Deferment?

[00011]

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Hi all!
I've already checked the school's policy for deferment, I just wanted the opinions of those of you in medical school who have had experience with this.

I'm currently in my senior year, applied and accepted to at least 1 med school. I understand that requesting and receiving a year deferment is difficult to get from any school.

For those who applied, what reasons for deferment have you seen accepted/rejected?
Also would any of mine be considered adequate? (shoot em down if not, suggestions would be great otherwise!)
-Start paying off wife and I's UG debt
-Attain state residency status before matriculation (20K >> 40K/year)
-More experience working in the healthcare field (I'm licensed as an EMT-B)

For those who had the year off, was it difficult to jump back into the sciences and the studying lifestyle during MS1? (less retention of UG material?)

Thanks so much!

 

[HatWobble]

-Start paying off wife and I's UG debt

Where would you work for one year? Could you really get a salary that would make a significant dent in your debt? Would making $30k in this one year be better than an extra year of ~$300k earnings ten years from now? (The answer to that one is no.)

Regardless, I doubt your school would look favorably upon that as reason to defer.

-Attain state residency status before matriculation (20K >> 40K/year)

Not sure what your state's or school's rules are w.r.t. this. Each state is different; you may only have to pay the OOS rate the first year and then subsequently gain residency status for M2. In others, only one year of state residency won't qualify you for IS tuition.

Again, I don't think the school would think this is legitimate.

-More experience working in the healthcare field (I'm licensed as an EMT-B)

You'll get better "experience" being a med student. Why would you want to ride around in ambulances for a year if you have the chance to starting gaining MD-level knowledge now? Seems pointless.

You're going to be a MD, not a paramedic. Starting classes will be the best "experience" for your end career goals. Your school will likely tell you the same thing.

 

[IWillChangeHC]

Agree with above.

We need more info. Are you going to pay off debt or just make a small ding. I get the state residency perspective. The experience point is moot.

Hi all!
I've already checked the school's policy for deferment, I just wanted the opinions of those of you in medical school who have had experience with this.

I'm currently in my senior year, applied and accepted to at least 1 med school. I understand that requesting and receiving a year deferment is difficult to get from any school.

For those who applied, what reasons for deferment have you seen accepted/rejected?
Also would any of mine be considered adequate? (shoot em down if not, suggestions would be great otherwise!)
-Start paying off wife and I's UG debt
-Attain state residency status before matriculation (20K >> 40K/year)
-More experience working in the healthcare field (I'm licensed as an EMT-B)

For those who had the year off, was it difficult to jump back into the sciences and the studying lifestyle during MS1? (less retention of UG material?)

Thanks so much!

 

[theshellyb]

Hi all!
I've already checked the school's policy for deferment, I just wanted the opinions of those of you in medical school who have had experience with this.

I'm currently in my senior year, applied and accepted to at least 1 med school. I understand that requesting and receiving a year deferment is difficult to get from any school.

For those who applied, what reasons for deferment have you seen accepted/rejected?
Also would any of mine be considered adequate? (shoot em down if not, suggestions would be great otherwise!)
-Start paying off wife and I's UG debt
-Attain state residency status before matriculation (20K >> 40K/year)
-More experience working in the healthcare field (I'm licensed as an EMT-B)

For those who had the year off, was it difficult to jump back into the sciences and the studying lifestyle during MS1? (less retention of UG material?)

Thanks so much!

I don't really think it's *that* hard to get a deferment. I know a guy who deferred for a year due to, essentially, a significant other freak-out that happened the day before orientation. (Not sure what reason he gave the school though). I also know a guy who had gotten his EMT-P certification while attending undergrad, and got a deferment to work for a year on an ambulance before starting med school. I'm not sure if you could get a similar job as an EMT-B but if you could get that job in the state in which you plan on attending medical school, that might help for residency purposes.

