<p>I'm currently on a gap year. Is it necessary for me to explain my gap year in the college app? i.e. reasons for gap year, what i'm doing with my time etc.</p>
<p>Most college apps require you to explain any extended break from school, so you should be prepared to do this.</p>
<p>Hopefully you are using your Gap Year wisely. You will be asked why you chose to do a gap-year, and what you did with it. Whether the reasons were financial, emotional, some kind of crisis, etc., it is crucial to make it a great year.</p>
<p>Of course, you should explain it. Assuming that you're using it productively -- working a job, doing volunteer work, doing focused study or travel -- that would actually boost your admissions chances at the colleges that consider things like ECs when making admissions decisions.</p>
<p>Well the problem is, i already have an application essay idea and another one that i would like to use as an additional essay.
So if i have to explain my gap year i will need to send in a third essay, thats why i wanted to know how important it was.</p>
<p>Can't you put your gap year info in the activities, volunteer, EC, job, etc. sections of the app? You don't have to write your essay about it.</p>
<p>If you're doing the common application there is a box under Secondary School with the heading "If your education has been interrupted for any reason, in the box below, please describe in detail your activites since you last enrolled. (mandatory if you are not currently attending school)" That is where you should put your information about your gap year. Every application I've seen besides the common app also has a place for this.</p>
<p>Abiste - you're right... i see it now... thanks</p>
<p>@Northstarmom - what do you mean activities/EC section? That section just asks you to list your activities, theres no room for me to describe anything.</p>
<p>I haven't looked at the common app for a while, but typically on applications, one can do something like this:</p>
<p>"Volunteer at Boys Club-- grant writing, facilitate weekly leadership workshops"</p>
<p>It's better to use the available space to explain one or two of your most important activities than to simply use the space to list as many activities as you can.</p>
<p>Actually you can't do that... maybe they've changed the appliation form or something.
In the current format you can just list the activity, number of hours and theres a column for positions held/ honors won.</p>
<p>Be creative: put things like: "facilitated a weekly workshop" and "grant writer," "wrote a grant that got my organization $1,000" in the positions held, honors won category.</p>
<p>What the college cares about is learning what impressive things that you did. They aren't going to penalize you for what I'm suggesting. The applications aren't modesty tests or perfectly designed.</p>
<p>It is absolutely critical that you clearly explain your gap year. The good news, is that admissions counselors often view a gap year as a positive thing. The reason being, they feel that a student mature enough to realize that he isn't quite ready for college right after senior year, takes the time to grow in whatever way he needs to, does beneficial things with his time off, especially if it involves helping others to some degree, is a wise choice. So, if I were you, I woulld focus on writing about the gap year in this type of way..."I can already sense that this gap year is a time for personal growth, and it will put me in a strong position to make a positive impact on campus next year..." blah, blah, blah. Get my point? Spin it into a positive! Good luck!</p>
<p>if you are going to be interviwed, use that opportunity to talk about your productive year off.</p>
<p>i sent in an essay about my year off though, not as an additional essay but under the required ones.</p>