<p>You could take a gap year and see how you feel. Either put in college applications this year and then take a year off before starting to work or do some volunteer work or something, or wait a year and then apply. Waiting to apply can be challenging – you still may need teacher recommendations, standardized test scores, etc. that can be harder to get organized if you don’t do it now.</p>
<p>The problem with taking too long off is that life starts to get in the way… your parents may help you financially with college now, but they may not be willing to if you drag it out and don’t get started. If you end up getting married, or want to have kids, that is all a lot harder when you are in school and not working.</p>
<p>You don’t have to know your major if you decide to go to college now or after a gap year. One good thing to do is get your hands on a copy of the Book of Majors from the CollegeBoard. Your high school guidance counselor or library may have a copy. Go through with 2 different colors of post-its and mark majors & careers that seem interesting. One color for “Yes!” and one color for “Maybe…”. You may seem some patterns and clusters emerge that help you think about what major might be right for you. Then try to pick a college that offers your “top clusters” of majors. When you get there, try a couple of different classes in your top 3 major choices in your first 3 semesters. Spend some time in the career office, too, learning about specific jobs that go with the majors you are interested in. Then you will be better positioned to pick your major. You should try to get internships and informational interviews with people in your possible field while in college, too; that will help you get a better idea of what it is really like to work in the field.</p>
<p>The problem with taking a few years to work is that it may not give you any additional information on what kind of career or major you want. You will have to take a job that doesn’t require any advanced skills (barista, stocking at Walmart, whatever). And just working that kind of job doesn’t really open your mind up to the career options that are out there. Even if you go do something more adventurous (work on a lobster boat or something), you still aren’t expanding your view of the work world in a very meaningful way.</p>