I'm curious if anyone has experience with schools saying something along the lines of "we'll make you an offer only if you make a statement that you won't go to other schools that you've heard back from".
Is this a normal thing for schools to do? Is this even allowed by the graduate council? What is the best response to this situation? I like the school in question but I don't want to forfeit my other offers/waitlists until I've visited campuses to meet the faculty. Also, I don't want to forfeit the possibility of getting into a better school that I'm waitlisted on.
EDIT: I realize now that my title of the thread is a little misleading. What I mean to ask about is schools pressuring for an answer before they even give you the offer.