GAP YEAR GUIDE

With the fate of the fall 2020 semester hanging in the balance and potentially altering your freshman fall, we can understand why SO many current seniors are considering a gap year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to the volume of requests, colleges are forming policies about approving them. Clearly, they can’t accept all gap year requests and those with the most compelling health or financial reasons will be considered first. With the level of restrictions in place not to mention a severely depleted job market, before you make this request, be sure you are able to plan a meaningful and scholarly year worthy of an approval.

Copyright © by Top Tier Admissions LLC

WHY CONSIDER A GAP YEAR?

Taking a gap year between high school and college can be a wonderful opportunity to

explore your interests and develop your future goals. Gap years are gaining popularity in

the United States, which many researchers attribute to increasing demands and pressures

on high school students. Many colleges openly encourage students to consider spending

some time away from formal education, and some even propose the gap year option in

their letters of admission.

A successful gap year is not a break from academics, but rather a time to demonstrate your

productivity, academic engagement, and preparedness for college. Harvard gap year

students describe their year away as a “life-altering” experience or a “turning point,” and

many begin college with new academic plans, passion for extracurriculars, and an array of

exciting career possibilities.1

We recommend approaching your gap year with two overarching goals in mind.

1. EXPLORE AN AREA OF INTEREST.

Maybe you loved your high school environmental science course but were so busy with APs

and standardized testing that you never got the chance to learn more about innovations in

renewable energy. Or you taught yourself to program in Java, but left your mobile app

brainchild unfinished to lead your varsity team to the championship. Perhaps you’ve been

accepted to your dream college and want a year off to deepen your commitment to social

causes. Your gap year is the time to dive into the topic that most excites you and choose

experiences that will expand your high school knowledge and prepare you to excel in

college.

2. REFINE YOUR FUTURE GOALS.

Research shows a relationship between gap years and both college GPAs and job

satisfaction.2 Choosing gap year experiences that allow you to sample work in your field of

interest will teach you what you like and dislike, and set you up to make thoughtful

academic and career choices.

1 Fitzsimmons, William, McGrath, and Ducey. "Time out or burn out for the next generation." Harvard College Admissions & Financial Aid (2011). 2 American Gap Association National Alumni Survey (2016)

The decision to take a gap year can be both exciting and daunting. Your options may feel

nearly limitless compared to your highly structured high school schedule, yet it is essential

that you develop an organized gap year strategy that will set you on a successful path.

Although there are many pre-programmed options, we recommend designing your own

unique year that focuses on developing your interests. You want to show colleges exactly

what you plan to add to their class. This is not an easy task, which is why we are here to

help you explore your options, narrow your focus, and plan a transformative year that will

prepare you for college and beyond.

CHALLENGES OF TAKING A GAP YEAR

Before we start designing your gap year, we want to address two common challenges that

students face.

1. MAINTAINING MOMENTUM.

Some students worry that they will lose academic steam if they take a year off from school.

We recommend considering the impact that this time off will have on your commitment to

college, while also noting that about 90% of students enroll in a four-year institution within

one year of completing their gap year.3 Maintaining an academic focus throughout your

time away will help you stay on an upward trajectory.

2. OVERCOMING STIGMA.

Some admissions officers still consider gap years to be a bit frivolous. Students must

therefore convince colleges that their time away is purposeful and valuable, rather than a

result of procrastination or an unsuccessful round of applications during senior year.

Although we see the benefits of taking a break from the academic grind to prevent burnout,

it is important that your gap year is filled with growth and discovery rather than rest and

relaxation.

3 American Gap Association National Alumni Survey (2016)

WHAT KIND OF GAP YEAR SHOULD YOU TAKE?

Your first step is to identify the type of gap year that fits your schedule and goals. Most gap

years fall into one of two categories:

1. DEFERRED ENROLLMENT

After being admitted to a college or university, many students ask for permission to

postpone matriculation for a year. If this is the case for you and you’ve already gotten into

the college of your choice, you’ll have more flexibility to pursue experiences that may not

be available to you during college.

