Deferring acceptance?

[vzhou]

Has anyone thought about deferring their acceptance by a year given the current situation?

I fortunately got into a dental school which is set to start in Aug but it requires me to move from Canada to the east coast (id prob have to move by myself given the border restrictions and parents are immunocompromised). Atm the school hasnt determined what they plan to do (ie. online, hybrid or in person and I may have some unknown health issues with my heart (waiting for medical checkup once it becomes available). If the school does a hybrid method with some in class and some online it just doesn’t seem as worth it from a financial point + with the stress of moving during these times... I’m still fairly young (22) so time isn’t entirely a huge issue for me and I could still work to gain some dental experience in the year.

I’ve heard in the past dental schools only allowed select cases for deferral but does anyone have any info on how covid factors into this years deferral process? I’d love to hear some thoughts on this, if you had the opportunity to defer dental school by a year would you?

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[noah123100]

Would love to hear about this too

 

[saydental]

I have a friend who deferred a coupled of years ago. She had to give a good reason for why she was deferring and they allowed it. If you give a good reason then they will most likely approve it. But its risky, not all schools might allow it.

 

[TheDentalSchoolCoach]

It's an interesting topic.

Right before enrolling into Penn Dental, my mother became sick and I needed to take care of her (financially and also by being physically there for her). However, that wasn't a legitimate reason for deferral for Penn. So, I ended up not going to dental school.

So, unless you have a solid reason (that they would accept), I don't think asking for deferral would be a good idea.

If you do want to ask for a deferral, make sure you do your homework and know all the potentials issues that it might create.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Not all schools will grant deferrals once you are accepted.

 

[pookey123]

should accept and voice your concerns to the administration as professionally and as best you can; there are no guarantees but online school is a probability

 

[MandalorianDMD]

Ask what their plan is, when they will know for sure without any changes, and if you can defer for the reasons you have. Get everything in writing but realize that they can deny you entrance next year even if they say yes. They have tons of lawyers and might be a losing battle to try to fight your way back in.


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[Faris_]

seems you can get more info if you just pickup the phone and call the school if they'd consider such request!

 

[noah123100]

seems you can get more info if you just pickup the phone and call the school if they'd consider such request!

I mean I think OP might be worried about potential consequences of doing so.

 

[HKSZYU]

I think your concerns are completely valid. I'd just ask your school, because I know the bar for getting a deferment varies pretty widely across programs. Anecdotally, I know our school is being stingy with deferments this year, and is only granting them for very extenuating circumstances. COVID-related uneasiness doesn't seem to be passing that bar.

 

[vzhou]

thank you everyone for all the advice! really appreciate it, i think im going to wait a while for our school to give additional info before deciding what to do