5月1日是高三学生决定上哪所大学的最后期限，通常这一天会让未来成为焦点。但是这个国家仍然处于新冠肺炎大流行，随着今年国家决策日的临近，学生们面临的不确定性多于明确性。
全国许多大学还没有决定是否在秋季开放校园，还是只提供在线课程。这种可能性让高年级学生和现在的大学生感到担忧，他们已经用自己的教室换了童年的卧室去上电子课，并对此感到不满。
来自洛杉矶的高中四年级学生本·大卫多夫(Ben Davidoff)告诉美国广播公司新闻，“在线教育和面对面授课真的没有可比性。”
来自伊利诺伊州埃文斯顿的另一名高三学生雷切尔·洛特表示同意。
她说:“在我看来，仅仅基于现在的电子学习，网上课程远不如面对面的课程有影响力。
这种情绪，加上持续的家庭订单前景和不和谐的经济衰退，正促使越来越多的大学毕业生认真考虑休学一年，而不是承诺今年秋天再进行一个学期或更长时间的远程学习。
总部位于巴尔的摩的艺术与科学组织的一项民意调查显示，近六分之一的毕业生表示，由于冠状病毒大流行，他们可能会修改他们在秋季上四年制大学的计划，并采取间隔年。
此外，63%的即将毕业的高年级学生不确定他们是否能够在秋季参加他们的第一所学校选择，其中21%的学生表示不再负担得起，12%的学生提到个人或家庭健康原因。
独立学院辅导员兼青年导师里奇·库珀告诉美国广播公司新闻，他建议所有与他一起工作的学生和家长选择间隔年，而不是在秋季学期入学。
库珀说:“这场大流行的一部分原因是我们无法控制，这在很大程度上是真的。“但我们确实有一些控制权，这取决于我们将选择什么。我们如何做出对自己更好的选择?这些选择都是在间隔年。”
库珀住在加州的圣莫尼卡，已经为学生提供了近15年的建议，他解释说，他认为大学经历的基础是建立在学生、教授和朋友之间深厚的校园关系之上的。
考虑到如今大学的成本，库珀担心学生们会得不到他们的钱。
高中学生雷切尔的父母、现大学三年级学生内德·洛特也有类似的担忧。
洛特在接受美国广播公司新闻采访时表示:“你要为大学经历买单，你要为演讲经历买单，你要为你的孩子与其他聪明有趣的学生交往买单，而这一切都过去了。“如果他们不说‘听着，如果我们转到一个电子学习平台，那么就会有这种回扣’，我觉得写一张大额支票并不舒服。”"
打算就读明尼苏达大学的雷切尔同意了。
她说:“我认为，如果我的父母不得不为在线课程支付同样的学费，我真的认为我会选择间隔年。
这个决定让她生活中已经至关重要的一点变得更加紧张。
“我肯定吓坏了，”雷切尔说。“和以前一样，我也在苦苦地期待着。我不想抱太大希望，因为我知道我们很可能无法在秋季学期继续学业。”
休间隔年的愿望不仅限于高中高年级学生。乔治华盛顿大学目前的大一新生罗尼·埃迪尼(Roni Edni)告诉美国广播公司，如果该大学在秋季启动远程学习，她正在认真考虑休一个学期或一年的假。
“我选择去乔治·华盛顿，部分原因是因为它的位置，当我将住在家里时，支付和我住在华盛顿特区一样多的钱似乎是不合理的，”埃迪尼说。
国际学生，不确定他们在美国学习的计划，分享他们的美国同龄人经历的挫折。
在美国广播公司新闻从宾夕法尼亚大学获得的一封给一群被录取的国际学生的信中，招生主任埃里克·j·富尔达提醒这些学生，他们可以选择间隔年，尤其是因为去美国的旅行在秋季可能会受到限制。
“虽然我知道能够在今年8月抵达费城是你的第一个愿望，”Furda写道，“但我也认识到，休一年间隔年的决定可能会提供一个机会来缓解一些不确定性，并让你开始制定具体的计划。”
考虑这个提议的人之一:希瑟·谢，一个来自澳大利亚墨尔本的学生，被宾夕法尼亚大学录取了。她在美国上学的终身梦想不包括电子学习。
Shieh说:“我不想因为时差而结束在Zoom上看讲座和凌晨4点上课的生活。“我仍然坚持认为，八月份我有可能搬到费城去上学。”
考虑到与COVID相关的大量限制，对于那些考虑它的人来说，间隔年将是什么样子也不清楚。通常让这种选择变得诱人的工作机会可能是有限的。
总部位于伊利诺伊州的非营利组织埃文斯顿学者(Evanston Scients)的执行董事史蒂夫·纽曼(Steve Newman)表示，对于许多低收入学生来说，只有当他们能够为了攒钱上大学而工作时，休间隔年才是现实的。埃文斯顿学者是一家帮助第一代和低收入大学申请人办理入学和经济资助的非营利组织。
“对我们的孩子来说，我认为问题是，他们会在哪里找到工作?目前还没有决定，但我认为这必须与它们是否可行相结合，”纽曼说。
纽曼说，到目前为止，他的项目中的学生主要关心他们将获得多少经济援助，而不是他们是否会因为大流行而追求间隔年。
“我肯定还是会努力争取在秋季考上大学。我从来没有真正想过间隔年，因为我想尽快进入职场，”18岁的乔丹·德拉蒙德(Jordan Drummond)说，他是埃文斯顿大学的一名高级学者，在几所学校之间做决定。“最重要的是获得援助，这样每年的费用就不会让我们负债累累。”
德拉蒙德还担心，如果远程学习是他唯一选择的专业，他将无法继续从事音乐制作。“如果大流行到秋天还没有清除，我担心它可能会影响我选择什么大学。”
