Deferring a year?

[vmc303]

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How hard is it to defer a year, if you're admitted somewhere? I know law schools will often let you defer if you've got a reasonably good excuse, but I'm not sure how it works with medical schools.

 

[SeventhSon]

it varies. some want a good reason. A friend of mine from college had her mom pass away so they granted her request (usually that school doesnt consider deferrals). Some schools will let you defer without a reason, as long as you were accepted and not pulled off the waitlist.

 

[Avalanche21]

I deferred without a problem. It was for personal reasons that I needed to be elsewhere for the year and they were very understanding.

 

[RaaMD]

Depends on the school and your reasons.

 

[Law2Doc]

Depends on the school and your reasons.

Agree -- you can usually see the school policies on their websites. Many schools require health issues, family emergency/tragedy/unforseen pregnancy or other similar significant reasons to get a deferral. Most wont let you defer just to "take a break" -- if this is the case, you were expected to take the break and THEN apply -- not get a slot and then try to take time off. Best to not apply yet if you forsee a reason you won't be attending.
It is totally different than eg law school because law schools play no role in limiting the number of people entering the profession -- the state bar (exam) subsequent to schooling does this function, and regularly fails 30% of lawyer hopefuls each year. By contrast, med schools are given the role to funnel the appropriate number of med students through, and so are pretty keen on micromanaging the number and not having to deal with holding spots for people who want to start at different times, might not come back, etc. (As evidence of the med school role in regulating number of folks in the profession, note the call for an increase in med students by the AMA and the current increases in class size). Bottom line, do not assume you can get a deferral as a matter of right. At most places you cannot.

 

[MaximusD]

Agree -- you can usually see the school policies on their websites. Many schools require health issues, family emergency/tragedy/unforseen pregnancy or other similar significant reasons to get a deferral. Most wont let you defer just to "take a break" -- if this is the case, you were expected to take the break and THEN apply -- not get a slot and then try to take time off. Best to not apply yet if you forsee a reason you won't be attending.
It is totally different than eg law school because law schools play no role in limiting the number of people entering the profession -- the state bar (exam) subsequent to schooling does this function, and regularly fails 30% of lawyer hopefuls each year. By contrast, med schools are given the role to funnel the appropriate number of med students through, and so are pretty keen on micromanaging the number and not having to deal with holding spots for people who want to start at different times, might not come back, etc. (As evidence of the med school role in regulating number of folks in the profession, note the call for an increase in med students by the AMA and the current increases in class size). Bottom line, do not assume you can get a deferral as a matter of right. At most places you cannot.

Stilll, I know for a fact that many MD and DO schools do not require a reason -- they only require that you request deferral. (Read your MSAR or TPR Top 162 Medical Schools)

 

[RDood]

How hard is it to defer a year, if you're admitted somewhere? I know law schools will often let you defer if you've got a reasonably good excuse, but I'm not sure how it works with medical schools.

I belive the majority of schools do not grant referrals without reason. "Good" reasons include as said before, health emergencies, or (at some schools) peace corp/teach for America.

 

[Law2Doc]

Stilll, I know for a fact that many MD and DO schools do not require a reason -- they only require that you request deferral. (Read your MSAR or TPR Top 162 Medical Schools)

Some don't, many (the majority) do. (I know nothing of DO schools, so I defer to the osteo crowd on those - read my prior post as allo specific). Still you cannot always control which category school is going to accept you, and how liberal a deferral policy they have is a pretty silly way to pick a school. Thus you shouldn't apply yet if you KNOW you are going to need to defer for a year.

 

[63768]

as long as you don't state that you'd like to take a break and provide good reason i.e. taking care of family, working to make money to pay, finishing a long term research project, etc, you won't have a problem.

 

[Law2Doc]

as long as you don't state that you'd like to take a break and provide good reason i.e. taking care of family, working to make money to pay, finishing a long term research project, etc, you won't have a problem.

Not so at a lot of schools. Look at school websites. Many only permit deferrals for very specific reasons, if at all. Some of the things you list don't fly at some schools. So again, if you know you want to defer, you are usually better off not applying yet.

 

[dr.z]

I think most will allow you to defer with good reason, but you should check with each school.

 

[illixir]

i wanted to make sure, are you allowed to request a deferral and then if they say no, still go to the school if you'd prefer to go there than lose it by not going that particular year. like if you make a one or two page write up explaining reasons and such and they deny it they're simply denying the request for deferral and you can still attend at the regular time, right?

 

[tulanensis]

Getting rejected for deferral does NOT mean getting un-accepted.

 

[63768]

Not so at a lot of schools. Look at school websites. Many only permit deferrals for very specific reasons, if at all. Some of the things you list don't fly at some schools. So again, if you know you want to defer, you are usually better off not applying yet.

i stand corrected. thanks law2doc. i suppose it was my limited exposure to deferral policies (TX and CA schools) that led me to make the wrong call.

like if you make a one or two page write up explaining reasons and such and they deny it they're simply denying the request for deferral and you can still attend at the regular time, right?

i assume so. you will still be admitted, you just won't be able to defer.