<p>From another thread, my son and I are discussing a possible gap year.</p>
<p>For anyone with either personal experience with a gap year or some knowledge of college admissions' views on things, which is preferable?</p>
<p>Or is there no preference? Just a very individualistic decision?</p>
<p>Although there is really no preference for the AdCom’s, be sure that you and your son have a good idea as to what he’ll be doing next year, and if he will have the bandwidth and access to apply to schools during his gap year.
How good is he at multi tasking? For example, if he’s traveling or volunteering in another country, will he be able to have consistent internet access for the Common App or state school applications and contact his HS teachers for any needed rec’s? If he’s thinking about a local job and living at home, it’s not as much of an issue.</p>
<p>If he applies as a senior and defers, that’s one less thing to think about if he’s planning to travel, etc. during the Fall of his gap year.</p>
<p>Whatever he chooses to do, be very careful about taking any college classes, as this might inadvertently classify him as a Transfer student, making him ineligible for some Freshman financial aid advantages.</p>
<p>I do know a young man who’s taking a gap year before starting at MIT in the fall of 2015 and he’s allowed to take community college classes, but I suspect that’s not the norm.</p>
<p>My son would most definitely not be traveling out of the country, so that is not an issue at all. If the gap year does materialize, it will most likely be something along the lines of doing stuff he doesn’t have time to do: design a game, work more extensively in music, get a job/internship, write, work with a mentor, and mature and deal with any health concerns as it relates to his diabetes.</p>
<p>You do make a good point about having everything “fresh” this year: LORs, tests, etc. I also just thought of the fact that, if he applies and then takes a gap year, we would know where he’s going to college but would have time to find out more about the school, doctors in the area, hospitals, etc.</p>
<p>I was just thinking it would be less stressful if he waits to apply until during the gap year, because he could take more time instead of cramming a bunch of tests in this fall (he still has to take 3 subject tests and probably the ACT, though the ACT isn’t totally necessary) as well as trying to get his supplemental stuff (music and possible art/animation) ready to go.</p>
<p>Also, whatever he does during his gap year and the summer before that might help him to hone in on what it is he wants to do in college and beyond, and having that extra year before applying would make more sense in that regard.</p>
<p>It depends on whether he’s taking a year off before applying to college or if he’s applying but just wants a year or so break before he starts. If he applies and gets accepted then it’s a deferral to negotiate with the individual college he will ultimately attend and what he can or can’t do if he’s thinking of tackling a junior college class. If he’s taking a break before he’s applying it probably won’t matter to the colleges. Either way, if he’s going to college and the break won’t be more than a year, just make sure testing etc. is all organized, lots of kids don’t start college right after high school for lots of reasons. </p>
<p>The advantages to applying before the gap year are that the school resources are right there in terms of LORs and transcripts, he is fresh in teachers’ minds, and he is in the academic swing of things. Testing is easier when the subjects are fresh. There will be peers doing the same thing. And it’s rare that a gap year changes the chances of getting admitted. Also he can spend his gap year concentrating on what he wants to get out of it rather than splitting his attention between that and applications. </p>
<p>You may want to ask likely schools what their policies are about gap years ahead of time. In d1’s case they wanted to know what she was doing to make sure it was reasonably productive. She was not allowed to take any college courses for credit. </p>
<p>Excellent points, Sudsie. He doesn’t like the idea of being out of sync with his peers; that would probably be the biggest reason he wouldn’t want to take a gap year. But of course, it won’t matter once he graduates.</p>
<p>I’ve encouraged him to talk to an acquaintance of his who also has T1 diabetes and took a gap year after only applying to two top schools (didn’t get in). </p>
<p>Ok, this has been helpful. We’ve got a couple other folks to talk with about the gap year, but it seems the best thing to do would be to apply now.</p>
<p>"He doesn’t like the idea of being out of sync with his peers; that would probably be the biggest reason he wouldn’t want to take a gap year. "</p>
