An offer of admission to the Dalhousie program of your choice is made for a specific academic start term. If you are unable to attend for the term specified, you may be eligible to defer your acceptance to a future term (up to a maximum of one year from your original start term). Note: It may not be possible to defer acceptance to some programs with competitive enrolment.
How to defer admission
If you need to defer your admission, you must complete the following steps:
- Complete the Reply Form enclosed with your letter of acceptance.
- Pay the non-refundable confirmation deposit.
- Once confirmed, the Deferral Form will become accessible in your Application Portal. If you plan on taking any secondary or post-secondary courses during your requested deferral period, you cannot defer but must reapply to a future term and provide transcripts from the institutions you attend.
- Granting any deferral is conditional on withdrawal from registered Dalhousie classes and receiving any outstanding final high school or post-secondary grades for the rest of the academic year.
- If your request for deferral is conditionally approved, please ensure you drop any Dalhousie courses in which you are currently registered through Dal Online (login required). Please be aware that non-attendance in registered courses does not, in itself, constitute withdrawal.
- Failure to officially withdraw from your classes will cause fees and interest to accrue on your account. When final grades are available for your current academic year, you must arrange to have official copies sent to formalize your deferral. See how to submit documents (link to how to submit documents page) for more information.
- If your deferral is approved, you must re-register for courses once registration opens for your deferred admit term.
Please note: Within two weeks of receiving your completed form, an Admissions Officer will contact you to outline your options if the deferral is unavailable for your program for the term requested after submission. Once your request has been reviewed you will receive email notification informing you of the decision.
Current Dalhousie students
Deferral requests are for students who have not yet started studying at Dalhousie University.
Current undergraduate students looking to take a break from classes are not required to request permission for a leave of absence but must drop classes by the deadline to avoid incurring fees. However, students away from Dalhousie for more than two consecutive terms (not including the summer) must reapply for admission.(link to Current & Former Dalhousie students page) Students withdrawing should contact their faculty directly for any important considerations regarding a lapse in studies.