Deferring Medical School

[alice]

I have recently started to think about doing this. This whole 'year off' wasn't as sweet as it could have been, thanks to AMCAS. I am thinking of working at my current research job until next winter, then taking off and being a bum of some sort (ski, surf, white water rafting... whatever) or doing some traveling. This sounds so awesome because while I am psyched about medical school, I know that my next opportunity to do something like this will be when I am old and gray. I will probably have grandchildren. Some ski bum.

Anyway, I know this is kind of difficult to swing. Lots of med schools say 'no way' to deferring. But I also know a few that are all for putting off acceptance in order to do something legit (i.e. my current research job). I think that I could finagle this deal if the school was open to it.

To get to the point, I am wondering which schools are relatively open to this. I know of a few who deferred Columbia. I guess the others I am most curious about are UVA, Duke, Cornell, Dartmouth, Stanford and NYU. Anyone heard of people at these schools deferring? But if anyone knows of other schools that accept deferrals that I didn't mention, please post them too! I am sure that at least someone else is having a pre-midlife crisis?!?!?

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[omores]

There is someone in our 1st year class at Duke who was accepted for the 2000 entering class, but deferred so he could be with us instead

Meanwhile, one or two students who began with us ended up deferring or taking a leave of absense or some such. I've heard they'll both be re-starting next year.

Conclusion: Duke is receptive to deferrals, but I have no idea how much of a compelling reason you need to have in order to get one. I assume they don't grant them just as a matter of course, but at least the possibility does exist.

Good luck!

 

[Retro]

Deferrals are ususally granted if you have to finish a graduate degree, since certain M.S. and Ph.D. degrees are valuable in time of graduation, sometimes the thesis committee asked for more experiments and postpones graduation for another 6 months, so it is quite common for graduate students to defer. Other reasons include a trip to places like Africa for humanitarian reasons.

 

[Resident Alien]

U of Cincinnati has an open deferral policy.

 

[EpiII]

UC San Diego said that they are rather free with their deferrals as well. Not exactly sure how much convincing you have to do, though.

 

[A. Caveman]

I think that Northwestern grants them without much hassle at all.

 

[alice]

bump

 

[altaskier]

Well, I'm bum-ing it this year without deferring. Not to say I'm not doing absolutely nothing (I'm working in a clinic and as a HIV counselor), but I'm basically bum-ing it. The goal this year is to ski as many days as possible. But to answer your question, some schools do ask you if you'd like to defer, like MCW. If you have a valid reason, i don't think they'd care. BUT,,,, being a bum doesn't consitute a good enough reason for them (I'm guessing). So here's the solution, quite your lab job right now and become a bum. Ski till you turn blue.


Case solved!

 

[hansy]

i'm currently spending this year working, after i was granted a deferment from NYU Med last spring. i had extenuating family circumstances, and i had to write a simple letter to the dean explaining why i wanted to defer. the deferment was granted rather quickly, like within the same week that i sent the request. i don't know how strict their criteria are for granting deferments . . . if they'd let you defer because you just wanted to relax or take a break, but the deferment process was really painless for me.

 

[lilycat]

A friend of mine deferred from Yale to study abroad (a year after she had received her degree) and to do a clinical mission trip abroad for a month -- they didn't seem to have a problem with it.

Most schools are pretty open to deferring -- the only time it might get tough is if you are coming off of a waitlist. Otherwise, use the job angle, and you should be fine.

 

[Retro]

Lilycat is right... you cannot really defer if you were wait-listed... My friend was wait-listed at one school, and when he got in finally, he had problems with his transcript so he couldn't register in time and the school refused to let him defer and rejected him as a result.

 

[locitamd]

Originally posted by Retro:
•....when he got in finally, he had problems with his transcript so he couldn't register in time and the school refused to let him defer and rejected him as a result.•••


OUCH!! What kind of problems with his transcript?

 

[Wednesday]

Okay, I'm interested in any other information about deferring off of wait-lists. Is it absolutly impossible? I have some circumstances that might make this necessary.

 

[Retro]

Well, this friend of mine graduated from College in three years rather than four, and the office of Registrar made a mistake: they did not put "B.A. Degree conferred, May 25, etc" on his final transcript, which raised the med school's suspicion. But the med school did not notify him until a few weeks before matriculation, and he had to contact the undergrad transcript department and went back and forth, until he realized that it cannot be resolved before class begins, so he requested deferral, and the med school rejected his request and rejected the poor fellow all together.

