Considering a Gap Experience?

Admitted students may request to defer their entrance for one semester or one academic year.

Deferral requests must be approved by the Office of Admission and are only granted to students who have submitted their enrollment agreement and deposit. Please note that domestic students who have received need-based financial aid are required to re-apply for aid annually; those who defer entrance for a full academic year must re-apply for financial aid in the academic year they plan to return. Institutional merit aid awarded at the point of admission will remain intact through the approved deferral period.

To request a deferral, please submit the deferral request form. Once submitted, the Office of Admission will respond to your request within one to two weeks.

Admitted students who wish to delay entrance beyond one academic year will need to re-apply for admission to Mount Holyoke.

For questions regarding deferral requests, please email defer@mtholyoke.edu.

The list below offers a sampling of opportunities that Mount Holyoke students have pursued.

Note: These are not Mount Holyoke programs and the College bears no responsibility for the experience of participants. Students must apply directly to the gap-experience program of their choice.

Volunteer Work, Community Service, Leadership and Internships

• Global Citizen Year
• CIEE Gap Semester Programs

Study Abroad Experiences for College Credit

• American University of Paris, France
• Arcadia University College of Global Studies
• Aspire by API
• Spanish Studies Abroad
• College Year in Athens, Greece
• School for Field Studies
• Sookmyung Women’s University, Seoul, South Korea
• University College Dublin
• University of East Anglia, England
• University of Limerick, Ireland
• University of Stirling, Scotland

Outdoor Education Programs

• National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS)
• Outward Bound
• The Student Conservation Association