No direct experience with a gap year, just opinions.
I think a gap year is a great idea for the young and college-eligible, even without lifestyle restrictions.
My opinion comes in part from my personal observations of students when I was a Caltech undergrad eons ago. My conclusion was that *on average*, the younger students (14-16yo freshmen) struggled more than those who were a bit older when they enrolled but insanely over prepared (i.e., they could have easily enrolled at a younger age but waited, for whatever reason). This impression was so striking to me at the time that we have avoided grade skips for our children, even when the school put it on the table.
If our kids consider gap years, (aside from travel) I would encourage them to use it pursue passions that they are unlikely to pursue early on in college - art, writing a novel, French cooking, etc. They both have broad interests, so a gap year seems like an opportunity for independent exploration to help nail down what they want to get out of college. While a CC class or internship would be fine, I'd prefer to see most of their time spent on a self-directed project of their own design. (And ideally, the "project" would not include playing Minecraft (or fill in the blank) for N hours per day.)
