Is it possible to ask for an extension of the April 15th deadline ? I am an international who just applied to 3 top tiers and 1 safety school...I was rejected from 2 top tiers, accepted in one but with no funding and put on a waitlist for the safety school.

On Friday 9th April I checked my emails in the morning and saw I am now off the waitlist for the safety school, with one-year TA assistantship and tuition remission. There is "strong probability" of renewal of the assistantship and I just got a very simple letter by email asking me to accept or decline the offer by April 15th...that is only 6 days to decide!

I just had one 20 min short Skype interview early January and never went to the US. The thing is I already forgot about being accepted since I didn't hear anything from them since then...and now there is high probability I will get an offer for a permanent research job in exactly the same field of interest in another very reputed university. Also I have now have found an exciting lab in the top tier university and a great supervisor but I have no funding with my offer...and the supervisor is trying to figure out alternatives (i.e. Research Assistant/Technician Position). We have been in touch for nearly one-year now and I visited her lab.

So it is really tough to decide...on one side there is this offer with only 6 days to decide with at least one-year funding and on the other side valuable opportunities but yet uncertain for the PhD. The thing is I know I can be accepted in this top tier university since it is the second time I get an offer (but with no funding this time) so I wonder if I should take one of these nice jobs and re-apply in one or two years (but I'm already 28) or go for this safety school but with no idea about anything including the length of the PhD.

What would you suggest me to do ? Ask for an extension of the April 15th deadline ? Go for it or instead focus on strenghening my CV and re-applying in 1 or 2 years ?

Thanks !