<p>I know the rules of what you can and cannot do during the year you defer your admission will vary from school to school, but is there a general rule of thumb?</p>
<p>Can a student take a few cc classes during their "gap" year with an admisson and deferral in hand with the intent of enrolling after a year -- either using or throwing away the cc credits?</p>
<p>Not interested in SHOULD they do this, just CAN they?</p>
<p>Sometimes yes and sometimes no–as you surmised. I don’t think there is a rule of thumb for this. But I do know that the colleges that will allow a student to bring college credits in from a gap year usually have a pretty restrictive cap on the number of credits.</p>
<p>I’m kind of curious: what would be the point? If you want a year out of school before college for some reason, why would you go to college? And if you didn’t really want a year out of school before college, why wouldn’t you just, you know, go to college?</p>
<p>There is no rule of thumb. You need to contact the college in question and ask them.</p>
<p>Just a hypothetical.
But I have heard of a couple of scenarios where this could be a plan that makes sense.
Family circumstances that would keep a student at home for a year prior to departing to college, but student wants to keep up skills/ earn some credits, for instance.</p>
<p>If you apply to college, and then request a deferral, then the college may require you to not enrol in any college level classes during your deferment. Also, if you get a certain number of credits, then you may be considered a transfer student if you apply during the gap year and take classes. </p>
<p>I am sure there are people, who under certain circumstances, take a gap year and attend community college. The question would be whether they are considered a freshman or transfer applicant. Best to check with the college you plan to attend about how this could affect your admission and any financial aid.</p>
<p>I don’t think they could stop you from taking classes if you were willing not to get any credits. So for example, someone who was going into an engineering program might want to take math or science if they were short, or one might want to get a language requirement out of the way since that is often determined by a placement test. But I do think in a general way that it’s not a very good use of a gap year, which IMO should be about doing something very different from school. (Language immersion is the one sort of schooling that I am very much in favor of for a gap year, but otherwise I think you are better off working or volunteering.)</p>
<p>If you don’t want credits you could audit the class.</p>
<p>You need to check with the school in question. I know my daughter’s school cautioned students, especially those with scholarships, about taking classes at a CC between graduating HS and starting at the University as it can change their status to a transfer instead of freshman. This will probably vary from school to school, but do check with your school.</p>