Shouldn't there be a GAP YEAR Forum here?

Pennylane2011
Wed, 30 May 2012 22:26:14 +0000

I was going to suggest the same thing! I have been discussing this with my own child, and the information is all over the place. These are the issues that seem ambiguous to me:

I have seen it suggested that it is best to apply senior year and defer, but it gets tricky with financial aid. One has to apply every year for need based, but some of the colleges I have asked about this have said they don’t defer any merit based aid. Other schools have said they decide this on a case by case basis. It is really confusing.

I don’t think it is a problem for just deferral, but if one puts financial aid into the mix, it seems confusing as to what to do. It seems in this case that one has to apply during the gap year if one is hopeful to get some merit aid and needs to know this before deciding on a school that may be out of financial reach without it.

I have also seen it posted here that it is not ethical to accept a college, defer, and then apply to others during a gap year. If this is the case, it is important to know. I had to google this question several times before I saw it discussed.

It would be great to have a central location with all the info. Thanks!