2. POST-GRADUATE (PG) YEAR

Many students choose to wait to apply to college until after their high school graduation. If

this is your plan, we encourage you to strategically design a gap year that will improve your

chances of admission to the college of your choice.

Whether you are holding a college acceptance letter or planning to build your resume

before applying, colleges care about what you do with your time off. In the case of deferred

enrollment, the strength of your gap year plan will determine whether or not your request

for a year away is granted. For PG students, your gap year experiences will directly impact

your odds of college admission. Carefully consider what will be the most productive plan

on your road to a successful college career.

MAKE IT COUNT.

SELF-ASSESSMENT: WHAT DO YOU WANT TO

GET OUT OF YOUR GAP YEAR?

ASK YOURSELF…

We love Dr. Stephen Covey’s advice to “begin with the end in mind.”4 If you are deferring enrollment, think about who you want to be when you begin college. If you are planning to apply to college later on, reflect on your goals for higher education and plan a gap year that puts you in a good position to achieve those goals.

4 Covey, Stephen R. The 7 habits of highly effective people. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, 1991.

What are your plans for after your gap year?

What calls to you that you weren’t able to pursue in high school?

What academic areas excite you most?

What do you hope to learn during your time off?

What resources do you have?

DEFERRED ENROLLMENT

A Step-By-Step Guide

Research your college’s options for a gap year. Approximately 5% of four-year colleges and universities have formal policies that allow students to defer admission, whereas others allow deferrals on a case-by-case basis. Princeton, Tufts, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill even grant fellowships and financial aid for a year away. Princeton, for example, offers a tuition-free program that invites incoming first-year students to engage in nine months of University-sponsored service at one of five international locations. Look on your school’s admissions web page for information on gap years.

Find out your college’s policies and deadlines. There is significant variability in the deferral request process across institutions. Yale asks for a written request to an associate dean, whereas most schools direct requests to their Office of Admissions and Financial Aid. Columbia has a May 15th deadline and Middlebury’s is June 1st. Carnegie Mellon requires that accepted students submit a deposit before requesting a deferral. Look into your school’s specific policies to maximize your chances of getting a green light.

Ask about scholarships and financial aid. Some scholarships are contingent on immediate enrollment, and you may have to re-apply for financial aid after your gap year.

Note any limitations on gap year activities. Many schools specify that students may not enroll in a degree-granting program at another institution during a gap year. Some colleges have unique stipulations—for example, Colby asks for a written summary of students’ experiences halfway through the year.

Consider the length of your gap year. Many colleges are open to granting a semester off rather than a full year, so it is worth reflecting on how much time you need to achieve your goals.

Get creative!

Once you understand your school’s policies, let the brainstorming begin. We are here to both broaden your perspective and refine your focus.

Make your case.

Write your deferral request letter as early as you can, and contact the appropriate person (the admissions director unless otherwise specified) before deposits are due (unless, like Carnegie Mellon, your school asks for your deposit first). Describe your plans for the year ahead. We will help you craft a compelling narrative that shows the admissions committee that you will come back from your gap year with intellectual passion that you will share with their academic community.

Embark on your adventure!

What topics in high school left you wanting more?

Do you want to stay close to home or travel abroad?

Do you want to investigate a research question, take a class, volunteer, work, or intern?

Do you want to share experiences with others or explore independently?

PG YEAR

A Step-By-Step Guide

Finish high school on a high note. Take care of as much testing as you can while you are still in school and focus on having a strong senior year. It can be more challenging to coordinate testing while you are out of school, and getting most of it out of the way early will allow you to focus on your gap year experiences. Remember that your application cycle will start in the fall of your gap year (and we recommend taking advantage of the early admissions round), so don’t delay.

Establish and nurture connections with teachers and counselors. It can be difficult to ask for teacher recommendations and the other materials you might need after you graduate, so talk to your teachers about your PG year plan while you are still a high school student. They are more likely to provide the support you need later on if they are prepared ahead of time.

