 

How to respond to an acceptance email (College, University, etc.)

1. Respond by return email
2. Use an appropriate salutation
3. Thank the admissions department for the opportunity
4. Accept the offer 
5. Name the specific degree program you will be enrolling in 
6. Answer any questions in the acceptance email
7. Ask any questions you have about the enrollment process
8. Use an appropriate closing
9. Sign off using your full name 

 

1. Respond by return email 

While many people still associate formal matters with written communication instead of email communication, there is no need to respond to an acceptance email by sending a formal letter in the post.

And in fact, you don’t even need to create a new email thread. 

Instead, just do what most colleges prefer you to and reply by email in the same thread. 

 

2. Use an appropriate salutation

Using an appropriate salutation when you respond to an acceptance email is very important. 

It is the first thing the admissions department that has accepted you will read, and you want to make a good impression by showing that you have the communication skills required to excel as a college student.

In the case of an email accepting an offer to study at a college, the appropriate salutation is usually either “Dear Admissions Department,” or else “Dear [Title Surname]” if the offer was signed by a specific admissions officer. 

 

3. Thank the admissions department for the opportunity

The first line of an email responding to an acceptance email should thank the admissions department, the specific admissions officer whom you are corresponding with, or your future academic supervisor for the opportunity to study at the university in question. 

After all, not everyone gets accepted to college, and the one you have just been welcomed to study at has surely rejected plenty of applicants.

Thanking the person you are writing to for choosing to extend you an offer of enrollment shows that you are aware that education is a privilege and that you don’t take it for granted. 

 

4. Say whether you accept the offer

If you are writing to accept an offer of enrollment at a university, make sure you clearly state that you accept the offer of a place at the relevant institution. 

Don’t simply say, “Thank you for the offer” while failing to positively confirm that you will be attending the university at the beginning of the next academic year. 

If you do this, the admissions department will need to follow up the matter with you, which may be frustrating for them since it requires more email back-and-forth than was necessary. 

In some cases, the university may even take your non-committal response to mean that you aren’t interested.

This would leave you believing that you are all set to attend a graduate program in the fall, only for the university to give your place away to someone else. 

Avoid any confusion by asserting, “I gladly accept the offer of enrollment at [name of university] for a program of study commencing in the upcoming academic year.”

Unlike responding to an academic interview invitation, being offered a place at a university does not require you to take any further steps before claiming your place, except to accept it. 

 

5. Name the specific degree program you will be enrolling in

To avoid any more potential confusion, re-state the name of the program you will be enrolling in. 

While mix-ups related to which program a student is enrolled in are relatively rare, they do happen, and they can lead to delays in processing tuition fees or scholarship grants. 

To avoid any possible problems, simply restate the program of study you’re planning on completing when you respond to an acceptance email. 

 

6. Answer any questions in the acceptance email

In some cases, especially when you have applied to begin a course of graduate study or a PhD, the email notifying you of your acceptance into the program may include questions.

For example, it may ask you to confirm whether you will be completing the program full-time or part-time, or ask you for specific details about how you will be funding your course of study. 

Whatever they are, if there are questions in the acceptance email you receive from a college or university, make sure you answer them in full. 

This saves admissions department staffers––or your future supervisor––from having to chase you up to get answers, which would surely give them a less than favorable first impression of you. 

Answering the questions you’re asked in a clear, concise, and prompt fashion demonstrates to the people you are corresponding with that you are a good communicator who responds reliably and pays close attention to detail. 

Remember that responding to an acceptance email is not writing an essay about yourself, so keep things short and sweet. 

If you are applying to a master’s degree program, remember that you might not receive an offer right off the bat. You might have to respond to an interview request for grad school, in which case you should look into the best way to do so.

 

7. Ask any questions you have about the enrollment process

If you have any questions about what the next steps are to become enrolled at the university you have been accepted to, take this opportunity to ask them.  

Whether your questions are related to funding, accommodation, visas, or anything else at all, it is best to ask them as soon as possible so that you can get greater clarity about the process ahead. 

 

8. Use an appropriate closing

This part is relatively easy, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t important. 

When ending a response to an acceptance email, use a closing that matches the tone of the email you’re sending. 

For example, if you’re responding to an admissions officer who hasn’t used their own name to when sending the email, you can use, “Yours sincerely,” or “Kind regards.” 

If, on the other hand, you are speaking to the professor who is offering to be your PhD supervisor, it is more appropriate to say, “Best wishes,” or “Best regards.” 

What you shouldn’t do though, is either neglect to include a sign-off altogether, or else to use something wholly inappropriate like, “See ya soon!” or “Ttyl!” 

 

9. Sign off using your full name 

This may seem like a minor detail, but things like this can sometimes make a difference to the academic you’re corresponding with.

And it is never a bad idea to uphold a high level of formality until you have met someone and established an informal relationship. 

So, for example, instead of signing off “Jackie,” make sure you sign of “Jaqueline Hara.” This demonstrates a level of professionalism that will surely be appreciated by the person you’re emailing. 

The only exception to this rule is when the person you’re writing to has signed-off their email using only their first name.

This is unlikely to occur if you are applying for a place on an undergraduate course, but it may happen if you are applying to be a PhD candidate and receive an acceptance email directly from the professor who would be supervising your research. 

If they sign-off their email with their first name, it is perfectly acceptable to sign-off your email using just yours.

 

Sample responses to an acceptance email (College, University, etc.)

While all this information may look relatively straightforward in theory, it can still be difficult to implement it when you sit down to write your response to an acceptance email. 

So, to help you out, here are a few sample responses to an acceptance email from a higher institute of education. 

 

Sample response to an acceptance email for an undergraduate degree

 

 

Sample response to an acceptance email for a master’s degree

 

 

Sample response to an acceptance email for a PhD position