I want to take a gap year after high school for very strong personal reasons. I’m not studying abroad but I plan to work, get an internship, and do service.
From my understanding, I can apply to college during my gap year with my high school transcripts and letters of recommendation.
Is this true?? Can I apply to any college during a gap year? I feel that I need time to decide where I’m going to apply, so I hope I can do this. I am not looking to get into a better college…I just don’t want to apply now and defer enrollment. Thank you!
Talk to your GC about a gap year…it will be more difficult to get recommendations from them and teachers once you have graduated. Maybe you can ask them to write your recommendations now and hold on to them?
What state are you in? Usually students apply to college now, get accepted and then defer entry for a year. You have to see if the colleges you are thinking about will allow that, but many will.
@bobber I am currently getting recommendations, which will be submitted electronically. If this is not an issue…my question is am I allowed to apply next year?
Yes, you can apply during your Gap Year, although I do think applying now and then deferring can be better for a lot of reasons.
You are allowed to apply to colleges during a gap year. Yes.
That being said, you may want to check out a few of your desired colleges to see what their specific rules are. Each college is different.
Basically you will find some information along the lines of “if you’ve taken 3 or fewer college-level classes, apply as a first-year student.” Or “if you have finished one semester of college classes, apply as a transfer.” That sort of thing
Colleges will also say how they evaluate you: “If you are two or more years of college, admissions will look at your college record alone. If you have fewer than two years, then your high school record will be taken into consideration.”
But each college decides it’s own policies. Check them out.
You should also be aware that there are a whole slew of programs meant specifically for older students. Or what’s often called “nontraditional” students. University of Pennsylvania and Columbia University have special colleges within their systems just for nontrads and you could have gapped between high school and college as few as six months. Be aware that these two colleges may not have financial aid like their other undergraduate colleges.
Other schools, like Reed or Grinnell, or many of the women’s colleges, welcome older students as part of their student body, with generous financial aid (need based usually) because they feel those students add to the experience of the entire community. Still other schools have special scholarships for nontrads over certain ages. Brown and Yale for example have programs for those over age (I think) 26.
In other words, yes it’s possible. Becoming a nontrad is it’s own path. It’s an excting and wonderful path that I feel is potentially very rich and rewarding.
Thank you @Dustyfeathers for so much information. This puts my mind at rest. I will discuss the different college policies with my counselor.
My son is considering a gap year. Although I am not happy about it my two next up kids did it as well so I have no leverage against it.
You can either apply now and defer if you are accepted or apply next year. My son is checking with the schools he is interested in to see if they allow deferral. One of the schools already told him it doesn’t and that if he isn’t prepared to attend next year, he should not apply now. Another said to ask if he is accepted.
My older boys didn’t apply and it was annoying to have to deal with the HS after they graduated. The GC is busy with the new crop and doesn’t have time for you so there is a little office where one person deals with this. That’s why I want S17 to apply this year and defer, where possible.