Identify your academic niche. We encourage you to view your gap year as an opportunity to select and deepen your

academic focus. Admissions officers look for students with clearly stated passions

backed up by action. The best gap years build on students’ high school experiences and

create cohesive intellectual narratives. For example, if you love marine sciences and

excelled in your high school biology classes, you might spend your gap year volunteering

in a lab, enrolling in a specialized marine biology course, and working on a ship

conducting field research. If your academic niche is archaeology and you have high

school coursework and extracurriculars to back it up, consider spending your gap year

joining an excavation team and studying Latin and Greek texts. Your goal is to become a

scholar in your field. Our experience shows that students with targeted, academic

narratives supported by coursework and experiences are most likely to stand out and

impress admission committees. Leverage what you’ve already accomplished to design a

gap year that brings your interests to life.

Make a plan. If you will be applying to colleges during your gap year, it is even more essential that your plan is cohesive and academically-oriented. We recommend pursuing: Research

One of the very best ways to show colleges that you are a serious scholar is to join a research laboratory. We will help you find a lab that will give you hands-on experience in your area of interest.

College coursework You can use your gap year to start taking college courses. We recommend including at least one course in your plan, especially if your high school record needs improvement. You might also take one or more online courses through MIT OpenCourseWare, Coursera, or EdX in your area of academic interest. Online courses are a great way to demonstrate your initiative and commitment to learning.

Service learning

Many students devote their gap year to volunteer work near home or abroad. If this is your plan, we urge you to thoughtfully choose a service project that relates to your main academic interest. For example, if you plan to pursue a college degree in gender studies, you might volunteer for an organization that addresses gender-based discrimination or violence. If you are interested in economics, you might volunteer for a microfinance initiative.

Work Experience An admissions officer recently told us, “Work is the new community service.” What she meant is that many admissions officers are tired of seeing students who count their community service hours as a resume boost, and consider work experience as more illustrative of responsibility, maturity, and commitment. Some students spend the first half of their gap year working to help finance international travel for the second half, which fits nicely with the college application timeline.

An Internship An internship is a great way to explore a field that interests you, and many students find internships either locally or abroad. Students who plan to major in journalism might intern at a local paper or news station, whereas students who are interested in art history might find a museum internship. We will work with you to find the best match for your interests and goals.

APPLYING TO COLLEGE DURING YOUR PG YEAR

Remember that although your unique PG year experiences will help you stand out to admissions committees, your application won’t get read unless you meet a certain threshold based on a combination of your standardized test scores and your high school record and rank. If your testing so far is below average at the schools you plan to target, use your gap year to get those scores up. We can help connect you with a tutor and helpful preparatory resources.

Don’t forget about subject tests! Even when schools do not require subject test scores, admissions officers generally expect to see several of them in student applications. You can use your PG year to study for subject tests in areas consistent with your academic focus. For example, if you spend your gap year taking creative writing courses and publishing your poetry, make sure to take the literature subject test.

When you are ready to work on your applications, craft essays that highlight the academic focus that you pursued during your gap year. We have Top Tier programs that can help with this process as well—just ask!

SAMPLE GAP YEAR PLANS

Summer

Internatadocumentary

productioncompany

Fall

Travelabroadtocollectvideofootage

anddevelopdocumentary

content

Winter

Takeadocumentaryfilmcoursetolearnhowtotellpowerfulstoriesthroughfilm

Spring

Editvideofootagecollectedinfallandplandocumentary

submissiontoamateurfilmfestival

Summer

Workonanorganicfarmwhiletakingan

onlinecourseinsustainablefood

systems

Fall

AttendtheSchooloftheNewYorkTimesGapYearProgramandcompletean

independentprojectonfoodeconomics

Winter

Enrollinacollegecourseinsustainable

foodsystemsandworkparttimefora

foodservicecompany

Spring

Returntoorganicfarmandcollaboratewithlocalfarmersto

implementsustainabletechniques

Summer

Conductfieldresearchatamarine

sciencescoastalcampus

Fall

Completecourseworkin

marinesciencesanddevelopan

independentproject

Winter

Joinamarinescienceslaboratoryandlearnaboutthe

deploymentofoceanographic

sensors

Spring

Collaboratewithlabmatestopublish

findingsinanacademicjournal

andpresentaposterataconference

Summer

Takeacomputerscienceand

programmingcourse

Fall

Volunteerinacomputersciencelaboratorywhiletakinganonline

courseonscientificteaching

Winter

Createaprograminyourhometownthat

teachescomputersciencetounder-

resourcedstudents

Spring

Expandyourprogrambyhiringvolunteerteachers

andadvertisingyourprogramtostudents

andfamilies

The first time I read about the one-child policy in China in Ma Jian’s The Dark Road, which depicts the

