Gap Year Ideas

Parent Cafe
1

<p>Our dau would enjoy a gap year before beginning college. While intellectually she's ready for college, she's young for her age, & would hope to develop more emotional & social maturity (my language although she would agree with it) prior to beginning college. </p>

<p>Specifically, she would hope to have an self-awareness & self-maturation experience that would engage, challenge & expand her confidence in herself & in her ability to engage meaningfully with others socially & emotionally. </p>

<p>She would hope to:
1) develop more social skills as well as confidence in her social skills,
2) develop a clearer sense of who she is & an increased confidence in her own identity, &
3) expand her confidence in herself & in her ability to speak up & be proactive in her pursuits.</p>

<p>We'd love to have your ideas on programs nationally or internationally that can help her develop confidence in herself & can help her mature socially.</p>

<p>And, just to make our situation a bit clearer, she is actively engaged in all of her classes, is well-respected & well-liked by her teachers & peers, has a great deal of emotional maturity in her interactions, but does not have the skill set or confidence to interact in in-depth levels socially with her peers. She tends toward being quiet. </p>

<p>So, we're not talking about a person with immaturity or behavior issues; rather, somebody who wants to develop increased social skills & would benefit from stretching emotionally & socially in a year-long program or a series of 3-6 month programs.</p>

<p>The gap year programs for Jews in Israel are excellent; unfortunately, we're not Jewish & she can't participate. </p>

<p>And, as an aside, she has a strong interest in the environment & in environmental sustainability. </p>

<p>Thank you for any ideas or suggestions.</p>

2

<p>Lots of gap year threads-this sounds like something she might be interested in.
[WWOOF</a> - World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms](<a href=“http://www.wwoof.org/]WWOOF”>http://www.wwoof.org/)</p>

3

<p>I’m a big believer in gap years, but also I don’t think you even need an expensive or cool sounding GAP year to gain a lot of maturity from it. Although working in a foreign country for example might grow you faster than working locally, there is just something about ‘being away’ and ‘living independently’ while ‘engaged with others’ that can do wonders. I know someone for example who is working out of town at a ski resort all year (it is a year round place). Not fancy work, but tons of social interaction and the excitement of being away, living on her own and supporting herself and saving for college. Also BIG social life with kids from around the world who flock to such places.</p>

4

<p>Will she apply to colleges now, get accepted and take the gap year…
or skip apps now, take a gap year and then apply a year later???</p>

<p>Nothing wrong with a part time job and gong to a community college. Develop skills in many areas, time managment, social (both at work and at school), etc.</p>

<p>Won’t going to an expensive program look privledged/lazy…sort of like those summer camps of going abroad for 2 weeks etc…</p>

<p>Perhaps there is some city organization, or agency in your area that deals with environemental issues, water conservancy, etc
Or she could work as an animal rescue (wildlife–injured migratory birds etc), give educational tours etc.</p>

<p>I would look at what inspires her passion …and how it plays to admissions…</p>

5

<p>I’m so glad your D is receptive to the idea of a gap year. Mine was also young and not quite ready emotionally to leave home, and freshman year was a disaster. She then took a belated gap semester, and went back to school raring to go. She’s fine now, but taking a gap year after senior year would have saved us all a lot of misery.</p>

<p>There are lots of things your D can do in the gap year, and in a sense – it really doesn’t matter. The most important thing about a gap year is the 12 months on the calendar. The passage of time can bring with it a great deal of maturity, regardless of what activities fill those 12 months. I don’t think it needs to be some high-flying internship or work related to her field of study. A part-time job at the mall, with maybe a couple of classes at the community college, will serve what I see as the main purpose of a gap year: Another year of growing.</p>

6

<p>I don’t know how colleges would view volunteering, but there are plenty of schools, shelters, hospitals, park districts, and museums that are desperately needing volunteers. Six months of working in inner-city schools was a life-changer for me. So was volunteering for special education students in a suburban setting. She could build her interpersonal skills as well as learn a great deal about herself. It would have the added bonus of variety AND low cost if she can live at home too.</p>

