My son only applied to reach schools (at the very last minute of the deadlines, no less) and it is becoming apparent that he will not be accepted anywhere despite reasonably high stats at a very competitive high school:
4.8 GPA, 1460 SAT, 35 ACT, All AP course load, Natl Merit Commended, etc.
He really does not want to go to a community college and take classes that will be taught at a much lower level than a traditional 4-year college. Would he be able to take a GAP year to work, volunteer or do something else productive and then reapply to more schools next year as a freshman again? Do schools give GAP year kids the same consideration as high school seniors? Any advice would be truly appreciated.
Did you meant to post in the Theater/Drama majors forum?
If yes, did your son apply only to auditioned programs? Do any of his schools have a non-auditioned major that he could get into?
If he doesn’t get into any programs, there is no bad in taking a gap year. There are some people on these boards whose kids have taken gap years and have worked on their audition skills, etc. and reapplied the next year.
Good luck. In performing arts majors, high stats may be an element to admission at some schools (Tisch, Northwestern, Michigan, as examples) but it is the audition that can make or break.
If your son didn’t apply as a theater major and he doesn’t get in anywhere, there is a group called NACAC that puts out a list after May 1 of schools which still have openings. One of those might be suitable for your son.
There are hundreds of colleges whose RD deadlines have not passed and/or who have rolling admissions and will continue to accept applications for another few months. You don’t have to wait until May 1st for the NACAC list. One easy way to find these schools is to use the college search function on the Common App website. You can sort for deadlines that are on or after today’s date (or next week), for example. But to answer your question, your son will not be at a disadvantage in the evaulation of his application if he takes a gap year - but he may find it slightly more complicated to apply next year. For example, getting transcripts and recommendations sent from his high school will not be quite as easy. And he will have to write at least one essay explaining why he took a year off and what he accomplished (or what he is doing).
The only other disadvantage would he may not be eligible for some merit scholarships which are earmarked for students starting college fall immediately after graduation.
I second seeing if there are schools that are still taking applications, rolling admissions and the NACAC list that comes out in may
What was his list? What is his UW GPA, did he submit the SAT or just the ACT (outside of all score schools), as he wasn’t auto at UT, but he didn’t apply to A&M eng? Did UT admit him outside of engineering?
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at the very last minute of the deadlines, no less)<<<
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Did he make the deadlines at all the schools? No self sabotage?
FWIW, this would be a false assumption if you were looking at my local cc. Lots of challenging courses, honors sections, etc. Students go on to many intense programs & win many accolades.
A similar situation happened to me but your kids scores are better. I think this all depends on what major he wants. For me it’s math, so I was not worried about the low quality in my art or English classes. Math is rigorous enough so I had to learn everything either way! No shortage of learning here. He can still enter a CC honors program like me which will look good for when he transfer, plenty of the people in the program are transferring to UC’s this year
How “reachy” were these schools? Many schools that would be considered reaches for a 35 ACT /4.0+ student haven’t released their acceptances yet. So all may not be lost.
On the other hand, if the problem is that his last minute application was rushed and half-baked, then it’s reasonable to assume the worse. Taking a gap year in that case is not a bad plan.
I don’t think your son would be bored at a community college…and with a bunch of AP classes already he might not need to stay at a CC more than a year before he qualified for transfer. But with his stats he has a solid shot at excellent merit awards (not usually available to transfers). So if merit money is of interest, it makes more sense to go for the gap year or apply at colleges that are still accepting apps.
A gap year makes sense if he is willing to apply to a more reasonable list of schools the second time around. We’ve seen students who want to go after the same or similar reaches again, and get the same result.
Colleges are fine with a gap year.
My DD didn’t apply to any financial safeties and ended up on a gap year because of it.
We did find some schools are stingy with merit to gap kids but as long as no college courses are taken during the gap, they are still freshman.
There are still plenty of places to apply, there nay not be a lot of merit/scholarship options.
Other posts indicate that you are in Texas… Texas is the easiest place to find admission safeties in, due to the automatic admission criteria that the public universities post.
If his unweighted GPA is at least 3.5, perhaps check if there is still full ride scholarship money available here (application deadline 6/1, but scholarship money is limited; scholarship is not available to gap year students):
http://www.pvamu.edu/faid/types-of-aid/scholarships/university-scholarships/
There are also colleges with late deadlines, or you can wait until the NACAC space available list comes out in mid-May to see which schools did not fill as expected.
Schools like gap year kids, particularly those who used their year in a productive fashion. But you have to plan so he could wind up adrift and missing his old high school friends and routine.
It ain’t over til its over. Stay hopeful. There’s lots of thing you can do for a gap year: boarding school, AFS, job/internship. But wait and see where he gets in before you rush to judgement.
Working to earn money to help pay for school is probably the most common gap year activity.
Replies in this forum are so helpful and encouraging! I’m beginning to think that things happen for a reason and we need to accept that there are many paths to happiness and success. Thanks for all the suggestions and comments.
hi there. i was in this exact situation last year. i was rejected from all of my schools besides the safety i (foolishly) chose as my backup plan, and i felt stuck. i took a gap year, revised my entire list (i did not reapply to the schools to which i had applied previously because i was rejected for a reason), and i ended up being admitted to my first choice school ED2, one i’m sure i’ll fit in at much better than 3 of the 4 schools i chose the last cycle.
all of that being said, do not give up just yet. his stats are extremely good (much better than mine were/are), and i’m sure he’ll get in somewhere. although my gap year worked out for me, it was last resort, and i felt very lost and hopeless at the beginning, so make sure he knows he WILL get in somewhere, regardless if he’s rejected from the universities he applied to this time around.
@kalons. Thank you for sharing your story. I think we have all become too obsessed with what everyone expects from high school students! I’ve always believed that a gap year can grow your emotional and personal maturity but having real life stories may help my son deal with the decisions to come. Also - he is desperate to get out of Texas so the in state safety schools aren’t on his radar.
Has he looked at places like Bama, UAB, and UAH? He’d be offered admission and decent merit there. Ole Miss, too, if I remember right. Even UNM would offer him guaranteed admission, an OOS tuition waiver and admission to the Honors College.
He needs to be careful about taking any accredited classes during a gap year. Even if he takes a single community college or online course, some schools will NOT let him apply as a freshman.
@kalons he was 5 students outside of UT autoadmit at his school and no interest in A&M. Dream school was the University of Michigan because he plays ice hockey - other than that, Cornell, University of Washington in St. Louis, Georgia Tech and several UC’s. No real safety schools to fall back on. I don’t think it was self-sabotage as much as the feeling that he had worked hard enough throughout high school and he could coast on his applications because he felt his grades would speak for themselves. A lesson in humility for all of us!