An often overlooked but important option for today’s graduating high school seniors is taking a gap year. There are several reasons why a student may choose this option, rather than beginning college right after high school graduation. These can range from feeling scared to leaving home, to being devastated from not being admitted to one’s desired colleges. Another major factor that cannot be ignored is the evidence showing mental health challenges are soaring in teens largely due to social media and aftereffects of the pandemic. A gap year allows students time to take a breath after high school, mature, make clearer decisions and explore more about what they may be looking for in a college and/or major. 

Gap years are customized, and do not look the same from student to student. Many students plan their gap years based on what they are hoping to accomplish in that time. That can be as simple as staying home and getting a job to earn money, participating in internships abroad to get career experience, volunteer work to fuel the soul, wilderness programs to find peace in nature and also test one’s own grit, and countless others.  Programs can range from a few weeks, where you can stack a few different options, to a full semester or year. 

When it comes to college admissions in correlation to gap years, there are two ways students can proceed. The first way is to apply to college as most do during senior year of high school. Once admitted to a college and as you are ready to commit, you ask the school if they will defer your acceptance by a year so that you may participate in a gap year. Many schools will allow this, but not all, so there is some risk involved if you are admitted to your dream school yet determined to also have a gap year. There are also rules that vary by school in terms of what that gap year can look like. Some schools will not allow you to partake in a program where you earn any college credits, so you should document from your college what they will accept upon your matriculation. Other schools are so on board with the idea of a gap year, they ask, encourage or even help facilitate a gap year for incoming freshmen. 

The other way to proceed is to not apply to college as a high school senior, but instead apply during your gap year. Now, there are intricacies with this as well. If you are on a gap year where you are earning college credits, many colleges will now consider you a transfer student, and not a freshman, so that is something to consider and research. If you are not earning credits, you will likely apply as a freshman but will explain your gap year and what it involved in your application. 

Gap years are increasing in popularity for a variety of reasons. As college costs rise, students and families want to be sure the student is ready for the experience. Students are under more pressure than ever and may need a pause from the academic and social demands of being in school.  As opportunities for meaningful gap years continue to expand, they appeal to more and more high school students.  While they may not be right or necessary for everyone, it is certainly a topic that should be explored by students who may not quite be ready to land at a college campus. 

Courtney Fahn, Milestone College Advisor