<p>They’ll be out of sync with one another before they know it. Chances are pretty good that this whole group won’t graduate together in 2019. Life and other opportunities may intervene for some.</p>
<p>“of course, it won’t matter once he graduates.”</p>
<p>I’d go farther and say that it won’t matter once he’s in college. In my experience, nobody worries very much about whether their friend is a sophomore while they’re a junior, etc. </p>
<p>The gap year kids I’ve heard about have done college apps during senior year. But some kids might need more time to sort through possibilities. </p>
<p>My d is taking a gap year. Swarthmore actually encourages students to do it. She applied first, and then got accepted. She then applied for a gap year by writing an essay, and she got it. She will be traveling for a year. I’m glad she applied first because it would be harder to get transcripts and LORs after she hasn been there for a while. Also, if you take a gap year, before applying, it could hurt your writing skills. Your child is likely not going to be writing essays over the course of the year, so when it comes to apply, they might be a little rusty. </p>
<p>I think the rush of him applying now and getting a portfolio ready is outweighed by the fact that he is homeschooled. All his access to the school stuff is through you and any LORs he can ask for now and just hold onto them.</p>
<p>If he was in an actual high school where he needed access to his GC and all the support staff and his teachers that would be one thing. But being homeschooled certainly has its advantages especially if he is looking at a gap year, it doesn;t seem that it is out-of-the box since he education as been more “alternative” to begin with. It’s a logical step. Makes sense.</p>
<p>Kat</p>
<p>Good point. We are going through this with my son, too. We are having him apply to college now but also have one eye on gap year programs. The ones we have looked at don’t need an answer until the spring, so he can finish applying and then go back to the gap year idea and pick a program. The programs we have looked at have also said apply to college first, then pick a gap year program. </p>
<p>As a homeschooler, you don’t have the same pressures as we do, though.</p>
<p>Hm, well, his teacher recommendations so far are his community college professors from this past year and possibly some of the teachers from this semester’s courses (rather than using anyone from the homeschool community, though I might use his writing tutor from 10th grade), and his boss for the show he just finished in which he was the sole musician will be his extra recommendation.</p>
<p>But yes, everything else-counselor letter, school profile and transcripts-come from me (except that he will send CC transcripts directly to colleges, and I might tack on outside transcripts such as AoPS to my own).</p>
<p>He needs to email the CC professors once the Common App opens in order for them to upload their recs. I wonder about waiting another year; his good work in their classes might not be so fresh in their memories. So in that sense, he is like any other candidate.</p>
<p>Just not sure what to do at this point…</p>
<p>Do most students travel intl during gap years? Do most do some sort of “program” that costs money? Isn’t it ok just to do stuff in your own city, or do colleges think the idea of traveling is necessary? What if the family isn’t rich? Isn’t it ok just to work and earn money (among other things)? </p>
<p>As I’m researching, it sure seems there are a lot of people saying that it’s better to do a structure gap year program, but I don’t see it that way at all. The point here, if my son does this, is to do the things my son doesn’t have time to do (design), earn some money, grow in confidence, musicianship, and whatever else, and then be ready to be away from home because he’ll be more mature and hopefully have more direction. </p>
<p>What do you think? </p>
<p>Lizardly, it sounds like your son’s looking at programs, yes?</p>
<p>Sbjdorlo- there is no right or wrong way to do a gap year. I know plenty of kids who did a gap year at home and worked and explored things that interested them. My D had a friend who took a gap year and worked at a horse barn.
Your S can apply and ask for a gap year after admission. Or he can apply and if nothing comes through that feels right for him he can reapply all over again the following year. He can even apply and accept a school, take a gap year and if his interests change apply to a whole another set of schools.
My S applied and accepted admission and asked and was granted a gap year. During August he changed his mind about the gap year. The school scrambled and was able to get him a dorm space and he went off in the fall after all.
By applying this year he can always decide in the spring he wants to take a gap year. But if he doesn’t apply and changes his mind his options are limited.
