How to apply for a gap year?

Sikorsky
Tue, 17 Dec 2013 07:31:22 +0000

First, congratulations!

Ask Penn. There are some kind of general truths about gap years, but every college has its own policies and procedures.

In general, colleges that allow students to defer their enrollment (most do) have a date by which you must request a deferment. But that deadline surely isn’t for months. It’ll be weeks after May 1, when students accepted regular decision must commit.

And many colleges also want you to give them a brief description of your plans for the year. (All my daughter had to say was, “I will be doing [name of program] in Israel from October to June.” )

But you need to know Penn’s requirements and procedures. So just ask the admissions office. They’ll be happy to tell you.

I wouldn’t actually defer, however, until my plans for the year were firm. And you have months to make those arrangements.