Deferring School Admissions - is it possible?

Question

Hello all, I've got a predicament. I've been lucky enough to be admitted to a couple of top 6 schools, but am considering deferring for a year for various reasons including personal and financial reasons that arose after I applied. I haven't spoken to the schools yet, but I've heard that its very difficult to get deferrals from business schools. How hard is it really? Do you basically need to have a major illness or family emergency or something similar? Are there any schools that are more or less lenient in this regard?
 
And one last question. If people do get deferrals, are you prohibited from reapplying to a different school the following year? I ask because my fiance is pursuing a PhD at Stanford and I'd love to join him, but I didn't get in to GSB this year (after interview) and I'd like to try again next year if I am successful at getting a deferral at my accepted schools. But I don't want to risk losing my current acceptances so if its a problem, I'll refrain from reapplying.

Thanks in advance!

LetsGoMets · Answer

My understanding about deferrals is the following:

1) they are rare, but do happen on a case by case basis
2) they usually require a deposit that might make considering other schools prohibitive

I could be completely wrong, but this is what I've read. It all depends on the school, some don't allow it at all.

tmino · Answer

I know of two people who deferred their admission (all didn't involve any family emergency). One was related to finishing her PhD and the other was work related. I wouldn't make up any stories to get a deferral. If you have a legitimate reason adcoms will understand. You will have to pay the full deposit though if you defer, so you probably want to ask for a deferral at your top choice first.

Now regarding your Stanford reapplication. Of course there is nobody to prohibit you from reapplying. It's more an ethical decision you have to make. If for some reason things do go wrong and you don't get into Stanford and the other school somehow finds out, you are left with nothing.

shellym · Answer

Thanks for the thoughts! I'm not sure what I'll do but I'll take a couple of weeks to think about it.

Aldrak · Answer

Its not a top 6 school, but Olin just accepted my admission deferral.

My reason was financial. My sponsors deferred my scholarship to next year, so I won't be able to attend.

I just emailed them, and they completely understood and agreed to defer my admission. However, they required me to pay the deposit ($2000) to reserve my seat. The other option is to reapply next year.

I haven't paid the deposit yet as I'm still thinking about it. I'm leaning towards paying the deposit to free my mind of school admission and focus on my CFA exams. And if the plan changes later on, I would consider the deposit as a donation to this fine school

Deferring School Admissions - is it possible?

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