<p>We would like D to wait a year, until Fall of 2009 for college. We were hoping to request this of her first choice, Brown, but she has been waitlisted and we’re not sure how to approach the admissions office. She desperately wants off that waitlist, but doesn’t want to appear unreliable by then requesting to defer. </p>
<p>She has recently been offered an opportunity to dance professionally with her ballet company and an internship in her artistic field of interest, both of which we feel would be great experiences. We also would benefit from saving a little more money for an additional year. </p>
<p>Should she talk to Admissions about deferring before attempting to get off the waitlist and indicate her intentions? She feels her plans would make her an even stronger Brown student. Or should she try to get off the waitlist and then make the request?</p>
<p>I know a student last year who got in off the waitlist, and then took a gap year. So it can be done.</p>
<p>If she wants to stay on the waitlist, she should. If she gets in, she can ask to start a year later. </p>
<p>Did she get in somewhere else? Is she planning to commit somewhere, and then take a year off? </p>
<p>If she doesn’t get in off the waitlist, and doesn’t enroll in another college, she can try applying to Brown again.</p>
<p>I see no reason to ask for a deferral before getting in – that’s almost absurd.. The only reason to let Brown know of this is because this opportunity makes her case to accept her off the waitlist more compelling (dancing professionally is pretty cool). </p>
<p>Consider calling admissions and asking them.</p>
<p>Last year, people were offered admission to Brown for the Class of 2012. (They told the students that they are admitted but MUST defer enrollment for one year…) Maybe they’re interested in doing the same thing this year again. So, as sly_vt said, this could be helping because apparently your D has a great reason to defer for one year. Good luck!</p>
<p>She received early acceptance letters from Wash. U and Williams. Both great choices and both are flying her out in the next couple weeks to see the campus offerings. We plan to ask for a deferral wherever she ends up, but Brown has and continues to be her dream school. She visited last year and fell in love with the students, their enthusiasm for learning, and of course, Providence.</p>
<p>We did receive a “waitlist packet” this afternoon. It states that if taken off the waitlist, she must attend in September since they are trying to fill the 2008 class. Not sure how negotiable this is… I think we’ll cross that bridge if we get there.</p>
<p>I would definitely take the Gap year-- but just because you deferred somewhere else doesn’t mean you shouldn’t reapply to Brown. Being on the waitlist, at Brown at least, there is a real chance you’ll get in. If you don’t however, and in the ensuing year you’ve done something really unique and special with your time, there is a very good chance that when reapplying you’ll be admitted.</p>
<p>So my advice is definitely take the gap year, that’s an awesome opportunity that really only comes once. If you need to reapply to Brown, you should definitely differ elsewhere and reapply. If you get into Brown, I don’t think there will be any issue taking a gap year-- we’re really good about that sort of thing.</p>
<p>also, don’t forget to pitch the “would definitely come if I took a gap year” thing to get off the waitlist-it works sometimes for people at other schools</p>
<p>D also applied to the Brown/RISD dual degree program. She received an acceptance packet from RISD today. We still would like her to defer to both, but would the RISD acceptance increase her chance of getting off the waitlist?</p>
<p>One has nothing to do with the other, EarlyRiser.</p>
<p>Students are first evaluated completely separately, and only when they are admitted to both institutions, are they then further considered for the dual program.</p>