Cornell University supports the concept of a gap year experience for students between high school and college. Successful gap year experiences start with a well-developed plan and include personal goals. We encourage students considering Cornell for their undergraduate education to apply and gain admission before requesting an enrollment deferral to participate in a gap year experience. Students offered admission will need to submit their request and discuss their gap year plans before Undergraduate Admissions can grant an enrollment deferral.

Already Granted a Deferral? 

Other factors to note:

• Cornell University supports requests to defer enrollment for one or two years.
• We will consider gap year and deferral requests for reasons not listed that we determine to be extenuating or emergent.
• Cornell will not accept deferral requests from students admitted from the waitlist.
• Cornell does not generally grant enrollment deferral requests for transfer students.
• Before requesting an enrollment deferral, students must submit a $400 enrollment deposit to reserve a place in the class ($800 for two years).