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That obviously depends on what you spend the year doing. A gap year during which you’re something useful (e.g. jobs, internships, volunteering, etc.) can improve your application. If you spend the year playing video games, that won’t help your application. </p>
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Check the requirements for each college carefully. You can never assume that any two American colleges have the same policy. Some colleges require any student that has enrolled full time at a college to apply as a transfer. Stanford and Cornell have this approach. </p>
<p>Students who have enrolled either full-time or as a degree-seeking student after graduating from high school must apply for transfer admission.</p>
<p><a href=“Eligibility & Transfer Credit : Stanford University”>Page Not Found : Stanford University;
<p>You must apply to Cornell as a transfer student if you’ve graduated from high school and have earned 12 or more credits at another college or university since then. If you’ve enrolled as a full-time student at another institution, you’re also considered a transfer applicant.</p>
<p><a href=“Transfer Applicants | Undergraduate Admissions”>http://admissions.cornell.edu/apply/transfer-applicants</a></p>
<p>As for your question, I’m not sure what we can tell you. You have good stats, but so do many other applicants, the majority of whom will be rejected. You have as good a shot as anyone else, but only you can decide if it’s “worth it” to apply. </p>
<p>Consider your other options carefully, especially if you’re in a country with very solid universities like Italy or Germany. </p>