<p>I want to take a year off after high school and wait a year before I attend college. I'm wondering if this will affect my chances next year.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that I am not talking about a gap year in which I am already accepted into a college and I told them that I want a year off, I'm asking if my chances would be affected if I was to take a gap year without any admittance from a college.</p>
<p>No, your chances will not be affected. It’s just a little more complicated to get your teacher and guidance counselor recs lined up and your transcripts sent since you may be no where near your high school when you are ready to apply next year. Make sure you get yourself organized before you head off where ever you are going so that these documents get sent on time. For example, it would probably make sense to get your teachers and gc to write their rec letters now, while they still have a clear memory of your academic ability and contribution to class and to the school - they can hold onto the letters until you need them. If you wait for a year to ask, you may find they are no longer at the school, etc…</p>
<p>Yes, your chances would be affected. If you do it right, they will be improved! Some students purposely take a year after high school to participate in activities that will enhance their application. One caveat is to be careful about taking any courses in a community college, because at some colleges you will no longer be considered a freshman applicant.</p>
<p>I agree with MikeMac … and it can work the other way also … is you wait a year to apply and do nothing during the gap year the wait will likely lower your chances. Why do you not want to apply this year and then defer admission for a year?</p>
<p>I’d be more inclined to say that your prospects could be affected.</p>
<p>The mere fact of taking a gap year won’t make you significantly more or less appealing as a college applicant. In very general terms, if you do something productive with this year, something that makes you a greater asset to the academic or cultural life of a college, then you prospects may be improved. If, on the other hand, all you do is get a year older, and you lose contact with the teachers and school officials who will have to help you with recommendations and school documents, then your prospects will be worse.</p>
<p>I read this as ‘affect my chances adversely because I didn’t apply before I left’ but the other posters are correct: It could help or hurt depending on how productively you use your time during the gap year.</p>
<p>Thanks a lot for the replies!</p>
<p>A few suggestions:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Finish your senior year with maximum effort. Colleges should be impressed if you have not only avoided a “Senior Slide” but actually improved your course work.</p></li>
<li><p>Line up LOR and transcript requests late this spring so you will not be rushed next fall in a school that you no longer attend.</p></li>
<li><p>Have a detailed plan in place for your activities during your gap year and start working your plan as soon as possible in the late spring/early summer. Don’t relax, take time off and plan to get started “later” - the longer you wait the harder it will be be and the worse you will appear on applications in the fall. Conversely, the sooner you start, the more track record of accomplishments and successes you will have.</p></li>
</ol>