My senior D will apply this Fall but plans to take a gap year after graduation. Anyone have experience in your student deferring their start of school by one year? Any schools say no and make them re-apply? Any insights on the ones most open to it?
She wants to work, volunteer, and travel before starting her college journey. We’d like her to have a place to land after her gap year. It is also much simpler to apply from her high school as a current student - past students have had difficulty getting their transcripts and recommendation letters sent on time if they wait to apply until after they graduate.
In talking with admissions offices, they seem to welcome students after a gap year because they are more mature and ready to study, etc. but that might change from school to school. She is not applying to ivies or top tier schools.
It’s going to depend on the college in question. The UC system in CA, for example, does not offer deferments. Other colleges extend a deferment offer in the acceptance letter. So there is no general answer
One other thing to mention – your title says “deferring acceptances” as if it is a plural. I wonder if what you have in mind is collecting a set of acceptances and then holding on to them and making a decision after the gap year? That isn’t how it works with deferment. Your child accepts an offer from one single college and then arranges with the college to enroll a year after the ordinary start date.
I have 2 daughters with gap years, one currently just started. Both applied during the gap year due to the random-ness of deferments. Both ensured they had sorted transcripts and LORs before HS graduation, but can understand that not all schools are as accommodating as ours.
My daughter was admitted to our state’s flagship university for this year, but deferred for medical reasons and is currently taking a gap year. I was surprised at how easy it was.
I thought she would have to write a letter to admissions or the Dean of the college, but instead, there was just a form on he admissions page where she could ask for a deferral, say when she wanted to start (in the spring or the next year) and to check a box for the reason. And that was it. She got an e-mail confirmation a couple days later.
I think with Covid still being an issue for some this year, they’ve made it easier, but also with so many students coming back this year after deferring last year because of Covid, they have plenty of students to take her place.