<p>My daughter is trying to decide what to do next year after she granduates from high school. She has been accepted at the Univ. of Michigan, is waiting to hear from NYU but is also considering a year-long study abroad program aimed pimarily at high school students, If she decides to enroll in the foreign study program, she would want to postpone her college enrollment by a year. Does anyone have any experience with this? How likely are colleges to accept this idea? I'm also wondering how this might affect any scholarships she might receive. She is a National Merit finalist and qualifies for a Michigan MEAP scholarship. Does anyone know if acceptance of these scholarships can be delayed a year, or would she just lose them by not taking them in 2006?</p>
<p>They are very likely to allow her to do this because colleges know that on the whole, students who take productive gap years are likely to be more mature and focused in college than are students who do not.</p>
<p>Keeping the scholarship would be something to negotiate, but someone recently posted that their kid was able to negotiate this when taking a gap year after h.s.</p>
<p>I think most colleges allow taking a gap year and keeping the scholarship if you have a plan for something meaningful and productive.</p>
<p>can I ask what type of program and what country you are considering?</p>
<p>It is called the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange program in Germany. It is a scholarship program - no cost to participants except getting there, and spending money while there. The student lives with a German family and attends high school.</p>
<p>I am currently on a gap year, having deferred enrollment at American University for one year to volunteer abroad and pursue other non-academic interests. Since I applied to 12 schools last year and decided to take a year off, I researched their policies on deferred enrollment. All of the schools I applied to are supportive of students taking a year off, as long as the student has some kind of plan. The only case I found in which schools did not support a gap year was admitting students from the waitlist. I was waitlisted at 4 schools, and requesting deferred enrollment was not an option at the school that offered me a spot off the waitlist. I considered but decided not to write to the admissions offices at the other 3 schools to find out if they would consider admitting me based on the knowledge that I would be taking a year off. That may be an option if one is waitlisted. Essentially, your daughter will need to notify the school she chooses by May 1st (assuming that is their reply date) that she would like to defer, in a letter explaining what her plans are. I would recommend checking with the admissions offices of the schools she is admitted to to find out exact procedures for those schools regarding deferral of enrollment and financial aid. I did not apply for need-based aid, but I believe I remember hearing that I would have to reapply during my gap year for need-based aid. Also, most schools do not allow gap years taken for study at other institutions of higher education (they don't want you studying at another college for a year), but if the program your daughter is looking at is for high schoolers, it should be ok.</p>
<p>As far as scholarships go, I was awarded a Presidential Scholarship at AU and they agreed to hold my scholarship until I entered in 2006. I was also able to defer my National Merit Scholarship for one year by writing a letter to NMSC. If I had chosen to attend a state school, I would have received the Florida Bright Futures Scholarship, which students can reapply for within 3 years of high school graduation if one does not begin using the award in the year following high school graduation. According to michigan.gov, the MEAP award must be completely used within 4 years of high school graduation, and since it must also be used over 2 consecutive years, your daughter will need to enter college by fall 2008 to qualify.</p>
<p>Hope that helped. Good luck!</p>
<p>Thanks for your comments! It sounds like taking a year off shouldn't be a problem. I hope you're enjoying your gap year - best of luck next year at AU.</p>
<p>MichiganMom. you need to check school by school. Some schools that are more willing to give merit scholarships to attract top students may allow students to defer enrollment for the type of program you mention, but may also not defer the scholarship - resulting in the scholarship being available only for 3 years rather than 4.</p>
<p>Good point. I will check with each school. Delaying the scholarships has always worried me more than delaying admission.</p>
<p>My son is doing something similar. He's going to Germany next year through Rotary International. He applied to University of Tulsa, was accepted and granted $12,000/year in scholarships and now plans to defer the enrollment and scholarships for one year. We did start inquiring with Admissions and Financial Aid offices last fall before he committed to the exchange to make sure they would hold the scholarships as well as his acceptance for that year. Once we learned they would, it was all systems go!</p>
<p>He'll be attending high school in Kiel (northern Germany on the Baltic Sea). Two of his host families have already contacted him, so he has had a chance to learn about the school and some of the kids that go there already. He applied for CBYX last year, but didn't get it, so he opted for Rotary this year since the decisions were much earlier in the year, at least for our part of the country.</p>
<p>I'm glad everything worked out for your son. I'm sure he'll have a wonderful experience in Germany, which will broaden his perspective when he does start college.</p>
<p>My daughter did not get into the German exchange program, so we ended up not having to worry about delaying scholarships or admission. She has almost finished her freshman year at NYU, and is enjoying it very much.</p>