should I defer?

Graduate School
1

<p>So...</p>

<p>I ended up getting into my two top choices for grad school - UCLA and UCSB - both of which are supposed to be pretty excellent environments for me to pursue a PhD in physics. Based on various factors (the offers, cost of living, location, etc) I'm almost certain that I want to go to UCLA. But what I have been confused about for the last month is whether I should go this upcoming fall, or defer for another year (until fall '08), which I think UCLA will allow. I graduated in December, so if I defer, it will amount to a full 1.5 year break from academics. </p>

<p>So I would love to hear any input you guys can give me. For example, if you deferred, were you happy with your choice? Did the extra time off really confirm your decision to go to grad school? Or did it make you more uncertain? Was it difficult to become a student again? </p>

<p>Or, if you didn't defer, do you think you should have taken some time off? Or did you know deep in your soul that you were ready to commit?</p>

<p>Also, how much of a hit did your social life take as a result of grad school?</p>

<p>I would love to hear what you guys think.</p>

2

<p>I actually thought about defering as well, but I'm ready to just continue...but I'm just going for a masters. </p>

<p>I think it's a good idea if you already are in to your first choice and you want to do someting else like work or go abroad or something like that. I would just make sure I did something productive in any case.</p>