Defer? Forum

[mtyro]

So I will preface this by saying, yes, I realize this is a kind of a high-class "problem" I have, but I'd appreciate the feedback.

I applied to a number of schools last year and was accepted at several. Not big Top 10 names or whatever, but strong regional schools. I declined the acceptances because of some changes in my family's financial circumstances, and I've spent the past year helping them out a bit and saving up more for school this year. Now I've just submitted applications again, and I've just now found out that at my current position, I've been offered a substantial promotion. Pros: It that would give me great professional experience and contacts in the areas I'm most interested in for a legal career. Cons: It would force me to decline any acceptances *again* and then reapply at some of the same schools for a *third* time next year. Also, although the promotion is awesome, this is as high as I will get where I am currently working, so it's a great job but not a substitute for the law school plan.

Writing this, it seems like it would be too risky to decline another acceptance--assuming I get one this year anyway--only to reapply again for 2012-2013 and have to explain in an addendum to the admissions committee why I seem so uncommitted to law school. I could be applying for a third time to a school where I've already declined an offer twice--why would they believe me this time? (Very helpfully, the schools in my area, almost without exception, do not offer deferments under any circumstances.)

Any thoughts from all you experts out there? Thanks!

[CanadianWolf]

May depend upon your financial circumstances. Unfortunately scant details lead to poor, speculative advice.
What type of work ? (If you were promoted to shift manager at Pizza Hut, then that is a less compelling reason to forego law school for a year than if your job promotion involved complex research or an entree to a different career path.) Did you receive any scholarship money from the law schools which accepted you ?

[krad]

Instead of flat out declining an acceptance, you could look into the option of deferring the acceptance (as your thread title says!) for a year with the plan to start at that school the following fall.

I know that some schools will do this, I don't know if all of them will, and I think it depends on the circumstances and the school. There's a poster around here that deferred a year at NU to have time with his baby (not stalking, I applied to NU as my dream), so it's definitely doable.

[CanadianWolf]

The OP specifically noted that these law schools do not offer deferments under any circumstances--which is hard to believe & contradicts the thread title.

[vanwinkle]

Just withdraw and apply when you're ready to attend.

[krad]

The OP specifically noted that these law schools do not offer deferments under any circumstances--which is hard to believe & contradicts the thread title.

Ha my bad, missed that important point.

[mtyro]

Fair enough, I did use "defer" inconsistently. In the title I should have said "Delay?" My mistake.

And I did provide scant details--I'm weirdly overcautious about posting info online. Suffice it to say that, yes, hard to believe or not, a few state schools in California--which also happen to be about the best that I think I can get into--do not offer the option to defer. If only I could get into Stanford or Boalt my problems would all be solved!

I work at a small nonprofit. The work I would be promoted into would be interesting and right in my intended legal area, but it's still a small nonprofit, not a life plan. It's more like great experience that I always figured a law degree could help turn into a legal career. (I should probably note that I'm not still naive enough to think that a JD is a ticket into a high-paying, life-long job--I realize, like everybody probably does now, that I might actually have better odds making a go of things by throwing down that tuition money on black at the roulette table...)

I appreciate the responses!