Does anyone have creative ideas for what jobs to take during a gap year?

Paying for College
1

I don’t have a set plan yet. I’m still waiting to hear back from 2 schools on April 1st. I’m also waiting to hear back some scholarships. I applied to over 30. All everyone tells me is “there’s so many scholarships that people don’t know about that you can apply to.” What they don’t know is the insane essays you have to write, how long they take, how stiff the competition is, and how “unknown” is. So far, I’ve been rejected from 8, I think.

My EFC is 0. I live with an older relative on disability who adopted me when I was younger. She wants me OUT of the house and I desperately want the same thing. She won’t cosign a loan (which is understandable). I want to go to Temple University, in-state. My federal loans will be about $20k when I graduate, and I have no clue how I’ll pay for housing. I have enough acceptable AP credit that with the two summer community college courses I plan on taking, I’ll have enough credits to have Sophomore status so that will save me some money. But room and board is about $8,000/yr for the cheapest room.

So I was thinking if I take a year off to work and save some money so I won’t have to borrow as much. I was thinking about keeping the part-time job I have and taking full time hours, working locally. But rent for all the nearby towns is pretty much the same as Temple’s dorm.

I’m hoping to find a job where I can work away somewhere. It may sound selfish but I want the experience if I take a year off to be as pleasant as possible and I plan on using the year to maybe take a few more CC courses, or learn something, just so I feel I’m not wasting the year and I’ll be less likely to be depressed and maybe in a setting where I can make friends since all my friends are going to college.

I’ve looked into working as an au pair abroad, teaching ESL, and volunteering for Americorps. But Americorps spots are very competitive and a lot of people applying are college grads. They do offer $5k for education after your year of service but living stipends are very low. Same thing with ESL, and au pair programs, most provide wages where you can live in the country and have some spending money but it doesn’t sound like I’d be able to save more than say $1k. So, I was just wondering if anybody else has ideas or opinions on taking a year off to work in general.

I go to a private high school, just missed a Temple scholarship by 20 SAT points, go to my school on scholarship, ranked in the top 25% of my class. 95% of graduating classes go on to college or the military so everyone thinks it’s crazy for me to consider not starting college next fall.

2

Have you looked into working as a nanny in the US? There are many families that will pay well for a live-in nanny and would even be willing to pay your expenses for a few community college classes while you are working for them.

3

Not much which seems obvious so thank you for the suggestion. I do have lots of child-care experience so it shouldn’t be too difficult to get a job but I’d have to find someone that’s looking. And I don’t know much about it but I don’t know how commonplace they are.

4

I don’t know what you want to study in college, but it sounds like you might enjoy working with children. You might explore group home work or residential treatment work with kids who have special needs, usually emotional problems. These settings often provide room and board to staff, and when the clients are at school, you would probably have time to take a community college class or two or online classes. If you want to go into general education, special education or any type of mental health field, this type of experience will be very beneficial.

5

You can’t take cc courses after high school graduation, without losing freshman status to a 4 yr school.
re : Americorps
It gives you a living stipend during your year of service, then an education voucher that you can use to apply to your school loans.
My daughter did Americorps, and it helped her get into a reach college, as well as teach her skills that helped on campus.
Most people share a place to stay, but it’s also possible, you could find something in your city.
They still would give you the stipend, and you could contribute to your household expenses.
You can also take your yr of service, in another part of the country.
http://www.nationalservice.gov/programs/americorps

6

@emeraldkitty24 If I take the classes, I’d have enough to be a sophomore. With a gap year, that’s what I want- to be able to enroll as a sophomore. Temple makes it easy for students to transfer. They have transfer programs with my local CC and CC offers online courses as well.

Thanks for the nat’l service link.

7

Just found info about working at a national park. That sounds neat too, and housing is really inexpensive.

8

If you are missing only a certain number of points to get a good scholarship, it might be worth your time to study and re-take the SAT or to take the ACT. A big scholarship as a freshman applicant might be a better deal than transferring into Temple as a sophomore and having to pay all of your living expenses.

What do you want to study in college? Bryn Mawr has excellent need-based aid, and likes community college transfers. If you would get in there, it might be cheaper than Temple. https://www.brynmawr.edu/admissions/community-college-connection

9

Is your private school church-affiliated? If so, is there someone at the church that you could talk to who might know someone seeking a nanny? Also, does your school have a nurse? The school nurse is often very well connected in knowing families that might need child care help.

10

I am taking a gap year until this fall and I did many small jobs here and there. I tutor, volunteer at a local county office, interned at a couple places, work at a local hospital and more.

Some paid, others provided me with real-life work experience.

11

I know a number of younger women who have worked as live in nannies. You can google nanny agencies or if you live near Philadelphia, here is one. http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2012/04/06/top-babysitting-and-nanny-agencies-in-philadelphia/

The families who are looking to pay a nanny through an agency often have $$$ and a decent place to stay. If you worked in a city like New York or Chicago, you would meet other nannies and hang out with them in your free time.