duckchicken

Very encouraging. Thank you for your responses and help!

Right. But then, would I have to ask my professors to write me references before I leave town? How does that generally play out? I'm worried about getting too far out of reach, somehow, or wanting to somehow stay in the same place as my university so that I can keep in touch with profs, which would nullify my ability to do what I wanted to do with the gap year. Also, what if the things I plan on doing during the gap year would bring me to another country / a place from which it is difficult to send out applications? Is it generally possible to apply from anywhere? How do people approach something like this?

Hi everyone, I'm starting to consider applying to graduate schools (in a humanities subject) and/or seminaries. I would like to take a year off in between to do something very worthwhile to me, but not oriented towards improving myself professionally. I was wondering, in general, how many graduate schools would automatically consider giving someone they accept a year's deferral - is it just a given that most graduate schools (in the humanities) will do this, or are some schools more likely to offer a deferral than others? If so, what kind of schools? Basically, what I would love to know is whether or not I could count on a 1-year deferral of enrollment if I were accepted to, for example, a Ph.D. program in the humanities. How exactly do deferrals work? I can't consider a term deferral. I would appreciate any help. Thank you so much!