<p>I'm currently a high school senior and due to some extenuating circumstances, I missed a lot of school and don't have the best grades my first two years of high school. I have straight As junior year, but not a very rigorous course load as I was only able to take one AP class(English), one honors class(pre-calc), and one community college class. This year I'm taking 5 APs and a community college class and so far have straight As.</p>
<p>Reasons I want to wait to apply until next year:</p>
<p>-Colleges will see two years of only As and maybe disregard the first two years.
-I'll be able to take subject tests, and do well. A few of the schools that I want to apply to require them, many recommend them, and I feel they'll help me portray my strengths, despite my first few years.
-I'll have AP scores under my belt, hopefully 4s and 5s.
-I'll be able to devote a lot of time to things I love, like volunteering, art, and music. I'd love to finally be able to take some art classes, and I'd be able to work so I could actually afford to do these things.</p>
<p>I considered attending community college first, but getting accepted to schools like Rice and Swarthmore is significantly more difficult as a transfer.</p>
<p>I've read through some of the forums on here and have learned that when students apply their senior year and get rejected, they're more often than not rejected after they take a gap year. Therefore, I feel like either I should apply now and probably not get accepted anywhere, or wait until next year to apply and have somewhat of a chance.</p>
<p>Can taking a gap year negatively influence admissions, or are gap year students evaluated the same as other first-years?</p>
<p>Taking a gap year isn’t a means of escape, renewing your high school record, or anything like that. If you take one with the idea of improving your profile for admissions in mind, you’re not going to have a very enjoyable experience. </p>
<p>What kind of grades did you have? Were you a D student in the past, or a B student? I’d still apply to a few matches and safeties in case you do decide to matriculate next fall. As for going to a community college, after you get your associate’s and apply to a four-year college, they’ll only consider your college grades, and your high school slate will be wiped clean.</p>
<p>@Coriander23 I wasn’t looking to clean up my high school record, just looking for a way to let adcoms see that I can handle rigorous work, and I feel that my senior year portrays that best. Like I said, I’ve missed a significant amount of school that put me behind so I could use this extra year to catch up on everything and take SAT subject tests on classes I’m currently taking.</p>
<p>I wasn’t any ‘‘type’’ of student. I had all As/A-s and one B+ freshman year but sophomore year fall semester I had a record of Fs, due to some extenuating circumstances that will be explained in my GCs letter of rec. Spring semester I had all As in academic courses(1 D in non-academic course, which will also be explained).</p>
<p>The reason I don’t want to enroll in community college is that it is much more difficult to transfer into small schools like Rice than it is to get in as a freshman. Although I could always transfer to a local public university if I maintain a certain gpa. I’m unsure of which route would be best.</p>
My son is considering a gap year because he applied to very few colleges and got accepted to 2 out of state he now does not want to attend. His gpa was 3.82 but SAT were 1640 and ACT 22. Could he retake the SAT or ACT ff he took a gap year? Would college admissions take the later tests?