因此，学校是否在下学期重新开放校园的未知决定，以各种方式滋生了不确定性。今年连最后期限都不确定。很多学校已经延长一个月到6月1日。
在这个应该充满期待新开始的兴奋和喜悦的时刻，许多学生却在焦虑中挣扎，对自己的未来没有把握。
More students are now considering college gap year because of COVID-19
May 1, the deadline for high school seniors to decide what college they will attend, is normally a day that brings the future into focus. But with the nation still in the grip of theCOVID-19 pandemic, students face more uncertainty than clarity as this year's National Decision Day approaches.
Many colleges across the nation have yet to decide whether they will open their campuses in the fall or offer online-only classes. That possibility worries high school seniors and current collegians, who have already traded their classrooms for their childhood bedrooms to take e-classes and are dissatisfied.
Ben Davidoff, a high school senior from Los Angeles, told ABC News, "There's really no comparison between online schooling and in-person classes."
Rachel Lott, another high school senior from Evanston, Illinois, agreed.
"Online classes are nowhere near as impactful in my opinion, just based on e-learning now, as classes in person," she said.
Such sentiments, combined with the prospect of ongoing stay-at-home orders and the jarring economic downturn, are prompting an increasing number of college-bound seniors to seriously consider taking a gap year, rather than commit to another possible semester -- or more -- of remote learning this fall.
Nearly one in six graduating seniors, according to a poll by the Baltimore-based Art & Science Group, now indicate that due to thecoronaviruspandemic, they will likely revise their plans of attending a four-year college in the fall and take a gap year.
In addition, 63% of graduating seniors are uncertain whether they will be able to attend their first school choice in the fall, with 21% of these students indicating that it was no longer affordable, and 12% citing personal or family health reasons.
Independent college counselor and youth mentor Rich Cooper told ABC News that he is advising all of the students and parents he works with to opt for a gap year instead of enrolling in the fall semester.
