Deferrals Forum

[jim-green]

Is there a thread on applying for admission deferrals? I am interested in learning how to apply to defer matriculation by one year, when should I apply for this, and anything else I should know when applying.

[jrthor10]

Depends on the school.

[rinkrat19]

Ask the admissions office. I deferred last year at NU; I had to pay my seat deposit and send a letter requesting the deferral and explaining my reasons. I would imagine that is at least somewhat typical, but you should obviously check with the specific school.

From what I gathered last year, some schools are pickier about reasons they'll accept, and requesting a deferral really late can hurt you. I requested mine in January last year and didn't hear back for six weeks or something.

[jim-green]

Depends on the school.

It is Boalt. The deferral is for a chronic illness my wife has developed that may need me to keep my job and take leaves of absence over the next year to care for her. We are still doing a lot of tests and hospital followups and will know more in a month or so about what her condition and expected physical mobility will be next year and over life. Hence, I do not want to apply for the deferral just now in case I am able to begin law school in Fall 2012. I will have a good idea by end June and definitely know by mid July. Should I write to the admissions office now and let them know what may happen, and ask them for advice?

[rinkrat19]

Depends on the school.

It is Boalt. The deferral is for a chronic illness my wife has developed that may need me to keep my job and take leaves of absence over the next year to care for her. We are still doing a lot of tests and hospital followups and will know more in a month or so about what her condition and expected physical mobility will be next year and over life. Hence, I do not want to apply for the deferral just now in case I am able to begin law school in Fall 2012. I will have a good idea by end June and definitely know by mid July. Should I write to the admissions office now and let them know what may happen, and ask them for advice?

Absolutely, yes.

[Rotor]

Depends on the school.

It is Boalt. The deferral is for a chronic illness my wife has developed that may need me to keep my job and take leaves of absence over the next year to care for her. We are still doing a lot of tests and hospital followups and will know more in a month or so about what her condition and expected physical mobility will be next year and over life. Hence, I do not want to apply for the deferral just now in case I am able to begin law school in Fall 2012. I will have a good idea by end June and definitely know by mid July. Should I write to the admissions office now and let them know what may happen, and ask them for advice?

Absolutely, yes.

Jim, sorry to see the news about your wife. The admissions office will work with you--I know of a couple of people in my class who had deferred from earlier years. Just give them a shout.

Best wishes to your wife for a speedy recovery.

[jim-green]

Depends on the school.

It is Boalt. The deferral is for a chronic illness my wife has developed that may need me to keep my job and take leaves of absence over the next year to care for her. We are still doing a lot of tests and hospital followups and will know more in a month or so about what her condition and expected physical mobility will be next year and over life. Hence, I do not want to apply for the deferral just now in case I am able to begin law school in Fall 2012. I will have a good idea by end June and definitely know by mid July. Should I write to the admissions office now and let them know what may happen, and ask them for advice?

Absolutely, yes.

Jim, sorry to see the news about your wife. The admissions office will work with you--I know of a couple of people in my class who had deferred from earlier years. Just give them a shout.
Best wishes to your wife for a speedy recovery.

Thank you for the thoughts. I'll write to them then and ask for advice. I'll tell them the situation and say that I do not really want to defer right now, and if we can pull it off, I'd like to begin school in 2012, but may need to defer if it warrants. We just do not know yet. I hope I am not outing myself to the school here, but it doesn't really matter to me.