In the UK and Europe it is quite normal for students to take a gap year before starting university. Work, travel, apprentice, and save before buckling down for

In the UK and Europe it is quite normal for students to take a gap year before starting university. Work, travel, apprentice, and save before buckling down for university studies. In the US this is not done at all. It's a pipeline of financial aid and rankings. Colleges don't like when you defer after accepting, that messes up your FAFSA and financial aid package (for reasons I don't comprehend). They'll allow you to defer up to one semester but anymore than that starts the application over. If you don't apply right out of high school they silo you into the non-traditional student stack. Your ranking is lowered and you lose out on all sorts of financial aid scholarships. You have to take out students loans or fund it through the GI Bill (because you enlisted, right?). Self-discovery and learning is something they'd rather you pay them for, not backpacking through the outback.