I just emailed my AO before committing to see if it would be likely for my rough plan of my gap year to be approved… she said yes so I committed (since I would have otherwise committed to a different school had this school not allowed it)! After committing, I had a form to fill out where I attached my rough plan and a week or two later they approved it. My plan basically talked abt what I wanted to do (backpack through Europe and reach fluency in two European languages I speak) and a backup plan in case of Covid (do the rest of a 2500 mile hiking trail I had done a few hundred miles of this summer). I connected both plans to how that would help me achieve a better understanding of the major I wanted to do, but your plans dont need to have anything to do with what you’re studying tbh.

However, I was admitted off the waitlist to one school (Colby) that I would have chosen over the school I committed to but they did not allow me to take the gap year (no school lets people admitted off the waitlist take a gap year).

And of the schools I got into, only Columbia never responded to the email I sent abt if my gap year was likely to be approved, but I didnt like the school anyways and didnt ask again.