Pierre is a leading college and graduate admissions consultant with extensive experience in education and entrepreneurship. His advice has been featured on Forbes.com, U.S. News, CNN Business, the Washington Post, ABC News, Business Insider, and more.
We’ve received tons of questions from high school seniors asking whether they should take a gap year. Many students are worried about committing to a campus they haven’t set foot on. Others prefer in-person learning and would rather not spend money on online courses and virtually zero campus experience—which are both legitimate concerns. Finally, some families whose finances have been hit by the current pandemic would prefer to delay the cost of college until next year.
On the other side of the spectrum, colleges are worried about shrinking enrollment and lost revenue as a result of the COVID-19 crisis. We expect colleges to alter their gap year policies in response to the current situation, should they receive an unusual number of gap year requests this year: if they want to stay financially afloat, most colleges cannot afford to grant a gap year to an unlimited number of applicants.
Because most gap year programs and internships have been canceled, students interested in doing a gap year must think out of the box and prepare back-up plans if COVID-19 throws a wrench into their initial plans. To help you make the best decision, we’ve created a gap-year decision tree. This decision tree will help you ask the right questions. We also provide you with additional resources and links to navigate these unprecedented times and explore some options, such as volunteering or remote work opportunities.
Volunteering opportunities:
UN Online Volunteering
Remote work opportunities:
Develop a capstone project:
If you have questions regarding gap year applications, or need help planning for next year, please do not hesitate to contact our college admissions consultants.
