I'd be careful taking a rest year if you are planning to continue your education.

This is just my experience so it may not apply to you. I had a significant gap between high school and when I went to go test for a college math credit. I ended up not taking the test once I saw the study material because my math skills had deteriorated so much since I was in high school and realized I was going to need to actually take the class for the credit. To be fair I have never been good at math (I never made it past Algebra), but if I got that credit out of the way immediately while the subject was fresh in my mind it would've saved me a lot of trouble.