<p>Hello all. I am planning on taking a gap year, and need to know the answers to a few questions. I plan on deferring enrollment to UMich and applying/reapplying to (tentatively) WashU, Cornell, Princeton, Brown, UPenn, University of Chicago, Tufts, and MIT. Basically what I need to know is what I should do/not do during my year off.</p>
<p>I plan on retaking my ACT/SAT Subject Tests, spending a good deal of time on a community service project, and trying to get some sort of internship. I would also be training to be recruited or be a walk on for these college's XC teams.</p>
<p>I need to know if I should take some or any classes at the local community college and if I should take some AP tests at the end of next year, after self studying. My concern with taking classes would be that it would make me a transfer student or something; I want to be a freshman applicant. My concern with the AP tests is that taking them wouldn't be worth it. I am sure I could take the tests and get a 5 on them, but the colleges would see no work from me until after admissions so I may look like I am just slacking off, so perhaps taking full classes at the community college would be better. I am basically looking for anyone who has stories about years off, any knowledge would be helpful.</p>
<p>Ungst, I'm sorry if you don't want this advice, but I feel the urge to say it everytime I see one of your posts. I wish you would rethink this whole thing. The University of Michigan is wonderful place, it can be anything you want. You can reinvent yourself once you are there, melt into the crowd or stand out from it. It would be up to you. And if it turns out that you don't like it, you can apply as a transfer to the schools that you are mourning. Forgive me for saying so, but your plans don't sound well thought out, or sincerely aimed at enriching yourself, they sound like you are foundering, and that you want a "do over". Why not take the opportunity that you do have, instead of chasing after last year's dream? I met wonderful, smart, original, fabulous people while I was at Michigan; I studied with brilliant teachers, some of whom I appreciated and some of whom I'd like a do over with, myself. I fully expect that my daughter will love some things about it next year, and hate others, but she'll be there, growing, doing, being, with Ann Arbor the perfect backdrop for it all. It could be that for you too. Certainly a lot more interesting and challenging than retaking tests and going to community college will be. Maybe you'll be pleasantly surprised if you give it a chance, what's the worst that could happen?</p>
<p>Ungst - I don't know your history, so I'm going to assume you applied to some elites this year and were not admitted. I'm going to further assume that you have some COMPELLING reasons for not attending UMich for freshman year and then transferring. OK. The first item of business is deciding which schools you wish to be accepted at. Do you really need to be admitted by all of the schools you mentioned? Meaning no disrespect to you, why don't you concentrate on the two or three you like best? I mean you're going WAY out of your way here, so it makes some sense to focus. After all, generating a resume that appeals to both MIT and Brown would take some doing. JMHO.</p>
<p>MomOFour - I will look into that, if I can't it isn't that big of a deal, I don't think I would have any problem getting in again, as I applied very late this year and was fine, plus the application fee is $40? or so, so not terrible.</p>
<p>fredmar- I understand what you are getting at. I know it may sound like a do over, and in some ways it is. My college search was pretty shoddy, I never had a chance to visit most of my colleges, and I somehow missed what could end up being my top choice, WashU. A year off would allow me to visit in the fall, and find exactly what it is that I want to study in college, as I am not 100% about that either. As I said, I am very interested in running in college. I would really like a full 4 years somewhere, which is why I want to be a freshman applicant. I should be able to go from a "You have a good chance of walking on" applicant to being recruited with a year of solid training.</p>
<p>What I am looking for are experiences that people have had with years off.</p>
<p>Regarding to that school list, it was more of a preliminary list. I will not be applying to all of those schools.</p>
<p>I think I may have given the impression that I will be just sitting around taking tests and maybe some classes (which was actually the point of this thread, I wanted to know if a few classes at a community college would be a good idea or not), that is not at all the main thing I will be doing in my year off. In a year off, I will find out where I want to go and what I want to do, and I will start up a great community service project that has potential to help all kinds of chairities all across the nation. I'm actually very excited about this idea, and if I can get if off the ground... It will be awesome.</p>
<p>Bottom line... My question still stands, should I take some courses at the local CC, or maybe a few at Michigan as a part time student? Is that possible, would I still be considered a freshman applicant? Any thoughts are appreciated.</p>
<p>The son of a friend of mine wanted a second chance at athletic recruiting due to an injury and a PG year at a local prep school did the trick for him. It also gives an extra year to mature and figure out direction. Might that be an option for you?</p>
<p>I wish you the best of luck, Ungst. I hope your community service project works out, that sort of thing may be just what you need to distinguish yourself and have fodder for next year's essays. But please promise yourself, that whatever next year brings, you will accept it and move forward. I have a sister who let some setbacks change her whole direction in life, and I have always felt that she had a lot of regrets. I guess that is why your posts are so striking to me.</p>
<p>ungst, I don't know anything about you or your background so this is just general advice that I would give anyone planning a gap year as a means to enhance his/her application or reapplication:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>What you do in the six months after your high school graduation is what the admissions committee are going to see. Focus on making this period the most meaningful and ambitious. </p></li>
<li><p>Divide your time into segments -- some travel, some volunteering, some study, some work to pay for it all. A gap year is really more like 15 months so you can accomplish several different goals.</p></li>
<li><p>Travel, get out of your comfort zone, see how the rest of the world lives, pick up some language skills. To me, this is the most valuable contribution that a gap year can make for you personally as a young adult and for your resume.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>To reiterate what momrath says, you don't really have a year to re-create yourself. All you have is from July to November, 5 months. </p>
<p>As far as community college courses go, the grades have to be reported to any school you apply in December. You should make phonecalls and ask whether you would be treated as a transfer student. I would think that if you are not full-time at a cc, and just taking a couple of classes, you would not be a transfer. But I could be totally wrong.</p>