 

[lilycat]

Originally posted by Wednesday:
•Okay, I'm interested in any other information about deferring off of wait-lists. Is it absolutly impossible? I have some circumstances that might make this necessary.•••

It just depends on the school. I have one friend who did this successfully, but it was an exception to their stated policy, and she had pretty serious reasons for it. In general, schools are less lenient in granting deferrals to their waitlisted applicants -- I think it's just because at that point they are eager to fill their class as soon as possible.

If your circumstances are really pressing, you might have a good shot at deferring after being accepted off of the waitlist, but I definitely wouldn't count on it. Plan accordingly.

 

[sandflea]

how exactly does one defer off a waitlist?? how can you postpone matriculation into a specific med school if they haven't even offered you an acceptance yet??? isn't that kind of presumptuous?? i've never heard of this before. <img src="confused.gif" border="0">

 

[hansy]

what i believe they're talking about in deferring from a waitlist means being offered a position over the summer in the entering class for that fall, and then asking the school if they could hold onto the acceptance until fall of the following year.

basically, once a school begins accepting students from its waitlist, it's trying to fill the entering class, and it is generally really difficult to convince an adcom to let you defer your offer of admission until the following year. in fact, some letters i received for waitlists indicated specifically that they would not allow deferments for waitlisted students when offered admission.

i was in pretty much the same position this past summer, on waitlists for 3 schools that i would have typically attended over the school i ultimately selected. however, it was more important for me to defer for a year than to attend one of those schools and matriculate this past fall, so i withdrew my apps from the schools at which i was waitlisted once my deferment came through from NYU.

 

[plumhill]

When are you supposed to state your deferral (is that a word?)

For example, if I know that I am going abroad for a year after I graduate, can I send in medical school applications knowing that I'll be deferring for a year? Will the Adcom be OK with that? Or do I have to state deferral after I get accepted?

 

[chair1]

Deferrals are ususally granted if you have to finish a graduate degree, since certain M.S. and Ph.D. degrees are valuable in time of graduation, sometimes the thesis committee asked for more experiments and postpones graduation for another 6 months, so it is quite common for graduate students to defer. Other reasons include a trip to places like Africa for humanitarian reasons.

Is it common for some schools to allow deferring in order to finish a second Bachelor degree if you needed an extra year to finish it?

 

[Kickback]

HOLY ZOMBIE JESUS a 9 year necropost. This has to be a record of some sort

 

[Bartemius]

HOLY ZOMBIE JESUS a 9 year necropost. This has to be a record of some sort

lol

seriously though, 10 years? only on the internet...

chair1, your made my day

 

[sector9]

When are you supposed to state your deferral (is that a word?)

For example, if I know that I am going abroad for a year after I graduate, can I send in medical school applications knowing that I'll be deferring for a year? Will the Adcom be OK with that? Or do I have to state deferral after I get accepted?

You are supposed to state your deferral by not applying until you are ready to apply.

Is it common for some schools to allow deferring in order to finish a second Bachelor degree if you needed an extra year to finish it?

No.

 

[sector9]

lol

seriously though, 10 years? only on the internet...

chair1, your made my day

plumhill made the initial necrobump post...

 

[Bartemius]

plumhill made the initial necrobump post...

shoot, my post shoul've said "chair1, your *quote made my day"

just the fact that he actually quoted someone from 10 years ago gave me a laugh

 

[DSM_302.0]

bump!

 

[OchemOficionado]

bump!

Why.

 

[DSM_302.0]

Why.

Because I am trying to decide if I should apply in June and try to defer, wait another year and then apply, or just suck it up and apply in June and go to school.

I'm 30 but want to travel like mad before I buckle down for the next 10 years. Would love to hear from others who successfully deferred.

 

[ElephantRevival]

Because I am trying to decide if I should apply in June and try to defer, wait another year and then apply, or just suck it up and apply in June and go to school.

I'm 30 but want to travel like mad before I buckle down for the next 10 years. Would love to hear from others who successfully deferred.

I'd be interested to hear others' experiences with this too. I've been trying to decide between finish a Master's (on year) of just going straight to school. Also 30.

I'd also like to try to resurrect and 16 year old post for fun.

But I'd also like to hear more stories of what candidate did to successfully defer.