It is definitely not too late to add schools to an audition list in January or even later. Many programs have March audition dates and they may have still have audition slots open in January and academic application deadlines that are relatively late in the spring.
There are some MT programs with auditions through April at schools with very late academic application dates (some schools take accept academic applications in August and September!). Here are some with late audition dates and late application deadlines from last year:
U Memphis March 28 + Video
Northern Kentucky - April 4
UAB - April 11
Sam Houston State - April 17
Western Carolina - April 18
You may be able to squeeze one in at Nebraska Wesleyan before the end of March.
Other schools that may accept late video auditions:
Lindenwood
Santa Fe U Art & Design
U South Dakota
Central Washington
U Tampa
There are no doubt others. Searching through getaccetpd.com is a great way to find schools that you may not have known about.
A gap year can work well, but you do fall “behind” one year in an industry where the primary years for artistic employment are very young.