Mind the Gap (Year)

So you got to let me know
Should I stay or should I go?
—The Clash

Personally, I have always felt that the United States suffers from its lack of a National Service requirement. I was the youngest in my class at Browning, graduating at 17, and I am convinced that I would have benefitted from spending two years doing something of value to others—working in a hospital or a library or a National Park. With a little more life under my belt, I would have reaped richer rewards from my college experience, and forty-five years as an educator has only solidified that conviction. I am a fan of gap years.

But this year is different. There is a flurry of new interest in gap years specifically because of COVID-19. Interestingly, colleges around the country are seeing a dramatic increase in the number of kids asking about deferring enrollment, but a very modest uptick in the number actually requesting it. Jim Rawlins of the University of Oregon notes that when pressed, students inquiring about deferrals soon reveal that they are not really interested in waiting to start college, which is the traditional view of a gap year. No, many are really looking to stay home and take online classes somewhere else (translation: “cheaper.”) That’s not the intent of deferred admission, and most schools have strict regulations, including prohibitions, about using the time to acquire credits elsewhere and about how many and which credits can transfer. 

What’s your plan? How are you going to use the time to your advantage and to the benefit of others?

Many students take a gap year to travel, often for service and often to exotic locations. Will that be possible this fall? Will it be advisable? Will families who are anxious about letting their child choose a college more than six hours away by car really feel comfortable sending them to Thailand or Costa Rica or Italy? 

Other students use the time to work, many to earn money to pay for college. Twenty million Americans lost their jobs in April, alone. Will there really be employment opportunities available next year for recent high school graduates? And companies struggling to restart their businesses are not likely to be interested in training a novice in an internship.

On the other hand, this is going to be an exciting year to land at college. Higher education is being forced to remake itself and students have a unique opportunity to be on the cutting edge as participants in the process. Colleges are racing to find new and innovative ways to welcome new students into their communities and to involve them in the lives of their campuses. Virtual, in-person, or hybrid, it’s going to be a wild ride.

Which brings us to the Class of 2021. While the seniors are suffering mightily from the loss of their cherished spring traditions, the juniors are deer in the headlights, tossed into a maelstrom that is churning up their college search and threatening to ravage the application process as well. Their world is upside down and they are fearful that they will be disadvantaged in the process. They will not.

There are scores of factors, some obvious, others less so or unknown, that could drive admission rates up or down, perhaps significantly, in the coming cycle. Uncertainty begs speculation, however, and a number of admissions watchers have been wondering: “Will 2020 gap year requests influence the 2021 cycle?”

The first answer is simple, obvious, and unsatisfying: “nobody knows.” The second answer is: “probably not.” This one has more substance since it comes from multiple college admission officers, “the horse’s mouth” so to speak. Theirs are the only voices we should be attending to on topics of admission. First, they note, there has been no sudden increase in the number of actual deferral requests. And most say, like Rawlins: “I can’t quite imagine there will be enough to impact 2021.” Second, they reserve the right to decline requests if the applicant presents no viable plan or if the number becomes excessive. Third, most admission offices are committed to enrolling a full cohort next year in any case and, if anything, are nervous that application numbers will be down and they will have to admit more students than normal.

Lastly and most importantly, this is something over which you have no control; it is counterproductive to let it worry you. Rising seniors should concern themselves with the myriad application influencers over which they do have control: staying engaged with academics and activities, earning good grades, building relationships with peers and with teachers, doing good. They should embrace Inquiry@BrowningConnect; be curious and then take the initiative to indulge the curiosity. Colleges will want to know how they have used their time; they should use it wisely.