Are you asking us if those 3 reasons are good reasons to defer *in general* or if they're excuses that the school will accept? ie, have you already decided you want to take a year off for some other reason and you're trying to find something compelling to tell the school, or are you asking if those are good reasons to defer in the first place? Because those are 2 different questions.

ETA: Absolutely do not worry about the "jumping back" into studying thing. Things you forget from undergrad don't matter.

 

[Textbookversion]

Hi all!
I've already checked the school's policy for deferment, I just wanted the opinions of those of you in medical school who have had experience with this.

I'm currently in my senior year, applied and accepted to at least 1 med school. I understand that requesting and receiving a year deferment is difficult to get from any school.

For those who applied, what reasons for deferment have you seen accepted/rejected?
Also would any of mine be considered adequate? (shoot em down if not, suggestions would be great otherwise!)
-Start paying off wife and I's UG debt
-Attain state residency status before matriculation (20K >> 40K/year)
-More experience working in the healthcare field (I'm licensed as an EMT-B)

For those who had the year off, was it difficult to jump back into the sciences and the studying lifestyle during MS1? (less retention of UG material?)

Thanks so much!

All terrible reasons to differ, you should be ashamed you couldn't discern that yourself. Also good luck paying off debt making piddly squat as an EMT.

 

[00011]

Thank you all for the input.

To answer theshellyb, all the reasons I listed were legitimate, not a guise to sell to a school for putting off matriculation.
I would love to put a big dent in our debt before med school, and I think that entering the workforce could potentially offer valuable experiences. Haha most of you answered quite soundly that those aren't the best reasons, and I understand.

I was also considering asking this specific school about it because they recently have made big changes to the curriculum. This is a side note I didn't intend to include in my request of course. In addition to the reasons I listed before, it seems to me it would be nice to hold off and let the school have another year to sort out some kinks in the system. Again, this was only a part for my considering requesting a deferment.

Even if I knew the deferment would be denied, the school would still be competing as a top choice.

 

[Smurfette]

Moving to PreAllo...

 

[BABSstudent]

I know someone who got a deferment because, while moving to medical school, he was hit by a car and broke his back. He spent the year relearning to walk. Not exactly what I would say is ideal.

 

[lunalight]

Not saying you should defer for this reason, but if you are going to try to work for a year, you should do it to save money to avoid taking extra loans in med school vs paying off existing ones.

Also, deferring to work for a year may not work to achieve residency. Some states will only grant you residency status after a year if you moved there because of your job or your spouse's job. (Got job first, moved second. Not moved first, job second.) If they know that the only reason you moved there is for school, then you're stuck paying OOS tuition the whole time.

 

[theshellyb]

I was also considering asking this specific school about it because they recently have made big changes to the curriculum. This is a side note I didn't intend to include in my request of course. In addition to the reasons I listed before, it seems to me it would be nice to hold off and let the school have another year to sort out some kinks in the system. Again, this was only a part for my considering requesting a deferment.

Just wanted to say, this isn't really a great or sensible reason to defer. Schools make changes to their curriculum and perform educational experiments on students ALL THE TIME. Ask any medical student if they've been the "first class" to try *something* and the answer will be yes. Whether it's a new concept for integrating patient experiences into the clinical skills class or a different way of structuring your renal block, medical school is CONSTANTLY changing and there will always be kinks every year. You get through them and none of them are going to be big enough to actually threaten your education. Don't put off your career because of that.

 

[quiltlady]

I's ? Really? You think that sounds OK? Are you a college graduate? The possessive of I is my. I don't mind being accused of being the grammar police.

 

[maldini99]

I's ? Really? You think that sounds OK? Are you a college graduate? The possessive of I is my. I don't mind being accused of being the grammar police.

omg relax for f**k sake

 

[00011]

Haha thank you quiltlady...

Thank you again shellyb, good point. After gathering input from others whom I highly respect, I won't be requesting deferment. However, I think it's worthwhile to keep this thread going if any others are seriously considering deferment.

Blessings

 

[deleted127837]

Hi all!
I've already checked the school's policy for deferment, I just wanted the opinions of those of you in medical school who have had experience with this.

