<p>park, interesting question. I have no idea what the answer is. Way back when I was in your shoes. I applied to colleges without mentioning the fact that I was planning on taking time off. I did know what I planned to do (spend a year in France living with a French family), but I'm not sure how much one can really say about something one has not yet done. OTOH, some colleges (Harvard comes to mind) strongly encourage gap years. Since I happen to know that they have an optional essay, I might use that opportunity to tell them about my plans. Personally, I wouldn't make it part of my main essay, unless it makes sense as part of the essay - for example an essay about majors or future plans might say, that you're passionate about languages and plan to be a linguist, since you'd like to be fluent in at least one foreign language before you start college therefore you are planning on a gap year in a foreign country. I would look at those various optional essays and decide if it would enhance your application on a case by case basis.</p>
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<blockquote> <p>I'm sorry, but I'm first generation in my family and I was just too naive when HYP said they were "need-blind" for intls as well (I now don't think they are).<<</p> </blockquote>
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<p>There is nothing in your experience that shows that HYP are not need-blind when it comes to international students. They are probably the few schools that are willing to give financial aid to internationals on an equal basis with their domestic applicants. I know that Stanford is very clear that being international and needing aid is a killer combo.</p>
<p>The fact is that HYP schools reject 90% of their applicants anyway. </p>
<p>I would do a gap year if you were going to use the time to figure out a new bunch of schools to apply to. As Andison's experience showed, a gap year with new experiences may be of no use to turn a past rejection into an acceptance, but it can give you time to rethink the application process and find schools that will meet your financial needs better.</p>
<p>As for parents not being as rich as you thought they were...it is hard for a kid to fathom what $40K a year (after tax) means in "real money".</p>