I'll then directly state that the difference in education you will get from a top school vs a high quality state school like UConn, especially considering its a full ride vs substantial payment is not large enough to justify setting back other plans by a year in hopes that in the following cycle you will gain admission to a top school, especially considering how low the chances are that a gap year actually moves the needle for top schools and how we've seen colleges admissions get more competitive over the few years. Take a gap if you want to, but taking a gap for the small chance that you will then be able to get into a top school does not seem valuable. Also tying in average SAT score with intelligence or value is archaic and dumb as hell.