Another thought- since he is home schooled what about delaying graduation. A year enabling him to have another year of growth and exploration at the CC?</p>
<p>My son took a gap year after applying to colleges and then deferring admission at his chosen school. He didn’t have to do anything special, just wrote an email requesting a deferral and it was granted. The merit scholarships were held for him too. I think it would be much easier to apply and defer rather than apply during the gap year, especially in terms of letters of rec. I would guess that a lot of schools would look upon deferral as a good thing.</p>
<p>We were going to be living abroad for eight months and our son came with us, using our apartment as a home base for his independent travels. He also spent a month doing research with a colleague of my husband’s.</p>
<p>It didn’t bother him at all that his college classmates were a year younger than him.</p>
<p>He is also T1, and unless your son was very recently diagnosed, I would guess he’d be able to handle his diabetes on his own. My son was 3 years into it when he left for college. He had his own dorm fridge for insulin and snacks/juice, and had his endo visits when he came home for breaks.</p>
<p>I think gap years are great!</p>
<p>Yes, programs. </p>
<p>I suspect that most kids do programs, but it isn’t the only way to go. If your son has a clear idea of what he wants to do with his time off, let him do it. I think the parental fear is that a kid loafs for a year without structure. </p>
<p>FWIW some programs aren’t paid for by parents. The Americorps programs have a small stipend (they usually prefer college grads, unfortunately). There are some kibbutz language programs in which kids get language lessons in return for work. I bet there are some other work for travel type programs out there. </p>
<p>mom60,</p>
<p>You bring up a really good point about not applying and then changing one’s mind about the gap year. That is definitely something to think about.</p>
<p>I had asked my son about an extra year of high school, but he’s firm in not wanting that. He is a part of a co-op and the graduating class for 2015 will be around 20 or so, so he does want to graduate with his friends.</p>
<p>martharap,</p>
<p>How far away did your son go to college? Yes, my son’s had diabetes for 6 years, so he’s managing it almost independently. I still offer input; for example, recently, he kept having some pretty severe lows during the night and I had to remind him many days in a row to drop his basal. During the day when he’s fine, he forgets about the incident. At night when he’s low, he can’t think clearly. But, he took care of it all as far as getting sugar, etc. However, it whacked out his schedule. Fortunately, his job was at night, so he was able to sleep late to make up for being up so much during the night, but he’s not got it totally together yet.</p>
<p>My one thought about applying during his gap year and not now is that he will have a much more proven track record. He’ll be taking 4 AP exams in the spring, but has no AP scores now. He’ll have completed 41.5 CC units by senior year’s end, but will only have completed about 29 by end of first semester. He’ll just be a much stronger candidate if he waits to apply.</p>
<p>OTOH, I wonder what colleges will think about that plan. He’s been in contact with a number of schools, emailing, etc., and I wonder how they will view him if he just suddenly pulls out and decides not to apply. That is one question I would like to find the answer to.</p>
<p>Lizardly, I could see my son doing <em>some</em> traveling, but honestly, there is so much he could do here in our large city to really help him mature and develop deeper skills and interests without going anywhere. He’s part of a company that sends him jobs to apply to; he’s waiting for the right one to come along. He almost jumped into a programming internship but he hadn’t completed the mandatory training, so he missed out on that opportunity. </p>
<p>He doesn’t really have time to work more than 5-7 hours a week right now, but once he’s done with school, he could sure work a lot more hours. He needs to pay for a lot of things anyways (car insurance, gas, phone, some college costs, etc), so I really envision him being able to work during his gap year in some capacity.</p>
<p>The only work he’s done is as a cellist, either performing or teaching, and it would be nice for him to get a chance to do some other type of work.</p>
<p>The only other complication is that my dh is hoping I might go to work part or full time after we launch this kiddo and he would take over homeschooling our youngest. My dh is miserable in his job and so wants to retire and find part time work elsewhere. (He’s a driver and is old, tired, and in some pain) The gap year would delay that, and I’m not sure what that would do to my poor dh. He doesn’t have the skills or knowledge to guide this son through college applications, so that’s something to think about.</p>
<p>Ha-ha, these decisions are never easy, are they?? :-)</p>
<p>My daughter will be traveling in the Middle East and Western Europe for a few months with a few friends. No special program or anything. It’s all out of pocket. They have been studying new languages and want to experience the culture. She will be back by February and when she gets back, she will try to find a full time job so that she can make some money over the summer that she can use for when she begins school.</p>
<p>sbjdorlo,</p>
<p>Our son’s school was a 7 hour drive from home.</p>
<p>The lows are scary, that’s for sure. I guess I’ve had to distance myself from how he manages his diabetes, because when I get too involved I’m a nervous wreck. He’s in grad school now, had to find his own doctors, and is completely on his own. I have no idea what his A1C is, I know he doesn’t get much exercise, and there’s really nothing I can do about it. When I butt in he gets angry and really shuts off any discussion of how he’s managing it.</p>
<p>I remember finding a letter that he could give his roommates describing type 1, explaining about lows and glucagon, etc. He said he has always informed his roommates and told them where his glucagon is, etc. but it is hard enough for me to help him when he’s low and argumentative and combative, so I can’t imagine a roommate dealing with that scenario.</p>