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Questions, Im Confused!!

tom20041

Hello Guys

I'm in Year 12, and definately going to Uni just don't know when. I need some help though. I'm going to take a gap year to go touring with this show that I'm in, but just don't know what to do.

So come September, do I do my UCAS form, go to Interviews etc, and THEN defer my place, or do I have to declare before I enter that I don't want to be entering until 2007? You see the problem is, I'm undecided on what to do. I don't want to be deferring my place before ideally, I would rather know that I had a place to come back to. So overall, do I basically declare that I'm taking a gap year AFTER application process (like with an assured place [hopefully] and then defer] or BEFORE (like say I'm looking for entry in 2007)? And would I be interviewed in like Jan/Feb. 2006 even if I wasn't going to enter until 2007?

Reading this through, I will be so surprised if someone can decipher what I am actually asking. I know its a tall-order, but if any of you could be good enough to reply that would be brill!
Thanks alot,

Tom :smile:

Reply 1

JennLlama

Basically you're asking if you say that you want to defer entry on your UCAS form or if you wait until you get your offers then defer, yes?
Simple - as you're sure you want to take a gap year, you declare it on your UCAS form when you fill in all the other details (exam results, uni choices, etc.) so all the universities know from the outset that you wish to defer entry. As you will be applying with the candidates for entry in 2006, you will be interviewed with them (if necessary) and your offers will be made at the same time as theirs but for entry in 2007 instead.
Hope that answers your questions!
Jenn xx

Reply 2

sunjuice

When you apply to uni, you have the option of defering your entry (ie. say ur taking a gap year before you get an offer).

However, you can also say you're taking a gap year after you have received offers, provided you university of preference agrees. I should be going to uni this september, but asked mine if I could defer my place and they said it wasnt a problem.

good luck

Reply 3

tom20041

Thanks for your replies guys! Just wondering, from a personal point of view what do you think I should do? Bearing in mind im not 100% sure of taking the gap year, do you think i should interview, then wait for replies (hopefully) and then tell them, and just say that its an opportunity that I would like to take now?
Please reply, Tom (",)

Reply 4

emilywilli

i defered straight away, but then again i know what i am going to do.. but my friend defered had her interviews then changed her mind (not taking a gap year anymroe) but her unis still accepted her... your going to hate me for this but it's a personal choice... em x
any ideas of what you want to do?

Reply 5

tom20041

Well hoping to do History and English at Uni, or just one of the two, not sure which yet! As you can tell, I'm a really undecided person! lol! And for my gap year, hopefully going into a Irish Dance Troupe for a year!Should be good fun! Don't worry I don't hate you, Thanks for your advice! x

Reply 6

Madelyn

It's easier to defer when you apply (so you put it on your ucas form), especialyl as there's no guarantee that your university will agree to letting you defer your place after they've made you an offer. You sound pretty sure about the gap year, is there anything that would really stop you taking it?
I deferred with only the vaguest of plans ('I'd quite like to visit such and such a place...'), but I'm so glad I did! I'm now really looking forward to my gap year, while all my friends who didn't are feeling rather envious. One friend has even decided that if she doesn't make her first choice uni, she'll come with me.

Reply 7

CogitoErgoSum

I think you should tell the uni's from the onset rather than after the interview, but if you are unsure of taking a gap year, then you should wait, just in case...
i just didnt apply this year and will be next year, so i can think about what i want to do...

Reply 8

Nellz

My advice would be to defer when you apply, rather than after you have the offer, especially as you seem pretty definite about what you want to do. I think unis respect the honesty of you telling them ' I want to have a gap year' rather than you mucking them about afterwards. I have a couple of friends who were all set to have a gap year, went to defer in march and the universities said no.

Apart from anything else, universities could have set quotas for gap year students, and have filled them up by the time you apply. Or by you telling them you wish to defer after they've given you the offer, they could have given your place to someone else particularly if you are applying to top universities that only have a limited number of places and hundreds of applicants.

It's up to you how you go about it, but if the worse comes to the worst and you apply for deffered enty and get no offers, you can always just reapply next year anyway, and with the lack of interviews (apart from medicine, oxbridge etc) it shouldn't be too much extra hassle.

Reply 9

Flicker

i'm the opposite to the others - i say apply for immediate entry and defer when you confirm something. It's easier to defer later than to decide you want to go (that would be nie on impossible i imagine!)

I applied to UCAS in october, had interviews for gap year jobs through november and december, and accepted a placement in january. I then emailed the admissions tutors at my firm and insurance and deferred my place (and they were very encouraging.)

My friend, however, deferred her place in the first week of september - ie a fortnight before she was due to move in!

I've never heard of it being a problem to defer after application - although maybe oxbridge or somewhere could be trickier as there are limited places. But it makes more sense to do it that way if you are not 100% certain you want to take the gap year.