Would it be disrespectful to ask my future advisor/program to start a semester late (Spring instead of Fall)?

[surfinghozt]

I made an account just because I'm nervous to ask this question. I was accepted to a small MS program earlier this year for the fall. I've been excited to finally get to focus on research and for living somewhere else. However, in the past few weeks after graduation I've been feeling sad. Since high school, I've been taking summer classes (including this summer - field work) and/or working. When I go home it seems like I just have to use the time to schedule appointments and make quick visits to family. I don't really get a time to relax or enjoy seeing friends and family. I've also skipped on family vacations in the past few years because my school schedule didn't align with the local high school district. I feel like I haven't had a break in years. I want to spend time with my family and especially my grandparents as they're old. My grad school will be a 20 hour drive or a $3-500/4hr flight. In January, I started dating a Junior at my college who will continue next year. He lives in another country (is a citizen here though) and we've agreed to a LDR. However, I wish I would have had the opportunity to develop our relationship further before trying out long distance. I'd also like to take some personal time to take a small vacation alone. I'd probably have to work a boring job for the semester off and would be frustrated, but it may also help me pay off my student loans. Does anyone have advice in this matter and is it unreasonable to ask if it's possible to start in the spring for personal reasons? My advisor is really nice and is open to grad students pursuing internships or staying an extra year, but I don't know how the program would react. It may be too late when considering my funding is already laid out and they've probably started to put paperwork into motion. 

[MarineBluePsy]

It's not disrespectful to ask for a deferment, but here are some things to consider:

1) If the program is offering you funding then that may be jeopardized.  Not all funding types can just be "reserved" until you're ready and even if they can be it may not be the departments policy to do so.  So if the program won't guarantee funding after your deferment then you may be responsible for funding yourself.

2) Even though your advisor is open to students staying an extra year, anything could change for them.  They may take a sabbatical, get some other project that makes them less available for advising, get a better offer elsewhere, etc.  Yes this could happen without your deferment, but if this happens while you're on deferment then you may be assigned a new advisor prior to starting and have to navigate that.

3) The program may not allow one semester deferments and require full year deferments instead.  It is really going to depend on how courses are offered and the timing of other department milestones.  A whole year off may or may not work for you.

[PsyDuck90]

It probably would be up to the program and not specifically your advisor. All you can do is ask. They either say yes or no.