horrible consequences that Chinese women are forced to endure, I thought about the young girls at my

Chinese dance studio. In China, the family name is passed on through males, and since couples are only

allowed to have one child, young women are often forced to terminate their pregnancies if the baby is

female. Young girls are often sent to orphanages. Most of the girls at my dance studio have assimilated to

American culture and do not know their native language. Adopted at early ages, these girls have been

embraced into loving families who give them more opportunities that their biological parents may have

been able to provide. The difference between their lives in the US and what their lives could have been in

China opened my eyes to the disparity between the two. Before pursuing a Gender Studies major at X

University next year, I hope to spend a year in China learning more about this complex problem to develop

skills that will ultimately help me advocate for gender equality and lead policy change.

After reading Ma Jian’s book, I began analyzing the terrible injustices women are forced to face in

patriarchal societies. This book sheds light on patriarchal societies that are the global majority and a social

norm in many countries. Eager to learn more about gender inequality, I downloaded and completed the

coursework for MIT’s OpenCourseware for Gender, Power, and International Development, Gender and

Representation of Asian Women, and Feminist Political Thought.

I believe that this gap year program will teach me to consider gender inequality from many angles, which

would give me a holistic outlook on this issue. Specifically, the program’s courses in political studies, social

issues in modern China, and gender and race studies will deepen my understanding of the historical and

social contexts that inform China’s society today.

I am drawn to this gap year program as both a student and activist, and I hope to have the opportunity to

contribute to your vibrant intellectual community.

SAMPLE GAP PROGRAM APPLICATION ESSAY

Acting and singing were a pivotal part of my life in high school, but like most kids I was so busy

with academics, athletics, and other extras that I didn’t have time to hone the craft as I would have liked.

Taking a gap year, I thought, would give me time to explore both the academic side of theatre, as I will

study theatre history at X University next semester, and the performance side.

I was lucky to spend this fall at The National Theatre Institute, which is part of the Eugene O’Neill

Theatre Center in Waterford, Connecticut. Through the intensity of the regimen, the rigor of the classes,

and the creative pressure of the collaborative process at NTI, I strengthened my craft and theatrical

vision. Within the first week I was rehearsing late into each evening and two weeks in I was working

scenes outside of the curriculum with peers in my room every night.

Jerzy Grotowski states, “The one goal of all humanity, its true mission, is to achieve mastery before

the flower of youth fades.” I realized, after spending this fall at NTI, that I am in my “flower of youth” and

there is possibility of mastery during this time in my life. I know now how definite the return is on effort:

The more work I put in, the more I can take away.

The motto of the O’Neill Center is “Risk, fail, risk, fail again.” Getting over a fear of failure is an

incredible lesson I’ve taken from NTI. It’s impossible to learn without failure, and to avoid failure is to

mar my own education. Throughout high school I made sure to succeed at whatever I was doing. But I

can see now that I failed to fail. Risks are how we truly learn who we are and what we can do. I risk it all

every day when pursuing the craft of acting. When working on a scene in which my character cries, what

happens if instead I throw a chair against a wall? What if I run into my scene partner’s arms? I’ll never

create great work without first knowing my boundaries. Once I’ve gone all the way, once I’ve failed, then I

can find true success.

An artist’s most powerful attribute is versatility. As an actor I must strive to amass knowledge and

abilities to best serve the director in his or her vision of what the playwright intended. At NTI, I was given

the opportunity to play every role in a production. I directed pieces, designed sets, managed sound and

created costumes. Each class at NTI gave me skills I could directly apply to the next class that day. In the

morning I might design a set for The Bacchae and learn about bodies in space. That afternoon in

Contemporary I would apply that sense of space to a movement piece I created, or how I staged a theatre

in the round scene in my Shakespeare class. The following day I applied all of these elements when I

directed a scene from Angels in America.

