<p>My son is considering a gap year. He has been accepted to several good colleges. Do all colleges allow you to defer admission for a year? If he defers admission, is that allowed for only one college or can he defer a couple of colleges?</p>
<p>From what I’ve learned, he has to accept an offer of admission from only one of the colleges. And then he makes a request to defer his entry one more year. But some schools won’t do this. So he needs to make sure that whatever school he decides to go to will in fact allow him to take a gap year. If that’s his deciding factor, he needs to check with every school. </p>
<p>My kids deferred admission to all their colleges, some publics will ask that you reapply.</p>
<p>Huh. Didn’t know that was possible. Ignore me! 
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<p>The private colleges I am familiar with only allow you to defer at one school. If you get caught applying elsewhere during the year you’ve deferred, you lose your spot. </p>
<p>Check each college for its policy on deferring entry after being admitted.</p>
<p>My D1 deferred admission–check with your admissions officer to make sure financial aid offers roll over. In our case she needed to apply with details of her plans for the year, and was not allowed to take any courses for academic credit during that year.</p>
<p>You’ll have to check the college policies. Certainly some want you to be the one and only. Harvard actually encourages a gap year enthusiastically. </p>
<p>If his first choice school doesn’t allow deferral, bring the question back to the board. Most schools that don’t allow deferral will in fact re-admit him the following year. I have seen only one student in my career who became a weaker candidate during the gap year. (Lesson: don’t spend it in juvie.)</p>
<p>Hanna- your student was lucky to be in Juvie. In my state, an 18 year old is likely to serve time with adults…</p>
<p>My 2012 S deferred a year and my S 2014 got in to his college ED and just requested a deferral. Colleges are VERY supportive of gap years because the research on gap year kids and graduation rates is pretty substantial. My "12 S said it was probably the best decision he ever made and had an absolute life changing year. He is in his college now, and doing exceptionally well academically and socially. So DS"14 watched his older brother have all these amazing experiences and opportunities and decided he definitely wanted to do the same thing. </p>
<p>My older S got accepted to his college, requested a deferral of one year by writing a letter to admissions stated what his plans were for the year, and they approved almost immediately. They held his merit scholarship, but we had to reapply for need based, but the package was almost identical to the original package. I think a gap year is one of the best gifts you can give yourself if you can. Both if my boys funded or will fund their own adventures by working before and during their year off, which is a life learning event in itself. This generation of kids are going to live a LONG time, what the rush is I don’t know. </p>
<p><a href=“Lesson:%20don’t%20spend%20it%20in%20juvie.”>quote</a>
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God, I nearly spit up on the keyboard!</p>
<p>In his column in the Sunday Review section of the NYTIMES Nicholas Kristof refers to gap years and says that more colleges are looking favorably on gap years between admission and attendance as students who have used that time to travel or be immersed in another culture or have volunteered are more mature and have broadened their horizons. While there is never a guarantee what will happen to any specific student, colleges prefer the mature student as opposed to the student who will spend freshman year confused and in an alcholic haze a good part of the time.</p>