This depends school by school. At Wharton they typically want a
detailed reason. A friend of mine deferred because her grandfather had
cancer and she wanted to take care of him. Others I know have deferred
because their ventures suddenly took off, and they wanted to continue
working on that longer before starting school.
Bearing in mind that practically all schools have you sign honor codes
before you enter (that also allow them to revoke your degree at any time,
even after you've graduated, if they ever find you've misrepresented any
information), I would err on the side of telling the truth. We're not un-
understanding, but we want to ensure that deferrals are granted only in
exceptional cases because you're taking slots away from other talented
applicants next year.
Good luck! | 
