What about this application strategy?

**urch** · 08-03-2010, 02:27 PM

what about this strategy? Do many students do this?

1. Apply in 2010 for class starting 2011

2. If I am satisfied with the result, then go there.

3. If unsatisfied and unsure whether a better school will accept me next year, then ask the school which admitted me to make a deferral for me for just one year.

4. Apply in 2011 for class starting 2012

5. If I am admitted to a better school than the school which admitted me a year ago and made a deferral for me, then go to the better school.

6. If I am not, then go to the school which admitted me made a deferral for me a year ago.

**urch** · 08-03-2010, 02:30 PM

Do econ departments allow incoming students to make a deferral of admission?

If so then should students MUST go to that school even when he is admitted to a better school one year later?

**dreck** · 08-03-2010, 02:47 PM

Applying over two cylces is common, but deferring might not be that easy. Most programs list their policy for deferrals in their admissions FAQ; usually you need a better reason than "I want to see if I can get into a higher-ranked program". You may have to apply again to every school in the second cycle.

**BigPink** · 08-03-2010, 02:58 PM

I believe many schools allow you to defer, but most (all?) will reassess their financial aid offer the following year. So, you'll still have an acceptance but you may have to take an unfunded offer even if you originally received funding.

**untitled** · 08-03-2010, 03:06 PM

In 2007, one student said their accept at Ohio State was deferred one quarter, I don't know what that means. Last year (2010), we had a student with a deferral from Minnesota's ARE program get into BU unfunded the next year, and another student applying for the third time who deferred at UCLA, but didn't get in anywhere much better (BU offered them an unfunded, too, which is close). Many schools say they do not defer somewhere on their websites, although even if hey say that, they still might if you had a reason (research opportunity, family emergency, etc.) My feeling is that strategy is a waste of money; especially if you can apply to, say, 20 schools this year. Even with a more common number of applications, 10-15, I agree with Ibid from the previous post:

Originally Posted by Ibid

...top 15 (and top 5 in [your] field). Those early grades will likely rule you out of Harvard and MIT, but much greater weight is put on PhD Micro than Econ 101. With your graduate grades and good letters of reference, I see no reason why you can't do the same.

With those courses and grades, you will almost certainly have good letters. I'm not sure what school you are at, didn't catch if you gave any hints, but if it is, say, a top 15 school in Europe or a top 30 school in the US, then you should get a couple top 20 admits, especially if you do a good job with fit and the letters come through. If it is below those or below a top 5 school in Latin America or Asia, or a school in Africa or the Middle East then it will be much harder.

_nanashi · 08-03-2010, 11:20 PM

1. A lot of programs want you to have a good reason for deferring, applying to a better school isn't one. A better application strategy may be to apply to masters programs. If you don't like the PhD program you get admissions to, you can reject offer and apply from M.A. while picking up graduate courses. Many of the good European and Canadian programs are funded. LSE is usually not, but even that can be worth while. A friend of mine 2009 cycle only got admissions to LSE M.A, Wisconson, and UBC (his undergrad institution). After much debate, he decided to go to LSE and now is going to a top 5 next year.

2. I'd also wiegh on what getting into a better school means. If I got a top 30 offer and the school had a relatively good environment (tastes/preferences) and had people actively doing research in fields that interest me, the benefit of applying to a better program drops significantly. You really don't have anything that might guarantee a better offer, and doing well at a top 30 in the U.S. (not so much the europe and Canadian schools) will keep you competitive on the job market. (Good students at many top 30, do place as well as anywhere else.

**econjkt** · 08-04-2010, 05:51 PM

I asked for a deferral from a borderline Top 50sh school for the OPs same reasons and I was denied. I didn't explain why I was asking for the deferral but I was unfunded so maybe they assumed my intentions correctly. I was told by others there that in the past they had normally granted deferrals.