<p>I need advice and/or information please about 'taking a gap year' (or any other possible options for our situation). Most of the information I have come across so far about 'taking a gap year' refers to situations where students have already applied to and been accepted by a university, and have then been granted leave by the university to defer attendance at the school for a year for whatever reasons. What I'm looking for as well though and haven't come across is detailed information about the scenario where a high school senior wants or needs to defer making applications to universities until the following year. What happens in that situation? Do universities differentiate between high school senior applicants, and applicants who are applying a year (or longer) after high school graduation? I need information about this at soonest, as I'm hoping to convince my kid to look at taking a gap year before applying to universities, but I have to know what effect if any that might have on the kid's chances of getting into a preferred school - does it make any difference when exactly you apply to a university, not just to being accepted but also to scholarship opportunities? Application deadlines are coming up soon, so what are the options available in my kid's situation? Any information or advice would be appreciated. I'm in a different time zone to most, so won't be able to quickly respond to questions if any... </p>
<p>Background: We're living in the Southern Hemisphere, so we have just one month to go to the end of the school year here, and we're in the last week right now of final IB exams. My kid (who I'll refer to as 'DC') was ill for part of the school year and has been playing catch up ever since. Had pretty good SAT score - 2300 - especially considering there is no preparation whatsoever done here for SAT's (the guidance counselor didn't even know what an SAT Test was). But DC's subsequent SAT II Subject Test results were pretty bad, the tests were scheduled at the last minute and DC had neither time nor tools for preparation/practice ,and no idea what to expect - so ran out of time with 20 questions left unanswered on the Math Test (DC's best subject), you can just imagine the score! So these SAT II results are completely unsubmittable. But there's little to no time to prepare well enough for a second test sitting that will produce score results that accurately reflect DC's ability, that are good enough for the top schools, and that will meet application deadlines (next SAT II Test sittings are Dec 6th and Jan 24th, but Dec 6th would not give enough time to prepare).</p>
<p>DC is still doing exams and will be graduating high school in a month, and will not likely be able to manage to put together a quality application for the best schools in time to meet their deadlines. Plus, at this absolutely crucial time, DC is not thinking straight - is completely exhausted by the efforts of the past 2 years, and is ready to throw all of that effort away by taking the easy route of not applying ANYWHERE, and just going to the local university that accepts pretty much anyone and everyone and is ranked very low on worldwide ranking scales. What's particularly concerning about this potential scenario is that the kid could be getting full scholarship offers at good schools in the States, while this local university which keeps going down in the rankings each year and would be lucky to have DC attending, has only guaranteed a <$1000 scholarship, with DC merely SHORTLISTED for a 'special scholarship' of just another $3000. So by attending this school DC would not only miss out on a quality university education, but would also leave there in considerable debt for all of that.</p>
<p>So I'm trying now to come up with more and better options to put to my DC to at least consider before it's too late, and need as much help as I can get with that. Cheers</p>
<p>Many kids defer for a year and that is called a gap year. I suppose deferred enrolment can also be called a gap year. Colleges usually treat them same as hs kids but they will be additionally interested in how that year was spent productively… </p>
<p>Also assuming his gpa is 3.5+ it looks like he would qualify for a full tuition scholarship from University of Alabama, if he would like that as an alternative to the local uni. There are a lot of OOS kids there with high stats and in the honors college. There is lots of info about that uni here, especially in the UA forum. And one Mom who sent 2 kids there (one is in med school now) says it takes 5 minutes to fill out the application. I might be wrong, but I think Tulane may not require an essay. Some colleges don’t have a supplement, just the Common Application essay, like Grinnell.</p>
<p>Where was he thinking of applying? Oh is he a US citizen?</p>
<p>Harvard offered this take on admission chances for gap-year applicants on its website:</p>
<p>“Occasionally students are admitted to Harvard or other colleges in part because they accomplished something unusual during a year off. While no one should take a year off simply to gain admission to a particular college, time away almost never makes one a less desirable candidate or less well prepared for college.”</p>
<p>I’m doing a gap year and I haven’t been worried about it affecting my chances for admissions. In fact, I’m doing some amazing things in my time off, so if anything it would help me in the admission process. </p>
<p>To be honest, I would suggest finding schools that are good but perhaps not “the best” (top 100 schools not top 20 schools) and applying there. </p>
<p>I feel like unless your DC has a plan for a gap year, they shouldn’t take one.</p>
<p>My son will take a gap year if he does not get into any of the ten schools he is applying to, but his plan would be to work and take some community college courses. </p>
<p>The only thing that confuses me is if your DC’s subject tests scores are the only issue - if so, look for top schools that don’t want them.</p>
<p>So - if you tell us what he wants to study, and we know he has 2300 SAT, and if you give us an idea of his GPA, we could give you an idea of where to apply. I’m not even sure if all Ivies require SAT Subject scores, and I know a lot of really good schools in the US do not require them.</p>
<p>I was accepted to college and declined admission to all of them because I had changed my mind from wanting to be an engineer to being an English teacher. Long story.</p>
<p>I am spending my year working and applying to college again. If you have any questions, please feel free to PM me. I am a huge proponent of gap years, and I’d recommend them for most students. </p>
<p>Gap years (sometimes more than one) are probably more common than the term “gap year”. It is likely that the most common gap year activity is paid work.</p>
<p>Gap year students who apply as frosh would have full high school senior year records available to colleges. However, it may be more difficult to get support from the high school in terms of recommendations and such for applying to colleges that use them. Some people in the work force start college part time at a community college, then transfer to a state university to complete their bachelor’s degrees. However, one with high stats in high school / SAT / ACT may find that not attending any college during gap year(s) and then applying as a frosh would be more favorable in terms of scholarships.</p>
<p>^On the hard to get support from high school note - if you are applying to college during your gap year, you really should stay local during your year. Communication between you and your high school will probably be more difficult if you’re in another continent. I am actually working at my high school this year, which I found has been very helpful as I can just stop by my college consellor’s office any time during the day rather than sending an email and waiting for a response.</p>