HELP! will deferring at one school keep me from getting off the waitlist at another?

[tekno chic]

i'm going to be requesting a deferral at the school i will probably end up going to. I'm quite happy with this school, but I am on the waitlist for my top choice school.

Does anyone know if getting a deferral at the school i'm accepted to will keep me from getting off the waitlist at my top-choice school? In other words, come May 15, will my top-choice school see where i'm going and know that i'm planning on deferring a year and think "Well, let's not let her in, she's going to defer anyways"??? I'm worried because I would be willing to give up my year off for my top-choice school....

THANKS for any help!!

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[johnM]

I think that deferring usually carries some sort of binding commitment to that school. It definitely means that you CANNOT re-apply next year to other schools, so I would imagine that you will be required to forego any other acceptances.

why don't you wait to defer until you find out from the other school?

why do you want to defer anyway?

 

[tekno chic]

you're right, deferring definitely carries a binding commitment. i wasn't thinking about reapplying during the year off though. the last day deferral requests are considered for the school i'll probably end up at is may 15, and since i'm on the waitlist for my top choice, i won't know if they are going to offer me admission until AFTER i've requested it from the first school. i know you can "switch" acceptances after may 15 if you're let in off a waitlist, it didn't occur to me that if i ask for a deferral, i might not be able to "switch" after may 15... *does anyone know if that is the case?*

so i was basically concerned that if i ask for a deferral and get it, and then my top choice considers offering me admission off the waitlist after may 15, that they won't do so because they see i was granted a deferral and they'd assume i wouldn't come straight to their school (which i would). sorry, i don't know if i'm making any sense here.

as a side note, there are several programs i want to do in my year off, including an integrated medicine program in india and doing AIDS education in Africa. Of course, while i would love to do these things, if the adcom says "no, you can't", to medical school i go!!

 

[johnM]

ok, you have a good question, and I'm sorry i don't know the answer. i'm not sure if schools have access to knowing that you have been granted a deferral at one school, to be honest, I think that I would call the dean of admissions at your top choice and ask (preferably w/out telling your name). I think that he/she would respect your situation and be frank with you, and i don't really think that they would worry about you deferring for a year, i don't think that it really bothers them since they can always deny your request.

btw, why would you defer a year at one school, but not another?

 

[SMW]

I certainly hope not, as I have aleady deferred, but am still waiting on a couple other schools -- I'm also on the waitlist at my top choice, and am in a "post interview hold" status for a school I liked a lot that has not yet finished interviewing. I really don't think that who's deferred becomes public knowledge, like who's been admitted does. My situation is a little unusual in that the school where I've deferred is a non-AMCAS school, so I doubt that they're going to be communicating much of anything to the AMCAS schools. I really don't see why deferring before May 15 would be considered as a binding committment, as one is definitely allowed to hold multiple acceptances up until May 15, and one is allowed to withdraw an acceptance after that if offered admittance off the waitlist of a more desireable school. I think you can relax, because I think schools make decisions to take you off the waitlist based on whether you're a good fit for their school, not on where all else you've been accepted and/or deferred (and I really doubt they're even made aware of deferral status). Anyway that's my operating assumption.

To answer the question of why one would defer at one school and not another -- perhaps one's first choice doesn't allow deferrals, or the deadline for requesting deferral might be past once one got in off the waitlist. I definitely want to defer for a year, but would not give up going to my first choice school, should they let me in, because a deferral wasn't available for some reason.

 

[Incendiary]

Same situation here. See, this is why I love SDN. Lots of helpful advice and others to fret with over common situations.

Well, I'll call my school tomorrow and see what they say. Stay tuned...

 

[johnM]

Thanks SMW, that's makes a lot of sense.
what are you hoping to do next year if you defer??