I'm currently in my senior year, applied and accepted to at least 1 med school. I understand that requesting and receiving a year deferment is difficult to get from any school.

For those who applied, what reasons for deferment have you seen accepted/rejected?
Also would any of mine be considered adequate? (shoot em down if not, suggestions would be great otherwise!)
-Start paying off wife and I's UG debt
-Attain state residency status before matriculation (20K >> 40K/year)
-More experience working in the healthcare field (I'm licensed as an EMT-B)

For those who had the year off, was it difficult to jump back into the sciences and the studying lifestyle during MS1? (less retention of UG material?)

Thanks so much!

Depends entirely on the school - some won't accept requests for any reason that isn't a pretty hefty fellowship, and others will let you do pretty much whatever programs you want. My understanding, though, is that most won't let you do what you're planning unless your existing debt is non-deferrable and makes going to medical school impossible.

So #1 is out. No state school is going to let you do #2, as it's trying to loophole the rules - they'll probably count you as out-of-state for however long they normally do regardless of what you end up doing, though most likely they'll force you to reapply. #3 doesn't make any sense - you're going to med school, you don't need any more exposure beforehand. That's what school is for.

I's ? Really? You think that sounds OK? Are you a college graduate? The possessive of I is my. I don't mind being accused of being the grammar police.

There's nothing linguistically incorrect about "my wife and I's." It's a phrase, and can take the Saxon genitive (similar to "Peter and Marsha's house"). "My wife's and my" is only accepted via standard usage, but there isn't a linguistic reason why what he wrote is considered incorrect by some.

Otherwise, taking the time to not answer and snipe at OP is totally understandable. 🙄

 

[lunalight]

I's ? Really? You think that sounds OK? Are you a college graduate? The possessive of I is my. I don't mind being accused of being the grammar police.

There's nothing linguistically incorrect about "my wife and I's." It's a phrase, and can take the Saxon genitive (similar to "Peter and Marsha's house"). "My wife's and my" is only accepted via standard usage, but there isn't a linguistic reason why what he wrote is considered incorrect by some.

Otherwise, taking the time to not answer and snipe at OP is totally understandable. 🙄

 

[ThisCouldBeYou]

Start paying off wife and I's UG debt

Eeks! Remove the "my wife and" from that phrase and it reads: "Start paying off I's UG debt."

Just wrong! This is not the subjective/objective form that's wrong. (Subjective: I, objective: me). It's that the OP used the subjective form rather than the possessive form.

 

[ThisCouldBeYou]

Back to your original question: I don't know an acceptable reason for deferment. Probably: major health change to handle, continued work on research project. But is travel acceptable? What if I'm in a job that has nothing to do with the medical field, like PR. Is asking for a 1 year deferment acceptable?

 

[Surgeon's Cuffs]

You're never going to get a reasonably straight answer out of SDN on deferment; so many of us cry tears of blood just to get an interview. I know people who have deferred, and never questioned their decision. It depends on the committee that is reviewing your request. If they say no, they say no.

Having a plan for when you take time off is key. The "delaying massive income" argument is, in fact, short sighted because it undervalues 1)the effect of compounding interest on the principal UG loan, and 2)the effect that relieving stress associated with the constant med school grind can do for you. Not everyone does well enough in med school to make bank, and any advantage you can bring to the table in terms of stress mitigation is what will separate you from the gunner-burnout that inevitably self-selects out of the success pool. As they say, you can't score if you don't take the shot. If you and your wife have a solid plan for your deferred year, then rock out.

 

[Doogie17]

I will be deferring next year.

Arkansas UAMS included a deferral form with my acceptance letter, its sent out with all acceptances. A one year deferral is given to anyone for the asking, and to defer for a second year needs a reason.

I have acceptances for md/phd programs at other schools. At the one I am choosing, I was granted a one year deferral for this coming year, for personal reasons and also since I am graduating next month with my B.S. at 17 yo.