<p>NJTheatreMom–Yes, most states require a year of residency (not due to the college) before qualifying for in-state. But many states (not NJ!) have mutual agreements with other states for in-state tuition.</p>
<p>Threed, you asked “Did your kids take gap years just because they felt they needed to or because they did not get into the school of choice. Just wondered because you mentioned that they both worked “real” jobs and did not do a whole lot extra as far as training. If a student does not get into their school of choice, I know there are alot of factors, but if they wanted to work on getting in the next year shouldn’t they be “training” to get better.”</p>
<p>I don’t know if this will answer your question: My older D did get into the schools of her choice at the time, RISD and MICA–but RISD ended up not giving ANY grant/scholarship so it was out of the question (the acceptance went, basically, “Congratulations! You can now borrow $50,000/year!”). MICA gave as generously as they could, and we probably could have done it but by that time, my D had decided she wasn’t sure she wanted a BFA in art anyway. She decided to take a gap year to re-consider, and deferred MICA. During the year, she worked as I said. She also planned and paid for her own three week trip to England by herself, staying in hostels and working on archaeological digs. She had also won a few art awards that gave her classes, so she took the classes. And she finished her novel. At the end of the year she had decided she wanted a BA in a LAC. She got into Williams and is currently in her Junior year. </p>
<p>My other D took the gap year because she just felt she needed a break in the intensity between high school and college, and also because it had ended up working out so well for her older sister. During the year, she worked two jobs, took a German class at a community college because she needed more language, took adult acting classes at a local professional theatre, interned at a professional theatre, and landed roles at two different community theatres. </p>
<p>I don’t know if this answers your question. Neither girl had extensive extra training, but they did have training; but they were very focused and much more mature going into the process and their essays were terrific, if I don’t say so myself. 
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<p>There are many ways to do this. I do have to say that if you do take a gap year, you should WANT to take the gap year. We had all sorts of nay-sayers around us. My ex-in-laws were really rude, and kept trying to tell my girls something was clearly the matter with them and they needed therapy because they weren’t going immediately into college (even though they were happy). And several other people made snarky comments. Plus, their friends were away at college. You have to really be confident in yourself and know you’re making the right decision for yourself. That’s why it’s not a good idea to take the gap year only because you don’t get in where you want; you should also have a positive goal you’re reaching toward because positives are much more sustaining than negatives, in my opinion.</p>
<p>If you wanted more extensive training during the gap year, you could easily take any number of courses at any number of very excellent conservatories and summer programs–there are a lot of choices all across the country and in Great Britain and Canada (discussed in other threads). They would be expensive but if you had the money that would certainly give your child more experience. To answer your question, if you trained at a conservatory (say you trained at Circle in the Square or Stella Adler, or took courses at BADA or where ever) you would not be earning college credits, so you would still be considered a Freshman.</p>