defferement and reapplying

[Su4n2]

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is it possible to get accepted to a school, deffer, and meanwhile try reapplying to another school?
reason i ask: i am now applying to NYCOM, a DO school. i am thinking of also studying for the april MCAT and seing if i can do better. if i can, and G-d willing can get an acceptance, i was thinking of deffering and reapplying to my state, allopathic school. before the DO-MD flame war starts, it is not because i don't want to go to a DO school, i could care less MD or DO. BUT: SUNY is cheap, and my husband wouldn't have to move. since i am planning to have child, this is significant. anyway, wondering if all of this is legal. thanx pals.
p.s came to school today to study for biochem all day for my test tomorrow, but have been on SDN all day. can i blame a bad grade on SDN? 😛

 

[14931]

Originally posted by Su4n2
p.s came to school today to study for biochem all day for my test tomorrow, but have been on SDN all day. can i blame a bad grade on SDN? 😛

tried that, didn't work! 😉

 

[tBw]

it just depends on what the school gets you to sign (some make you sign something or will only hold the deferrment under the agreement that you will matriculate there - and don't put it past them contacting your state school if they find out you broke such an agreement). Some schools will not put any limitations on you (eg I think SMW is trying for her state school over a top ten acceptance).

 

[SMW]

I was considering it, but haven't been able to pry word on their exact policy out of Columbia. Apparently AMCAS schools have different policies of which AMCAS is aware along with which applicants have been granted deferrals from which schools. So if you try to reapply to another school, and the school that granted your deferral does not allow that, AMCAS will not forward the application. I have no idea how it works with DO schools. I would try to contact the school and find out their policy (hope you have better luck than I've been having). I was assured that they could not rescind my acceptance merely for asking. This is a really gray area -- I have had my undergrad pre-med advisor working on it, and even she cannot come up with a definitive answer.

 

[secretstang19]

I don't mean to impugn anyone's character, but the whole deferral-while-seeking-acceptance-elsewhere seems a little bit unethical to me. If you've been accepted at a school, but don't want to go there, don't take the spot in the class. Then, try next year to get into your dream school. You can apply again to the same place where you got accepted the year before. I realize that this may cost you a little more in application fees, but I think that's a fair price to pay. For some reason, deferring just to try to get in somewhere else just leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

 

[SMW]

I did not defer just to try to get in somewhere else. I deferred because I wanted to take a year off, and that was the acceptance I was holding at the time. I was still hoping to get in off my state school's waitlist. I am interested in primary care, in which my state school is ranked #1 besides being much more affordable. If schools have different policies on it, then it isn't a matter of ethics, just a matter of following the rules.

 

[Amy B]

Who controls the rule for deferment? Does AMCAS or is it up to each individual med school?

 

[SMW]

It's up to the individual schools. AMCAS just does their bidding.

 

[Su4n2]

it's not about the dream school, it's about money. i will probably be deffefering for a year anyway because i am thinking of trying to have a baby. if my efforts fail, i want someplace to go next sept. this is a complicated matter. i will try to investigate and post my result.s

 

[secretstang19]

Again, I'm not trying to attack anyone, but I think that the reason that makes you choose to defer (while seeking acceptances elsewhere) is irrelevant. I'm not questioning WHY you want to defer. I personally think that there are plenty of good reasons to defer admission - once you enter medical school, you won't be able to come up for air for years. A good friend of mine is deferring admission at Baylor to do a wilderness leadership program and then study abroad for a term. That's the kind of stuff you'll never have the chance to do again once you get started with medical school, so I'm by no means saying that deferring admission itself is a bad thing.

The problem I have is not that anyone is deferring admission, it's that they're seeking admission elsewhere while they're deferring. Here's why this bothers me: when you defer, you're telling the school that you want a year to do whatever, but that after that year is over, you're going to enroll at the school. Medical schools don't offer the deferral plan so that you can seek out the bigger, better deal in your year off (or even just the cheaper deal or the more convenient deal). Deferring admission is making a commitment to the school, and it seems like you've made a commitment that you don't intend to honor (unless your plans fall through). That's why I think it's unethical - it strikes me as dishonest.

Obviously, I'm not in your shoes, and things might not seem so black-and-white if I were. But as it is, it seems to me that deferring admission while you try to get in somewhere else violates a trust between you and the school. So that's my opinion.

 

[SMW]

You're probably right. But because some schools do allow it, I reasoned that it can't be all that bad, and it wouldn't hurt to inquire. Most schools when you defer have you sign something and bind yourself to re-applying EDP the next year, which effectively precludes you applying anywhere else. Columbia did not do that, in fact I signed nothing, and all they asked was that I write to them in the spring stating my intention to matriculate. I definitely wouldn't do it unless I got the go-ahead from them. Which does not seem to be forthcoming. Probably for the reason you outline.

 

[Su4n2]

secretstang19,
i hear your argument, and in my heart i know that u are correct. i will find out about the policy and if they don't allow u to apply out, i will do this:
apply to the DO school, and retake the MCAT. if i am accepted (which is in no way a certainty)and i do well on the MCAT i will decline. i guess my plan was too complicated anyway, especially after the experience of SMW. thanx.