If Im a College Student Do I Need to Apply Again for the Next Year

Gap Year

Why and How to Defer College Acceptance for a Gap Year

Learn the benefits of deferring college admissions to take a gap year, and tips for how to do so.

You've worked hard throughout high school -- made proficient grades, passed enough of challenging courses, participated in extra-curricular activities, and it's all finally paid off in the form of an credence letter from the college or university of your choice. Letter in hand, you know you've done it -- y'all're well on your way to the adjacent successful stage in your life that will provide the foundation of your future career.

But maybe you're hesitant. Maybe these years of hard work and focus have left yous a little burned out. You're tired, and the idea of 4 more grueling years of college, while exciting, makes you even more than tired. If this is the case, information technology might merely mean that you're set up for a gap year. To practice that, you'll want to defer college for a yr -- which is not but possible but increasingly common.

Keep reading to learn why nosotros recollect yous should consider deferring college admission for a year and dedicate time to experiential learning through a gap year.

What is a gap year?

While a long-time British tradition, the gap twelvemonth is condign increasingly popular globally. Americans are learning what Europeans take known for generations: taking some time off earlier or during college can atomic number 82 to rich experiences, more profound knowledge of oneself, and a meliorate, more focused collegiate career.

Many people come up dorsum from gap years changed -- they're worldlier, more focused, more empathetic, and self-reliant.

A gap twelvemonth can take many forms. For some, information technology's a solo backpacking trip around the earth. For others, it might be participating in a formal, structured program like GapForce'southward Nepal and Bharat adventure. Often, a gap yr takes young people to places they've never been before or places of which they have never even dreamed.

Simply why accept a gap year? A gap year is a chance to feel the world at a time when you're most open to it. It's an opportunity to leap whole-heartedly outside of your condolement zone and run across where you land. It'southward a time to press the refresh button, acquire something y'all could never have learned in schoolhouse, and -- if you do it right -- even go more than successful once you enter higher.

Read more than: What is a Gap Year & How Do You lot Take Ane?

Gap Year Crash Class: Gap Yr to College Transition

Learn more about the gap year to higher transition with this recorded webinar from the 2022 Usa Gap Year Fairs series!

Why defer college for a gap yr?

The flow between loftier school and college is a delicate time, one where teenagers are transitioning from existence children in their parents' homes to adults on their ain. Information technology's a time for self-discovery and exploration when you tin can larn who you are, what yous want, and what your place in the globe might be.

A pre-higher gap year is a hazard for you to spend some time doing things that don't require you to inquire, "how will this wait on my college application?" It's a take a chance to travel, accept a break, await effectually you, meet wonderful people, try new things, and figure out what you want to do.

Many people come dorsum from gap years changed -- they're worldlier, more focused, more compassionate, and more than self-reliant.

It's no coincidence that many students come back from their gap yr and change their intended major or take a more than tangible career goal to apply to their studies. A gap twelvemonth is about dedicating time to focus on yous and clarify your academic, career, and life objectives.

Benefits of a gap twelvemonth

While a gap yr, by definition, is a wide and entirely unique experience, at that place are commonly gained benefits from dedicating time to self-growth and travel. Academics, college administrators, parents, professors, future employers, and students themselves detect that those who take a gap twelvemonth before higher come to school gear up and focused. They also come with a whole ready of new or polished skills that they gained forth the way.

Reported benefits from gap year alum include improved GPAs, greater campus involvement, an increased likelihood of graduating on time, and higher reported rates of task satisfaction. It's articulate that students who accept gap years bear witness to have skills that benefit them both inside and outside the classroom.

According to the Gap Year Association Research, Data, and Benefits Report, benefits of the gap year include:

• Greater life experiences and personal growth
• Better understanding of career options and incresased work experiences
• Increased self-confidence
• Greater global awareness and appreciation of other cultures
• Fluency in a foreign language
• Improved communication skills
• Increased readiness for higher
• Greater abilities to piece of work every bit part of a team
• Trouble solving skills
• The ability to bargain well with unexpected frustrations
• Successfully working in cross-cultural setting
• ncreased independence

Who wouldn't want to walk into a freshman classroom armed with this kind of confidence and skill set?

