Hi - just want to know what people's experiences/thoughts are with regard to very late PhD applications.

I applied to several unis over the year for PhDs, all funded and very competitive. My latest few have had some results. Three PhDs had an application deadline of the 7th August. I've already interviewed for one and been informally offered the studentship and am waiting on the official offer. The other two have offered me interviews next week (so much travelling!), and one of them is one I really really really want. The other was a back up choice with an interesting project but in a so-so place for me. These other two fit well with my research interests and both are good. Just Uni B is so much better for me than Uni A for several reasons.

So, with it being so late in the academic year (these are all to start in October), how long do you think it will be following the interviews for me to hear from them? I don't want to mess Uni A around - it feels wrong - but I know that I'm gonna need to respond quickly once I get the official offer. How quickly, I don't know yet - I'm hoping I will hear from the others before I accept/reject the offer. And since I've not really seen Uni C yet at all, I don't want to completely discount it as an option.

It's usually 1 day to 2 weeks to hear about a decision.

I got a phone call on the train back! ;)