<p>This is going to sound stupid to everyone, but I applied to one school and got in. This school is great, not ivy league but pretty well-known and all that, but the thing is, I'm not particularly excited to go there. I've got a feeling I won't like it there. Plus, it's huge and I'd probably fit in better at a small university. I really really really wanted to go to Georgetown SFS, but -- what can I say? -- I was stressed out, under the gun to finish applications, and very impressionable, and a few too many people (including my college advisor) told me in that patronizing, matter-of-fact tone that it was very unrealistic. Of course, it's too late and all that, but my questions are these:</p>
<p>a) Has anyone heard of taking a year off between high school and college and doing AmeriCorps or some kind of volunteer work, or general finding-yourself bull****?</p>
<p>b) Should I just bite the bullet and go? After all, it's a great name to have on a degree and I can just go to grad school somewhere better. In other words, am I whining?</p>
<p>c) Do a lot of people get cold feet like this?</p>
<p>A huge amount of people have cold feet. Unless you have something you REALLY want to do for this next year, a pet project that you are burning with passion for, go to college.</p>
<p>You can always transfer to SFS.</p>
<p>Gap Years are hugely popular in Europe and the concept is recently being accepted in America. Harvard gives all thier Freshmen the option of a Gap Year (taking off a year before college to either work, volunteer, be inspired, or whatever). I definitely think you would benefit from such an experience. Most people do not regret it; they even say that they were more motivated and committed and did very well when they returned for school. There are sooo many options</p>
<p>If you have the means: Outward Bound or NOLS is a great option.</p>
<p>check out:
<a href="http://www.gap-year.com/browse.asp?catID=1155%5B/url%5D">http://www.gap-year.com/browse.asp?catID=1155</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.gap.org.uk/%5B/url%5D">http://www.gap.org.uk/</a> (UK site of course)</p>
<p><a href="http://www.travellersworldwide.com/%5B/url%5D">http://www.travellersworldwide.com/</a></p>
<p>C'mon, you'll like Cal.</p>
<p>Berkeley is a great school for IR - much better than SFS in many ways. I would try to suck it up.</p>
<p>I am not opposed to Gap years but... I worry about practical issues. My primary concern is health insurance. Most dependents are off at 19 unless enrolled as full time students. I do not believe one can be reinstated once you have let it lapse.Individual coverage, while available is less comprehensive at a greater price than Mom or Dad's group plan from work. This should be included in the discussion of Gap years.</p>
<p>thanks for the websites, i'll definitely be looking at tthose. and thanks for the tip, mominva, i hadn't thought about that.</p>
<p>and gentleman etc., just so you know, i'm not trying to knock cal!! my brother goes there and loves it, and i was pretty excited at first, too, but now i'm just so nervous i'll hate it. but i guess that's normal...? eesh.</p>