Changing Entry Quarter and Deferral Policy

Changing Entry Quarters in the Same Academic Year

• You must begin your degree program in the entry quarter indicated on your application, unless you make official arrangements to change your entry quarter in advance.
• You are allowed to change entry quarters only once. To change a second time, you must complete a new on-line Graduate School application and pay another application fee.
• If you are considering changing entry quarters, do NOT pay the deposit until you decide. It can be refunded only due to extenuating circumstances, such as severe illness, or if your fellowship changes its requirements.
• For a second change of entry quarter, email the extenuating circumstances to epiapply@u.washington.edu. We will have to petition Graduate Admissions.
• Some funding offers are valid only if you begin in a specific quarter. Check with your sponsor.

Deferral to a Different Academic Year

In general the Department strongly discourages deferrals. However, depending on the type of deferral, requests will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

• Deferral of Application

If you have submitted an application to enroll in a degree program in the Department of Epidemiology, but would like to defer your application to a subsequent year, please inform epiapply@u.washington.edu. It is not required to update your application with new materials (e.g., goal statement or letters of recommendation), but it is strongly recommended to do so.

• Deferral of Admission

If you are admitted to a degree program in Epidemiology at the UW, but want to defer your admission to a future year, you must petition the Graduate Program Director, Professor Stephen M. Schwartz, PhD, with your reasons.  Permission to defer is not automatic, but depends on the content of your petition as well as Departmental factors (e.g., enrollment levels, funding). If deferral is not granted, and you do not enroll in the year to which you were admitted, then you will need to submit a new application.

• Procedures for Requesting Deferral of Admission
  
  • Email your petition to Prof. Schwartz at stevesch@u.washington.edu with a copy to epiapply@u.washington.edu. Include the following information:
    
  • Reasons for Deferral of Admission
    
  • Proposed Quarter of Entry
  • Current Contact Informatio
    
  • Do not pay the tuition deposit: If you pay it, you could lose it because the deposit is good for only one quarter.
  • If you have already paid it, email epi@u.washington.edu to find out whether it can be refunded. Refunds are limited to circumstances beyond your control, such as serious health issues. The decision to refund a tuition deposit is not up to the Department of Epidemiology, but we can advise you on strategies to pursue.
• Post-deferral procedures:
  • If a deferral of admission is granted, you must notify epiapply@u.washington.edu no later than January 1 of your proposed entry year whether or not you are still interested in enrolling.
    
  • You do not need to make a final decision until April 15 of your entry year.
    
  • If you wish to defer for a second year, you must send a new petition to the Graduate Program Director, and then submit another application.

• Deferral of Funding

Funding offers are valid for a only specific period, and are not tied to admission decisions. If you have been admitted to a degree program and subsequently offered funding (e.g., RA or training grant position), the funding package will not be deferred, even if you are granted a deferral of admission, .

• International Students

An international student may defer his/her application, but the admission cannot be deferred because the Graduate School will not admit an international student until he or she demonstrates adequate funds for the specific year of entry. Since the required amount of money is different each year, the admission cannot be deferred.

Return to Application Procedures.

This page was last updated on April 10, 2008