University admissions committees are increasingly prioritizing candidates who possess emotional maturity, executive functioning, and self-governance required to handle real-world demands of higher education. Research and admissions trends consistently show that taking a gap year gives students the practical skills needed not just to gain admission, but to graduate with purpose.
¨Students are admitted to Harvard or other colleges in part because they accomplished something unusual during a year off.¨
- William Fitzsimmons, Former Dean of Admissions, Harvard University
Earl Johnson, former Dean of Admissions at the University of Tulsa, explains that admission offers want to know what makes a student unique, and look at the following qualities:
- A willingness to take risks
- A sense of social responsibility
- A commitement ot service
- Special talents or abilities
At The Bridge, we leverage the power of real-world immersion to help young adults build an extraordinary admissions profile.
Rather than presenting standard high school transcripts alone, our graduates arrive at admissions interviews with up to 200+ hours of professional internship experience, 150+ hours of community service, conversational Spanish fluency, and accredited college credit earned through Western Colorado University.
Because colleges recognize the maturity and Response-Ability our graduates bring to campus, the majority of Bridge alumni receive significant college acceptances and merit-based scholarships—even if their earlier academic track record was less than stellar.
Our graduates have been accepted to schools such as:
