<p>Does anyone know whether you can defer enrollment after being admitted early decision? Son wants to apply early decision, has narrowed it down to a few schools, but may do a gap year. It would seem to me that this would defeat the purpose from the perspective of the school (locking in a certain number of kids).</p>
<p>Call the colleges and ask. They know the answer.</p>
<p>Not really, as long as the ED “lock” is applicable for the next year following the gap year.</p>
<p>The only caution is the student may change a lot during the gap year and the early decision school may not be the most appropriate destination.</p>
<p>My S changed in between ED and RD and was grateful he was deferred from his ED school. He was accepted to a school he suddenly preferred for a host of good reasons.</p>
<p>My son applied ED and deferred to do a gap year with no problem. Many LACs support the gap year idea so I think the odds are very good you can do this in many places. You can certainly ask directly in the admissions process, but if you worry that it would decrease admissions odds you may be able to determine their policy by looking at the catalogue and reading the admissions section. Many school state clearly that you can defer an acceptance for a year if you take specific steps once accepted. For my son, it was that he give them a description of his plan for deferment and then give them a report, in the following year by May 1, of his intention to enroll and a brief description of what he actually did. I know it was an advantage to him to know where he was going when he returned and his choice did change in anyway. It all worked out great for him and he had several classmates who had done the same.</p>