Wow, thanks both for the brilliant responses.
@cheetarah, I will definitely be asking, I agree, there's no downside to asking the question! I kind of wanted a sense of whether or not others had any insight into this process so I could better prepare myself for the answer
. Nice to hear there are a couple of deferrals you've come across.
@mrbucket, super thoughtful and thought-provoking response! You've made some really great points and I'll definitely plan my deferral proposal to take into account your comments around whether or not I'd truly commit to attending a year from now. I also am really intrigued by your follow up question. The uncertainly around this just makes me afraid that I would be less appealing as a candidate after I had turned them down, despite additional experience, and why, as I mentioned in the OP that I would probably go to school if I couldn't defer. Also, this whole process is so competitive, there's every chance that with a different applicant pool, they wouldn't even have accepted me in the first place!
Anyway, thanks again for the input, and I'll hopefully be able to provide some feedback on how requesting a deferral went!