How to Defer College Admission for a Gap Year

Congrats! You got into college. But what if you want to take a gap year first?

Ideally, you ask for a deferral. If you've received an acceptance letter, a deferral formally postpones your college enrollment for a year. This means you'll know exactly where you are going after your gap year, which makes things a lot easier. Over 300 colleges and universities in the US allow deferments for meaningful gap time, so you need to check to see if your future school is one of them. 
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You can find out a university’s deferral policy on their website or via a phone call to the admission’s office. The Gap Year Association has an ever-expanding list of college deferral policies as well. If a school is deferral-friendly, they will ask you to write a letter about why you want to take gap time and what you plan on doing. If your deferral is accepted, you usually have to put down a deposit and voila! Gap time secured.

Here are some useful tips for writing your letter:

Be Specific
Colleges have different requirements for what they want to see in a deferral letter, but generally, the more specific
the better. “We require students to demonstrate a concrete plan for their year of how they are actually spending time,” explains Jason Tesone, Director of Admissions at Vassar College. This means including the names of specific
programs or detailing an itinerary if you are not going through a program.

Address the “Why”
Colleges want to know why you would like to take a Gap Year and what you hope to get out of it. Be honest about your reasons for taking time out and describe how you want to grow as a person. Peter Osgood, an admissions director at the University of Puget Sound adds, “We want them to hone in on their personal goals…we don’t them to end up spending a year watching reruns of bad tv shows.”

Quality not Quantity
"A deferral letter needn’t be five pages long, one page is completely sufficient,” says Tesone. Draft an email as
you would a formal letter and use about 4-6 beefy paragraphs to describe your plans.

Things Change
“It’s ok if plans change, in fact we expect them to!” says Osgood. Most schools will not hold it against you if you decide
to do something different than what you outlined in your letter. University of Puget Sound has Gap Year students check in the February before they start college to update them on how their plans evolved. Check with your school to
see if they also require this step.

Adhere to deadlines
All colleges that offer a Gap Year deferral have a firm deadline that usually falls between May-July. While there
doesn’t seem to be any benefit to rushing to get a deferral request in early, you do have to meet the deadline for consideration.

Both Osgood and Tesone agree that they’ve seen significant benefits to students who have taken gap time. “We pretty much always grant deferrals if they meet our criteria and find that students who take meaningful
time away arrive at Vassar as great students,” says Tesone.

Here is an example of a deferral letter that a college would like to see:

Dear Mr. Smith,

I am writing to request a one-year deferral of my admission to Aplus College. I was accepted into the Aplus College Class of 2024. After reading about, hearing about, and visiting Aplus, I’m extremely excited to attend. I love its small size, intellectual and alternative atmosphere, great student support, and enthusiastic professors. I am sure it’s the college for me. My life, thus far, has been preparing me for both higher education and life outside of academia. I have never doubted that college would be for me, and have been looking forward to the college experience for years. Now, however, I feel truly that a gap year between high school and Aplus is what’s best for my personal development.

From late June to early November this year, I will intern full time for the Susan Walker for Congress campaign. My duties will include administrative tasks and canvassing. I look forward to learning about politics and civic engagement though my internship with this campaign. 

Following my campaign work, I will spend the fall on a leadership and outdoor education course with Woodlands Outdoor School. I will spend 15 days with my group navigating the terrain of the American Southwest while honing skills in orienteering and various outdoor pursuits. I am excited for the physical challenge of this experience and the personal development Woodlands will provide.

After the New Year, I plan to travel to Costa Rica with the language immersion program.  I will study Spanish and volunteer with a community development organization that assists women in securing microfinance loans to start their own small businesses.

In another year, I expect to be a more mature and engaged member of the Aplus community. I sincerely hope you will grant my deferral request and welcome me as a member of the Class of 2024.

Sincerely,
Jake Williams

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Written by Julia Rogers, of EnRoute Consulting

Listen to this Gap Year Radio episode for more insight into how to defer from college: 

What if deferral isn't an option?

If your future college isn't deferral friendly, you are welcome to reapply the following year. 

Be sure to inquire about your financial aid packages - you will need to reapply to FAFSA if you take a gap year but some private or school-based aid may defer along with you.