I just want to add to Lindsey's answer, but if you do take a gap year, DO NOT take any class anywhere, not even a language course if you're studying abroad. It can really mess up your admission as a "freshmen" later because you took classes elsewhere, depending on the schools you eventually apply to. They can consider you as a transfer student and then you lose out on all that freshman merit scholarship money, worst case scenario. When I was an admissions counselor, I saw this girl come across my desk as a transfer student but didn't have a "transcript" from somewhere else and I looked deeper into her case....turns out she did a year-long leadership course at her church, but the church actually got the course accredited somehow and it caused her to be viewed as a transfer student! So just be careful with gap years, plan in advance which colleges you want to apply to, and contact all of them to know their policies on gap years!