[advicethrowaway]

Thanks for the link.

1. That's good to hear.

2. I am a bit worried about that, which is why I want to take advantage of the opportunity now rather than four years from now when it might not be available.

3. I do have family to stay with there.

4. That's definitely true but I personally value money/opportunity/career to dating.

5. My plan right now is to do exactly that. I am a bit worried about how a gap year will affect my scholarship opportunities though.

[argonaut]

Some scholarships will let you defer, others will let you apply the next year - talk to them about that.