<p>Realistically if he was rejected (and not deferred) from the Ivys the first time, he will be rejected again, despite a gap year. He needs to figure out why an Ivy is so important to him. There are so many amazing quality universities that would provide him with a great education, and he may also be able to get merit aid at some of them. He should work with his guidance counselor to come up with a list of quality schools that would seek a student like him with merit aid – assuming he is “slightly Ivy-worthy” this could be a school like University of Richmond, or University of Santa Clara or Kenyon College or any number of others. </p>