Grade 12 & Graduates
Gap Year & Post-Graduate Year Guidance
A gap year is an opportunity. We help you make it a strategy.
We help students design an intentional gap or post-graduate year, with a personalized plan, a dedicated specialist, and expert support on the narrative colleges will read.
Dedicated Gap Year Specialist
Personalized Gap Year Report
20+ years of admissions expertise
What This Program Is
Designed well, the year between becomes a genuine advantage.
A gap or post-graduate year is one of the few moments when a student can step back, pursue something real, and return with sharper goals and a clearer sense of direction. Approached with intention, it does far more than fill time. It builds the experience, maturity, and clarity that colleges notice and that serves a student long after the year ends.
Top Tier Admissions helps families design that year deliberately. We begin by understanding the student’s interests, strengths, and goals, then build a personalized plan and shape the narrative that explains it to colleges. The result is a year with purpose behind every choice, and a compelling story to tell about it, informed by more than two decades of admissions experience.
Two Pathways, Each With Its Own Strategy
Two reasons to take the year. Two ways to make it count.
A gap year serves different students in different ways. The right strategy depends on where the student stands in the admissions process, and we tailor the plan accordingly.
Already admitted
Deferred Enrollment
For students already admitted to a college or university who want to postpone their start by a year. We help design a year compelling enough that the admissions committee is glad to grant the request, and purposeful enough that the student arrives on campus stronger for having taken it.
Applying after graduation
Post-Graduate Year
For students who choose to apply to college after high school graduation rather than during it. We help plan a strategic year that strengthens the eventual application and sharpens the case the student will make to admissions committees
What’s Included
A plan, a specialist, and the words to explain it.
1
Introductory Call
After registration, a call to review the student’s main areas of interest and goals for the year.
2
Personalized Gap Year Report
A detailed, individualized gap year plan based on an analysis of the student’s interests, strengths, academic record, and extracurricular experiences.
3
One-hour Specialist Consultation
A one-on-one conversation with our Gap Year Specialist to discuss the Personalized Gap Year Report and map out next steps
4
Three Hours of Writing Guidance
Guidance and editing by phone and email with our Gap Year Specialist to craft a compelling gap year narrative, letters to colleges, gap year program application essays, and more.
Must be used within six months from the date of purchase.
Gap Year & Post-Graduate Year Guidance
$10,500
A detailed, individualized gap year plan.
Common Questions
The answers, honestly.
Don’t see your question? One conversation is usually the fastest way to a clear answer.
Who is the Gap Year program for?
Two kinds of students. Those who have been admitted and want to defer their enrollment for a year, and those who plan to apply to college after high school graduation. In both cases, we help you design a year with real purpose behind it, one that sends you to college stronger for having taken it.
What is the difference between deferred enrollment and a post-graduate year?
Deferred enrollment is for students who already hold an offer and want to postpone their start. A post-graduate year is for students who will apply after graduating. The strategy differs meaningfully, which is why we tailor the plan to the student’s specific situation.
How do colleges view a gap year?
Favorably, when it is purposeful. Admissions committees respond to a year that shows initiative, growth, and a clear sense of direction. Our role is to help design a year that reads that way and to articulate it well in writing.
Will deferring put my student’s admission at risk?
Most colleges grant deferral requests when the proposed year is well-conceived. We help design and present a plan that gives the committee every reason to say yes.
How long do we have to use the program?
The program must be used within six months from the date of purchase.