Every actor and actress I met this fall, from Broadway to the Royal Shakespeare Company, said the

same thing: “An artist never stops learning.” I am eager to learn much more about theatre history next

semester at x University and am eager to be part of a vibrant college theater department next fall.

SAMPLE COLLEGE APPLICATION ESSAY

Take a look at the following college application essay from a student who took a gap year and then applied to college. Note how the student described her year and the unique path it paved for college.

Dear X Admissions Committee,

I was accepted to X early decision and am very excited to attend my first-choice school. I am writing to

request a gap year before matriculating. I believe a gap year will help me further hone my interests and

develop my skills to take full advantage of all the opportunities offered at X.

During my gap year, I would continue my work with the Amigos de Jesus orphanage and Seeds of Peace.

At Amigos, I would work both in the Malvern, PA office as well as at the orphanage in Macuelizo,

Honduras (about 45 minutes from San Pedro Sula). I would work with the operations and

programming teams in serving the 137 orphaned and abandoned children. At both the U.S. and

Honduran offices, Spanish is the only language spoken, allowing me to further myself in the Spanish

language and Latin American culture, two of my strong interest areas.

At Seeds of Peace, I would work on initiatives bringing teens together from Israel and Palestine and

hopefully also travel to Jerusalem to support the programs. I would also assist Seeds of Peace as they

broaden their mission to include building bridges between people from different backgrounds in the

U.S., which I believe is important considering the tension and divide in our country.

In addition to working for two programs I care deeply about, I would also spend time during a gap year

finishing the roll-out plan for my invention, a moisturizing putty, for which I have received a

provisional patent. I would spend time at Digitas Health, a company focused on digital and mobile

marketing. I spoke with their General Manager who has supported a plan for me to intern at their office

to assist the marketing department. This way, I will learn how to further develop my product.

Finally, I would use a gap year for personal development. In particular, I want to further develop my

presentation skills and public speaking. I have researched organizations to help with this (e.g. Dale

Carnegie courses) and will engage with them during my gap year.

I am very excited to attend X and would love the opportunity to take a gap year. During this time, I

would pursue my passions, hone my interest areas, and further develop my skills to help me fully

engage in the extraordinary opportunities at X.

Thank you for your consideration. Sincerely, Student

SAMPLE DEFERRAL REQUEST LETTERS

Dear X Admissions Committee,

I am writing to request approval for a gap year before I matriculate at X. I am thrilled to become a part

of such an amazing institution. I believe a gap you will help me take full advantage of X’s

extraordinary opportunities and enable me to make a strong impact on the X community.

During my gap year, I would participate in "GapForce Australia” and continue my research in

environmental studies and extreme weather. I have previously researched weather’s societal impact

and chased storms in the U.S., and exploring a new climate would expand my understanding of global

weather.

I would also participate in a Dale Carnegie public speaking seminar so that I can continue speaking to

large audiences about weather patterns.

During a gap year, I would expand "Heartwarming Hoodies," an organization I founded two years ago

to support the homeless. It is based at the Broad Street Ministry, which is one of the largest shelters in

Philadelphia. I also have been in development with a project to get to know the people behind the

hoodies, to ultimately create a published Philadelphia Story.

Finally, I would like to pursue lessons in Electronic Dance Music as a DJ since I didn’t have time to

develop this hobby while in high school. I am interested in a program at Recording Connection. I

would learn from producers and musicians who have mentored the likes of Kendrick Lamar and

Rihanna. I would bring my skills to X University and I hope to DJ around campus. I have found that

music is empowering for both individuals and communities and hope to learn more about the

potential impact of electronic music.

It is my hope that this combination of experiences will allow me to continue to build my skills and

experiential base and contribute to the X community.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Student

WE LOOK FORWARD TO

WORKING WITH YOU!