Gap year at Chicago

<p>One of the posters on the Uncommon Blog answered a question about deferring enrollment until the 2010-2011 school year. She said it was possible with approval from the Dean. There is no other information about this on the site, as there is on many other colleges' sites. Does anyone know how supportive of deferring enrollment the university is? Are there any current or former students who know someone that has done this?</p>

<p>One of my child’s best friends from high school did it. I don’t know what the mechanics were – who she called, what she said – but I do know that there was no tension or worry about it, and everything worked out really well.</p>

<p>If I were you, I would call the admissions office. This isn’t an unusual question at all – I bet at least 30-40 kids defer enrollment every year, maybe more, and many more think about doing it. There will be a well-worn, smooth running procedure to handle the requests. Admissions will know what it is.</p>

<p>I need to start that process. I read somewhere that UChicago will defer up to two years. If you find out more information, would you mind posting it?</p>

<p>There is not a fixed process that I could find. I took a year off to work, travel, and convince myself not to go to art school. I don’t regret it. I wouldn’t say the office made it all that easy, but they didn’t have any objections either. I just told them that I would, and then had to keep in touch to make sure that re-enrollment went ahead as usual.</p>

<p>And yes, it is not uncommon. 30-40 a year sounds reasonable given how many people I’ve met who have deferred.</p>

<p>When S1 was admitted he received a letter (not part of the admissions package) asking if he would like to take a gap year. He later took a gap year after his second year, which turned out to be a terrific idea.</p>