The future was crystal clear for Peter S. Manasantivongs '99. Well, it was at least translucent. The applied math concentrator had long since abandoned academic ties to his field and was set to pursue a master of philosophy and linguistics at Cambridge University. All that was left was the arduous process of locating a source for tuition funds, a benefactor of sorts.

But when the benefactor materialized, it was to take Manasantivongs in a new direction, far from Cambridge and academic plans altogether. In recent weeks, the Eliot House resident has decided to defer admission to Cambridge and travel instead to Western Europe in search of excolonial communities, from Africans living in Portugal to Surinamese and Indonesians in the Netherlands.

"There could be a point during my year when I don't really want to go back to school or I want to study something else, like cultural studies," he says, "But I figure I'll hit that bridge when I come to it."

The choice to defer--postponing graduate or professional school in favor of a short-term commitment--was an attractive option for many seniors. With the pressures of the "real world" looming, some chose to defer, while others have decided to leap directly into their long-term careers.

The John Finley Fellowship in some ways forced Manasantivongs' hand, prompting his deferral when he might have headed straight to graduate school. However, for most the decision to defer must be weighed against other options--including postponing the application process itself.

Alternative Options

Instead of applying and then postponing entry into the law school of her choice, Noel Rodriguez '99 opted to wait. The choice, she says, only became clear early this year as she was researching her history thesis on the role of women in the United Farm Workers' Union.

"A lot of it had to do with the fact that I was writing my thesis, and I thought the admissions process would take away from that," Rodriguez says. Although law school has always been a "pretty long term goal" for Rodriguez, she sees spending the next two years working for the federal defender's office in Manhattan as a step toward that goal, rather than in another direction. The California native is eager to assume her place in second-seating court-side with a team of attorneys that handle everything from "boot-leg videotapes to blowing up the World Trade Center."

Sounds good now. But was Rodriguez as sure of her choice after taking the LSAT this fall, when everyone else was applying?

"Maybe earlier in the year that might have bothered me, when everyone else was hearing from schools," she says. "But I know a lot of the schools are interested in people with real-life experience, so I actually feel better about applying later."

Rodriguez will begin looking at schools once settled in New York, and although she says her list of contenders is far from concrete, the few that are set choices (Berkeley, USC, UCLA and a few on the east coast) she chose based on expense.

Cost Concerns

Expenses are an important factor for in many deferral decisions, since students who defer (application or admission) cannot postpone student loan payments until they start school again.

Brent A. Townsend '99 sees this fact as a definite bonus for those headed straight to medical school.

"It would just be putting off what I want to do," Townsend adds.