A gap year is not a "year off." According to The Gap Year Association, a gap year is defined as,
"A semester or year of experiential learning, typically taken after high school and prior to career or post-secondary education, in order to deepen one's practical, professional, and personal awareness."
Misalignment of DP courses/High School Diploma with university entry requirements
Change in course/major interest = time to research, explore, and learn
Intentional time to build soft skills, rather than purely academic skills
University Entry times (Southern hemisphere; Spring entry)
Burnout from the competitive pressure of high school and a desire “to find out more about themselves,” are the top two reasons students take gap year.
Research supports that student who take a gap year almost always overperform academically in college, usually to a statistically significant degree, and most importantly, the positive effect of taking a gap year was demonstrated to endure over all four years. - Bob Clagett, former Dean of Admissions at Middlebury College, via https://gapyearassociation.org/research.php
In Australia and the United Kingdom, economic researchers found that high school students who deferred their admission to college to take a gap year went to college (after their gap year) at the same rate as those who accepted an offer and intended to go straight there (Birch and Miller 2007; Crawford and Cribb 2012).
90 percent of students who took a gap year returned to college within a year. http://online.wsj.com
They also found that taking a gap year had a significant positive impact on students’ academic performance in college, with the strongest impact for students who had applied to college with grades on the lower end of the distribution (Birch and Miller 2007; Crawford and Cribb 2012).”
In fact, in the United Kingdom and in the United States, students who had taken a Gap Year were more likely to graduate with higher grade point averages than [demographically similar] individuals who went straight to college, and this effect was seen even for gap year students with lower academic achievement in high school (Crawford and Cribb 2012, Clagett 2013).
Students who have taken a gap year overwhelmingly report being satisfied with their jobs. [Haigler & Nelson, independent study of 280 Gap Year students]
The highest three rated outcomes of gap years is that of:
gaining “a better sense of who I am as a person and what is important to me”
“[the gap year] gave me a better understanding of other countries, people, cultures, and ways of living”
“[it] provided me with additional skills and knowledge that contributed to my career or academic major.” [Haigler & Nelson, independent study of 280 Gap Year students]
88 percent of gap year graduates report that their gap year had significantly added to their employability. [Milkround graduate recruitment Gap Year survey, http://www.milkroundonline.com]
It Varies.
Some universities and national systems love gap year students.
Some universities promote in-house gap year programs.
Some universities may not understand it.
When in doubt, ask the admissions office - this will often lead to valuable information about any in-house programs, scholarships, and how to communicate your gap year in your application.
It’s your Gap Year, design it how you want - some ideas...
Half work/half play
Trial potential careers
Trial potential courses
All of the above
Apply to uni, secure a spot, and defer
Apply to uni and secure an in-house program
University Deferral Policies List
https://www.gapyearassociation.org/gap-year-to-college/
Official Gap Year Colleges & Universities
https://www.gapyearassociation.org/official-gap-year-colleges/
Gap Year Planning Guide
https://www.gapyearassociation.org/start-your-gap-year-here/
Gap Year Program Providers
https://www.gapyearassociation.org/providers/