# Deferring Admission for Grad School?



## daaaaave (Jan 1, 2007)

Hi guys, I am planning to go to grad school in Fall 2009, but I wanted to just apply now and get it out of the way. The schools say you can defer admission a year so I will get admitted for 2008 and just defer to 2009, however they don't seem like they really want to defer and it's not a guarantee. Does anybody have any experience with this about how hard they make it for you to defer a year? I want to apply now so I know where I'm going to move ahead of time and also cause it easier to get recommendations now that I am still in college and I won't be next year.


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## Johnny1234 (Nov 16, 2006)

Since you wont be in college next year, im guessing you are graduating this year. Why not just go to grad school in 2008?


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## daaaaave (Jan 1, 2007)

Cause I want to work for a year first and save money so I avoid going into debt. Also I am going to grad school across the country most likely and want to spend another year here before moving.


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## SilentLoner (Jan 30, 2006)

Thats something I would really like to do - defer admission for similar reasons. However most people tell me it's a bad idea - they never give exact reasons though.


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## coldmorning (Jul 4, 2007)

daaaaave said:


> Hi guys, I am planning to go to grad school in Fall 2009, but I wanted to just apply now and get it out of the way. The schools say you can defer admission a year so I will get admitted for 2008 and just defer to 2009, however they don't seem like they really want to defer and it's not a guarantee. Does anybody have any experience with this about how hard they make it for you to defer a year? I want to apply now so I know where I'm going to move ahead of time and also cause it easier to get recommendations now that I am still in college and I won't be next year.


If it's not a guarantee that you can enter the following year, then that isn't really a deferred admission. It's really more like an free automatic reapplication. Big difference.

You can still get your letters of recommendation now and use them in later years. Your school likely will have a program where they will store your letters for you and send them out in future years so you don't have to worry about professors forgetting you. I would do that and just apply when you are ready to apply. Since you say it's not guaranteed, it won't really help you know what to expect anymore than applying later.

An year old application for admission will also probably not get taken as seriously if you ask me. Plus, it won't have all the stuff about what you have done over the last year.


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## daaaaave (Jan 1, 2007)

That's a good point. I need to find out for sure what the policy is. One school said something about a deferral, but it had to be pre-approved or something which makes no sense cause why would you tell them you are going to defer when you apply. I think perhaps the other school did guarantee up to 1 year deferral, but I need to check.


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## Johnny1234 (Nov 16, 2006)

Just go to grad school after college man. You will have debt anyways, unless you make 100-200K this year, which unless you start your own business, is very hard with just a BA. But if you do start your own business, then you most likely wont need the grad school.


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## vicente (Nov 10, 2003)

Well if deferring is possible and he feels like he needs to work an extra year, then I think it would be a good idea.

Graduate fellowships don't pay that much anyway. They're usually $20,000/yr or less and some don't even cover tuition. If you make more than $12/hr it might be worthwhile to defer if the school that accepts you allows it.


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## daaaaave (Jan 1, 2007)

Ok, another reason I should have mentioned is these are out-of-state schools, but if I get admission ahead of time I can move, and pay substantially less in-state tuition.


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## Karla (Dec 26, 2005)

why can't you work for a year, than apply after that? then you wouldn't have to worry about all this.


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## coldmorning (Jul 4, 2007)

Ah, the out of state tuition thing makes this a bit more complicated. I can see why you would want to know a year in advance.

I've done the grad school thing and one observation I had was that those who took a year or more off after college seemed to do better than those who went straight to grad school. Those who worked seemed a little more focused, jmho.


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## daaaaave (Jan 1, 2007)

Karla said:


> why can't you work for a year, than apply after that? then you wouldn't have to worry about all this.


Cause like I said I might have to move to get in-state tuition and you have to move at least a year in advance to qualify for that  It helps to know in advance.


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