it is an option offered to you. the cost of this option is the time and money you spend on the application. the expected payoff is an offer from U of Alberta (tuition waiver, stipends...) assoicated with the probability of you being admitted. to be simple, if you apply for the prgram, at time zero, it costs you some time and money to complete the application. in the near future, you may get admitted with a "not trivial" probability. if you do not apply, at time zero, there is no cost and you will get nothing from U of alberta at all. think about it, if you have not received any replies from other schools, why don't you buy in this option? Of course, if you give up your option, someone esle may be happy with that option and willing to buy it. |