Deferral policy at UPenn

[candy16]

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Hey everyone,

I was wondering if anyone could please tell me Penn's policy for allowing deferrals. I can't find it anywhere on their website and I've searched through this forum. I know at most other vet schools you can only defer (if at all) for extenuating medical or military reasons, but I am specifically interested in Penn's policy. I have heard that they are happy to grant deferral with your $500 deposit, but I can't find that officially anywhere. Thanks for your help!

 

[tpad40]

I am not sure if it was because last year's class was so big and they were hoping to reduce numbers but I am pretty sure several people deferred with no problem - hopefully they will see your thread 🙂. BigGreenVet and PupsForSeeing come to mind...

 

[BigGreenVet]

I am not sure if it was because last year's class was so big and they were hoping to reduce numbers but I am pretty sure several people deferred with no problem - hopefully they will see your thread 🙂. BigGreenVet and PupsForSeeing come to mind...

I think it was extra easy last year because of the oversize class, but I believe it is pretty easy in general. I contacted Malcolm Keiter when I had decided for sure that I wanted to defer, and he had me submit an official letter. Basically I just had to say that I was taking a year off to explore other things.... nothing fancy at all. They got back to me within a few weeks saying that it was accepted, and I had to send them a letter saying that I was officially accepting their offer of deferral.
If you have any other specific questions I can try to answer them, or you can just contact Dean Keiter directly. He's super nice and helpful... and you aren't committed to anything until all that paperwork goes through.

Hope that helped!

 

[Shanomong]

I know that you can defer after acceptance and then move here matriculate as an IS student the following year, that was actually asked by someone in our group on interview day in that lunch room with Mac. So I think in general it's fairly easy to get approved.

Are you definitely deferring, or just considering options?

 

[candy16]

Thanks so much for your responses! Right now I'm just considering options... my fiance and I are still trying to work out how would be best to stay together for next year. He has applied to med schools in the Philly area but hasn't heard from them yet, so we're afraid he won't be accepted. I would like to move to PA to establish residency if I can, although I sort of really do want to start school as soon as possible. Everything is up in the air now, but I would like to know if I have to decide about deferring on April 15th, or could I deposit and then later, maybe in the summer, change to a deferral?

 

[PAThbrd]

I would definitely call and talk to Mac. It is quite easy to defer here for non-medical/emergency reasons, I don't know what the deadlines are for deciding such things though.

 

[candy16]

Awesome. Will do. Thanks so much for the help!

 

[Angie09]

I deferred two years ago (I'm a first-year now) and it was very easy. Basically exactly what BigGreenVet described -- and this year's class (my current class) IS gigantic, so they were really encouraging people to defer last year, but I asked Mac about it a few weeks ago and he said they're still giving the option to incoming students this year. And I agree -- he's extremely nice!

 

[sumstorm]

I would still contact Penn and find out through official channels..things can change with short notice, and that way you can start paperwork if you need to.