there doesn't seem to be too many that do spring admits. It becomes more difficult than with other majors due to the limited offering of design studios and their sequencing.

I may be wrong on this, but i think it's rare.

i got an admit in the univs i`d mentioned. i just need to know what are the chances of deferring the admit, if its POSSIBLE?
does it depend on the univ?

Call me crazy...but shouldn't you be asking the admissions office at the universities to which you've been accepted? I could tell you, yes, I've heard of such a thing, but do you really want to trust a stranger?

i can ask the univ ppl but i can`t ask them the disadvantages if there are any. its one of the things i wanted to know.

well what would be the purpose of deferring in your case? money? re-applying to other schools? from what i've heard, most arch schools don't allow students to defer unless it is an extreme circumstance (health problems, etc.). but i don't think we can offer advice if you don't tell us why you would defer in the first place. why not just go to school now? do you really want to go thru the application process again.

It's possible in some programs to defer for a year (and start the following fall.) Others don't allow this and would just tell you that you'd have to reapply. My school didn't allow deferments, though they once made an exception for someone whose spouse was in the military and suddenly transferred overseas for a year.
I don't know any M.Arch programs that allow starting in the spring - unless they're accepting someone as a transfer who has done 1 semester in another M.Arch program, but even that is very rare.

It's usually much easier to be granted a leave of absence after you've been at a school for at least one full semester. Could you attend for a semester or year, then take off a year?

Everyone else is right that you should just call the schools you're interested in and ask about their policies. They should be able to tell you their own current rules better than anyone here could, and they may be able to discuss pros/cons with you too if indeed they do allow this.
It seems to me that a big disadvantage would just be that you'd have missed the first semester with your class. M.Arch programs are usually pretty small and close-knit. Even now many years after graduation, when I think about the people in my class I still picture them at their desks where they sat in 1st year studio. It might be hard to blend in smoothly if you start later...

i appreciate your responses, guys. i found out that some of the schools offer spring intakes. anyway, so true.. i`ll speak to the univ ppl soon.

I was accepted at NCSU and deferred for one year, no repurcussions. Since I was in track 3, I couldn't start in spring because there is a very prescribed set of courses almost everyone in the program needs to take and it throws you off (you can't just make up the stuff later because your prerequisites are all out of sequence).

Although it's rare, I know a few people here who were non-track 3 that came in spring, so it's entirely possible.

snarkitect, but does`nt NCSU have a spring intake? i thought it does, i checked it and the website gives even the deadline for spring admissions.
does`nt it mean that a fresh batch of students are being admitted for the spring sem?

i`d applied for track 1 in NCSU. i`ve got a few q`s to ask. mind if i email you?

I guess they probably do for non-track 3, but it's pretty infrequent. Email away.