<p>I almost never start topics, but I have seen a lot of misinformation come up on this board over the years on the topic of taking a break between high school and college, and therefore I felt like I should point this out.</p>
<p>I am all in favour of gap-years. However, it is great deal easier to apply to university when you are currently at high school, then when you are travelling the world or doing something else. Obtaining letters of recommendation and the like suddenly become much harder to arrange. Therefore, if you want a gap-year before starting MIT, the smart thing to do is to apply to MIT as a high school senior, and then apply to delay your matriculation by a year. Which they will gladly accept. MIT is fairly happy with a delay of up to two years. After that they start to worry.</p>
<p>As it is time for high school juniors to start thinking about the autumn, I thought that I would post this now, and hope that it helps someone.</p>