A great gap-year in Israel provides many payoffs. Universities are encouraging students to defer admission for a year, because students who take time off often arrive on campus more settled and more mature than most freshmen. Good gap-year programs understand this is a complicated transition year, wherein the participants are both post-high school — needing some supervision — and pre-college — meaning ready for freedom, too. Striking that balance in a safe, comfortable but exciting setting does wonders for young adults.
Gil Troy, “Gap-Years In Israel As Rx For Jewish Alienation”, The Jewish Week (28 March 2014), 32.