GAP YEAR INQUIRY

Applying to College
1

I am a senior in high school and will 100% take a gap year. I deferred my enrollment at UIUC and would like to get another chance at the schools that are much better fit for political science. Please be honest, what are the chances of me getting into the same schools I applied last year if I bring my SAT score to around 1530 (it was 1460 when I applied last winter) and do something productive during my gap year? Will taking a gap year disadvantage me in the admissions pool, such as Ivy League and Stanford, or will I be okay?

Also can someone please tell me how I’m supposed to fill out my application in the fall of 2020 if I graduated from high school already (I graduate this upcoming June)? Like do I need to recontact the teachers who wrote my recs or will my counselor do everything for me if I let him know? He already knows I’m doing a gap year but he’s a relatively new counselor at my school and told me he’s never had a student take a gap year so he’s not that much of a help as of right now, and my parents don’t know too much about this either.

My stats: Current SAT: 1460
I took a total of 10 APs in high school, my GPA is 3.91 UW and 5.12 W (our school is out of 5 for W)

My ECs aren’t amazing but aren’t bad either I don’t think: Varsity Track Captain, Varsity Tennis Captain, Missions Trip for 4 straight years, variety of community service clubs, Compassion (Christian NGO), Mu Alpha Theta, NEHS, Junior/Senior Leaders

2

To specify, I applied to Tufts, WashU, Williams, Swarthmore, Notre Dame, Cornell, Emory, Brown, Columbia, Yale, Pomona, UMich, and UIUC. The only schools I got into were UMich and UIUC and they were both too expensive (I live in Chicago but I’m technically considered international because I’m in the process of getting permanent residency so I have to pay full tuition even though I’ve lived in Chicago for over 10 years) and I was waitlisted from Emory, rejected from everywhere else.

My top choice schools are WashU and Brown. Any of the Ivies also suffice. And I want to apply to Stanford after my gap year. Please be honest; what are the chances of me getting in (most of these schools for a second time since I already applied) after my gap year? BTW I am an Asian female pursuing political science, so my odds aren’t very good, I know.

3

I meant fall of 2019 BTW not 2020

4

International with financial need means your chances aren’t good regardless. I would not anticipate a second cycle to go better than the first, unless your residency status changes in the interim. If you post the amount your parents are willing and able to pay per year, it’s likely someone will be able to find a school that will be affordable for you.