"Part of this pandemic is that we have no control, and much of that is true,” Cooper said. "But we do have some control, and that's over what we're going to choose. How do we make choices that are better for ourselves? These choices are in the gap year."
Cooper, who is based in Santa Monica, California, and has been advising students for nearly 15 years, explained that he believes the foundation of the college experience is based on the deep relationships built on campus between students, professors, and friends.
And given the cost of colleges nowadays, Cooper is concerned that students will not be getting their money's worth.
Ned Lott, parent of high schooler Rachel and also of a current college junior, shared similar concerns.
"You're paying for the college experience, you're paying for the lecture experience, you're paying for your kids mingling with other bright and interesting students, and all of that's gone," Lott told ABC News. “I don't feel comfortable writing a big check without them saying, 'listen, if we switch to an e-learning platform, then there's going to be this kind of rebate.’”
Rachel, who plans to attend the University of Minnesota, agreed.
"I think if my parents were to have to pay the same tuition for online classes, I honestly think I would take a gap year," she said.
The decision has made an already pivotal point in her life even more stressful.
"I'm definitely pretty freaked out," Rachel said. "I'm struggling with looking forward to it as much as I was before. I don't want to get my hopes up, because I know that there's probably a pretty high chance that we're not going to be able to continue in the fall semester.”
The desire to take a gap year is not limited to high school seniors. Roni Edni, a current freshman at George Washington University, told ABC that she is seriously considering taking a semester or a year off, should the university institute remote learning in the fall.
"I chose to attend George Washington partially because of its location, and it seems irrational to pay the same amount of money that I do to live in D.C. when I will be living at home," Edni said.
International students, uncertain about their plans to study in the United States, share frustrations experienced by their American peers.
In a letter obtained by ABC News from the University of Pennsylvania to a group of accepted international students, Dean of Admissions, Eric J. Furda reminded these students that they have the option to take a gap year, especially since travel to the U.S. may be restricted in the fall.
“While I know being able to arrive in Philadelphia this August is your first wish,” Furda wrote, “I also recognize that the decision to take a gap year might offer the opportunity to mitigate some uncertainty, and allow you to begin to make concrete plans.”
One of those considering that offer: Heather Shieh, a student from Melbourne, Australia, who was accepted to The University of Pennsylvania. Her life-long dream of attending school in the United States does not include e-learning.
"I don't want to end up watching lectures and attending class at 4 a.m. on Zoom because of the time difference," said Shieh. "I'm still holding out for the marginal possibility that I can move to Philadelphia to attend school in August.”
Given the vast list of COVID-related restrictions, it is also unclear what a gap year will look like for those considering it. Job opportunities that normally make that choice tempting may be limited.
For many low-income students, taking a gap year would only be realistic if they could work in order to save money for college, said Steve Newman, Executive Director of Evanston Scholars, an Illinois-based non-profit that assists first-generation and lower income college applicants with the admissions and financial aid process.
"To our kids, I think the question would be, where would they get jobs? There's no decisions yet, but I think it has to be combined with whether they could work or not," Newman said.
As of now Newman said students in his program are mainly concerned with how much financial aid they will receive, not whether they will pursue a gap year because of the pandemic.
"I'm definitely still going to try to push to go to college in the fall. I never really thought about a gap year because I want to get out into the workforce as swift as I can," said 18-year-old Jordan Drummond, a senior Evanston Scholar, deciding between several schools. "The most important thing is really just getting aid so that the yearly cost isn't going to put us in extreme debt.”
Drummond also worries he would not be able to pursue music production, his chosen major, if remote learning is all that’s offered. "If the pandemic isn't cleared up by the fall, I fear that it may affect what college I choose."
Thus, the as-yet unknown decision of whether schools reopen their campuses next semester breeds uncertainty in a variety of ways. Even the deadline is uncertain this year. Many schools have extended it one month to June 1.
At a time which should be filled with excitement and joy in anticipation of new beginnings, many students are instead grappling with anxiety, unsure of their future.