Read more: Why You Should Accept a Gap Yr After High School

Inspiring Gap Year Programs Away:

The higher deferral process

The good news is that deferring your higher admission for a yr has never been easier or more acceptable. Universities and colleges recognize that gap years can result in a more mature, dedicated student body that brings with it a wealth of diverse experiences. That ways that they are more open to granting deferrals to accepted students. In fact, the credence letter from Harvard Academy fifty-fifty suggests to its incoming freshmen that they might desire to take some time off before starting higher.

How to Defer Higher

• Apply to college before you take a gap year.
• Get accepted and confirm that yous will attend.
• Send a alphabetic character or electronic mail to the college's director of admissions and outline what you programme to practise on your gap twelvemonth / gap semester.
• The admissions committee will evaluate the letter of the alphabet and grant / deny the deferral.
• Transport deferral letters between April and mid-June.

Equally Kristin White, manager of Darien Academic Advisors and author of The Consummate Guide to the Gap Year says, "in most cases, admissions offices grant the deferral." And although it'southward best to asking deferral between April and mid-June, "at the very latest, students should send their requests before their starting time fall tuition payments are due, which is unremarkably July one or Baronial ane."

What to Know About the College Deferral Process

Keep in mind that each college and university is different. The Gap Year Association has collected informal data on the specific deferral process at hundreds of American colleges and universities to help you, merely contact your specific college or university for the about updated policies and procedures.

It's also important to notation that many schools volition grant a yr deferral just not a quarter or semester, so be sure to factor this into your plans and upkeep.

Check with your college or academy to see if there is any potential for gaining higher credit for your gap year activities. This is rarely the case, but it'southward worth asking. Suppose y'all enroll in another school for classes during your gap yr. In that case, you might accept to reenroll in your higher/university as a transfer student. This is some other policy that will differ by institution then enquire your admissions role nigh their specific policies.

In terms of deferring financial aid or scholarships, be certain to bank check with your schoolhouse. Simply because you lot've been offered financial assistance with your initial acceptance doesn't mean you're guaranteed that same package when you return a year after. It might hateful that you have to reapply for financial help and scholarships earlier you start school, just the chances are if y'all were granted information technology the first time around, you'd exist granted it again.

Read more than: 10 Steps to Planning a Gap Year Earlier College

What to know about returning to your university after a gap twelvemonth

So you're sold on taking a gap twelvemonth, but yous want to make sure you accept something to come back to. That'due south why deferring your college acceptance allows y'all the all-time of both worlds. You retain certainty on your adjacent major life step, and get to dedicate time to your personal life during a gap year.

Some students (and parents) worry that taking time off will result in a loss of skills that contribute to success in higher, simply this is often not the instance. Robert Clagett, a old senior admissions officer at Harvard University and dean of admissions at Middlebury Higher writes in Why Your Loftier School Senior Should Have a Gap Yr: "the prevailing wisdom is that kids are going to lose their hard-earned written report skills if they accept a gap twelvemonth. The opposite is true."

Instead, Clagett argues in his article for College Admission, "for many of those students, stepping off the educational treadmill for six months or a year between high schoolhouse and college can be an important way to remind themselves of what their teaching should really be about.

It can also lead to a much more than productive experience once they are enrolled in higher, since those students will frequently be more mature, more focused, and more aware of what they want to practice with their higher teaching."

William Fitzsimmons, dean of admissions and fiscal aid at Harvard University says in a U.S. News Article:"the feedback from students almost all the time has been that this experience was transformative. The more life experience you bring, the ameliorate off you are in school."

Aye! Defer college and proceed a gap year

If you're feeling even the slightest bit like this is something you desire or need to do, you should seriously consider information technology! Go on a gap year and savour a year experiencing the world. Sure, it'due south not for anybody, but for those who feel called to have a break before jumping into the rigorous academics of higher or university, it could be the best conclusion of your life.

Take the leap!

Educational institutions are realizing that gap year students come back revitalized, focused, mature, and self-aware. They are gear up to engage and bring a sense of worldliness to the classroom. Schools are making the deferral procedure more attainable and adequate, and a growing number of universities are even actively encouraging students to take time off before starting their freshman year.

Come dorsum from a gap year experience more ready than always for a sterling collegiate career, and any excitement comes subsequently information technology!

This post was originally published in May 2015, and updated in May 2022 and June 2021.

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