 

[tekno chic]

yup, i'm like SMW--in an ideal world, my top choice would take me AND let me defer, but my guess is if i'm taken by my top choice so late in the process, deferrals are out of the question, and i would definitely give up a year (though sadly) to attend my top choice. THANKS EVERYONE FOR ALL THE HELP!!

incendiary--i've seen your name on some other threads that i've been obsessively following--is your top choice UCSF by any chance? and if it is and you call them, would you mind letting me know what they say about this whole situation? i'd really appreciate it

 

[johnM]

if you are really interested, you may be able to take a year off during med school, often done between MS2 and MS3. I actually know a bunch of med students who are doing tkaing a leave of absence to work at the labs here at the NIH, although med schools are probably pretty willing to grant leave when you tell them that you were awarded a Howard Hughes Fellowship. :wink: I don't what they'd think about your specific plans. good luck though.

 

[Incendiary]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by tekno chic:
•yup, i'm like SMW--in an ideal world, my top choice would take me AND let me defer, but my guess is if i'm taken by my top choice so late in the process, deferrals are out of the question, and i would definitely give up a year (though sadly) to attend my top choice. THANKS EVERYONE FOR ALL THE HELP!!

incendiary--i've seen your name on some other threads that i've been obsessively following--is your top choice UCSF by any chance? and if it is and you call them, would you mind letting me know what they say about this whole situation? i'd really appreciate it •••••Sorry tekno chic, my choices don't really involve UCSF at this point... If you want, and time permits, I can call and ask for you. What is it that you're curious about exactly?

BTW, I like your name...

 

[SMW]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by johnM:
•Thanks SMW, that's makes a lot of sense.
what are you hoping to do next year if you defer??•••••Nothing especially interesting, just live a normal life, in contrast to this insane year! I feel like I've been working my butt off for years, and I can use a little down time before starting all over again.

 

[rajneel1]

don't defer. just pick one school by may 15th. then if you get into your top choice (you still have the right to be on waitlists after may 15th....you just can't hold multiple acceptances), drop this other school and start trying to defer at your top choice. deferrals are pretty easy to get at most schools and i don't think you will have a problem requesting one even if you think it is really late.

 

[tekno chic]

wow, incendiary, that is SUPER nice of you to offer!! <img border="0" alt="[Lovey]" title="" src="graemlins/lovey.gif" />

strangely enough, after torturing myself to the point where i posted this, i spent hours talking to my friend and i'm not sure if i'm going to defer anymore. my parents are STRONGLY opposed to me taking a year off (arg), and i've spent so long in the mindset that i'm going to defer and do really cool service projects that i seem to have forgotten that i can do these projects later as someone who can offer more--medical services, or go abroad as a MS-4. And the school i will probably go to is UCLA, and i don't know if they're just trying to intimidate me or what, but i got the impression that they do NOT (capital NOT) like kids deferring.

so... ahhh... the torture of med school decisions continues...

but thanks a ton for offering to call, that's really sweet! if you don't mind me asking, out of curiosity, what school do you think you'll end up/what's your top choice?

 

[rajneel1]

don't defer. just pick one school by may 15th. then if you get into your top choice (you still have the right to be on waitlists after may 15th....you just can't hold multiple acceptances), drop this other school and start trying to defer at your top choice. deferrals are pretty easy to get at most schools and i don't think you will have a problem requesting one even if you think it is really late.

 

[Incendiary]

I can't answer the original question of whether other schools will know you've deferred elsewhere, but I do know that even if you defer, it's not a binding commitment such that you cannot later accept a different school. Perhaps schools differ on this policy, but this is according to the only two schools from which I have asked for a deferral.

 

[USeF]

someone mentioned that deferring would be easy at schools that accept you this summer. IT is quite the contrary.

I spoke with an admission officer at U of Chi-town and she specifically said that it would NOT be likely, or helpful that I could defer. By this point in the year, they are scampering to have a full class for the fall, so a deferral would NOT be preferentail at this time. I have no acceptances and asked her flat out would the idea of deferring help or hinder my chances?
simply put: hinder.