How Do Universities View a Gap Year?

<p>So I'm currently a Senior in High School I'm filling out college applications, (I've submitted 4 so far). I have a 3.77 GPA and I scored a 1600 on my SAT, I'm not worried about colleges accepting me, one has already sent me an acceptance letter. This may sound typical of a Senior but I have no idea what I want to do in life! I've though about Neuroscience in 10th and 11th grade but towards the end of 11th grade I realized how much I hated doing labs, and lab reports. I've thought about anthropology but I'm not so sure what I can do with that. I don't like doing anything really. I've been thinking what if I took a year off of school to figure out what I would like to do. My only question is how would colleges view that? Would it be harder to apply to a university if I took a Gap year?</p>

<p>of the schools to which you’ve been accepted, choose the one you’d like to go to and ask them if they would allow you to delay admission until you finished a gap year. tell the school what you plan to do during that time, some of which should be academic in nature. for a few months you might work in a neuro lab, or failing that some kind of bio lab. you might travel the country or a foreign land to improve your language skills. you could volunteer with Americorps. There is also an entire industry that has sprung up that will help the wealthy student explore their passions. I’ve seen packages for 10K. </p>

<p>On the other hand, college is FOR exploration, and the first two years of largely gen. ed. courses are there so that you can explore your interests and discover what you want to do. If after two years of study you still don’t have a clue, you might try a gap year then, one that’s more focused because you’ve eliminated some possibilities you had before you started college.</p>

<p>If you take a gap year, you need to have plans - work and volunteer, travel and volunteer, start a special project, etc. It can’t just be “sit at home thinking about life and retaking the SAT”.</p>