<p>This past spring I was admitted to the College of William & Mary as a Monroe Scholar, and I decided to send in my deposit and enroll there. I was also selected to receive a full scholarship from the National Security Language Initiative for Youth, a Department of State program, to spend next year on an exchange in Seoul, South Korea studying Korean language and culture. I accepted my offer of admission to this program, and have already notified the Office of Admissions at William & Mary of my decision to take a gap year.</p>
<p>However, since my admission into the NSLI-Y program, the thought of reapplying to colleges has been on my mind. My top choice colleges were originally the University of Chicago and Brown University, but I was waitlisted at both. There are also a few schools that I didn't apply to and regret not doing so, namely Northwestern and UPenn. I love William & Mary, and I know that I would be happy there, but at the same time I feel like this gap year is something of a unique chance to try again.</p>
<p>But before I decide on whether or not I will reapply anywhere, I have a few concerns. How could reapplying affect my offer of admission to William & Mary? If reapplying to schools could jeopardize my spot at W&M, then I definitely won't do it. Moreover, how does already having graduated high school affect the college applications process? Since I won't technically have a guidance counselor, who, if anyone, would write that recommendation? How might UChicago and Brown view an applicant that has already tried and failed to get in? If essay topics are the same, would I have to write an entirely new essay, or could I just tweak and improve upon my essay from last year?</p>
<p>If any of you have experience with this sort of situation, any advice or tips on what to do would be much appreciated!</p>