My son, who was admitted for the Class of 2020, was nervously awaiting a deferral decision from the Admissions Office. He felt very fortunate to have received a deferral so that he can spend a Rotary Ambassadorial year in Brazil before starting his studies in the Fall of 17. The university doesn’t allow a student to apply for deferral until they have paid the $100 and submitted a SIR. After that, they can apply for deferral on May 1. The University states that deferrals are rarely granted, but they still allow a student to request one. They say that devisions might not be given until July 31, but my son received his on June 1st. He was so relieved, as I would have made him give up his year in Brazil and enroll at Cal this Fall if the deferral hadn’t have come through. Was not taking the chance of him applying again next year and maybe not getting in. Not sure why Cal doesn’t actually encourage deferrals.
Cal probably does not encourage deferrals probably because if a large number of people differ, the following year’s class size increases dramatically. Since Berkeley is already accepting more and more students and the decreasing budget and lack of student housing is and have been huge issues for years, they want to avoid a bloated class. The class of 2020 is huge as it is. I’m forced to stay in a study room that’s being converted into a quad - if their class sizes keep increasing, it would be a crisis.
Also, the following year’s admissions would be affected by a large number of deferrals. The class of 2021 would have to be much more selective to account for the incoming deferrals.