How to Take a Mental Health Gap Year

The college admission process is pretty tangible. There are several steps and you follow them (mostly) in sequence based on timeframes, deadlines, and what students hear admission results. Over the years, it’s expanded to being earlier with Early Action and Early Decision. Although some college have deferral deadlines or requirements, it can feel a little less structured in “how” to go about taking a mental health gap year. Let’s start with the timing, and then go from there.

If you’ve been accepted to college, you need to know if you have to commit (and pay a deposit) or if you can defer. Note that every college is different in their deferral requirements and timing. Some smaller schools a very much more empathic and less rigid with deferral guidelines. Other schools are far more restrictive. An example could be that you cannot enroll in any coursework at any other institutions. If you do, your admissions will be rescinded. That’s stupid, if you ask me.

If your college doesn’t offer deferral options, you have to decide whether or not you’re going to withdraw your admissions. If you withdraw, you’ll need to reapply the following year. Any college that doesn’t give you the option to defer is probably not a school you want to enroll in anyway.

Once you’ve tabled your college academics, now it’s time to sit down and figure out what you’re going to do for your mental health gap year. The good news? There aren’t a ton of programs or experiences with early deadlines. These are often experiences you can enroll in even as late as two weeks prior to the cohort start date. Most experiences that include clinical support are on a rolling basis. You can plan the entire year out, or you can take it one season at a time. You can start the summer immediately after high school graduation, or you can opt to start in the fall. You curate a high-intensity mental health program, if you need it. You can choose individualized experiences, or you can explore peer-community experiences. The options might feel endless! For a young adult with anxiety or fear of failure, I find that working with a consultant to create a plan can help.

For questions or comments contact Joanna.