7

<p>Thanks so much for your responses. </p>

<p>The WWOOF program seems to be something that she would really enjoy, & it would give her a chance to gain more independence from home & more confidence in her own abilities. </p>

<p>And, I appreciate your comments about just having the additional year of growth with volunteering, working, etc.</p>

<p>And I agree with your comments about not going for the resume-building experience, but more for the experiences that will broaden & expand her self-esteem & self-confidence.</p>

<p>We’re thinking that she would apply to colleges in her senior year of high school, & then ask for a year deferral once she’s admitted. We’ll have to make sure that the schools she’s interested in would allow a deferral for a gap year, but that way she would be able to focus on enjoying her gap year without the stress of doing college applications.</p>

<p>Thanks for all of your thoughts & ideas. We really appreciate your thoughts—Thanks!</p>

8

<p>Actually, gap year community or other college classes can cause problems (unless they’re in foreign languages), particularly if the student hasn’t yet been accepted (sometimes raising changing an application to a transfer application depending on how many credits). Even with an acceptance in hand, many colleges are quite clear that while they will accept deferrals for a gap year, that gap year may not include study at other institutions (again, with the caveat about foreign language study, usually abroad).</p>

9

<p>Where there Be Dragons: [Where</a> There Be Dragons: Summer & Semester Study Abroad Programs for High School & College Students in Asia, Africa & Americas](<a href=“http://www.wheretherebedragons.com%5DWhere”>http://www.wheretherebedragons.com)</p>

<p>NOLS- National Outdoor Leadership School</p>

10

<p>Not that your daughter will, but out of the 5 people I know that did gap year there were 3 that did booze cruise internationally and 2 that hung out and boozed it up with friends here. I wish I would have taken a gap year.</p>

11

<p>My D, also interested in Environmental science, wants to hike a long-distance trail! I’m not on board for that one, unless she finds a like-minded, preferably big and strong, companion to hike it with her, but certainly there are volunteering opportunities at places like Audubon societies, nature reserves, children’s museums and so forth. A big question would be whether your D would live at home or not; I expect that would affect how much the gap year might really help her grow. As a parent, it’s hard enough to have your kid go off to college, where there are parent substitutes to turn to if she has difficulties. It would be really a leap for both parent and kid to have a child try to move out and support herself for a year. But staying at home while all your friends go off to school might just feel like treading water. </p>

<p>There was an article in the NYT about gap years: [The</a> Gap Year: Breaking up the “Cradle to College to Cubicle to Cemetery” Cycle - NYTimes.com](<a href=“The Gap Year: Breaking up the "Cradle to College to Cubicle to Cemetery" Cycle - The New York Times”>The Gap Year: Breaking up the "Cradle to College to Cubicle to Cemetery" Cycle - The New York Times)</p>

12

<p>There’s a guy from D1s class that’s a au pair/nanny in Madrid - he took over from a 2010 grad from the same high school.</p>

13

<p>City Year–great program. I know four kids who’ve done it.</p>

<p>[City</a> Year: give a year. change the world.](<a href=“http://www.cityyear.org/default_ektid22283.aspx]City”>http://www.cityyear.org/default_ektid22283.aspx)</p>

14

<p>

I agree with this. My son applied in senior year, was accepted, and requested and received a deferral. Then he took an unpaid internship in his field. He lived at home, commuted 1.5 hours by public transportation, and did a mediocre job at the internship. But he grew oh-so-much. He got lost by taking the wrong bus, he dealt with bad weather and missed transfers, people at the internship depended on him, he had to prioritize his work, he found food near his internship, he had regular department meetings, he planned and implemented an egg-drop with his best friend, he took an out-of-town trip with his mentor, some publishable work may come out of it with his name as a contributor, and he added 12 months on the calendar.</p>

<p>Also, that year was a real gift for the family. It was fairly non-stressful, with no homework AND no college applications. He knew he was going to his first-choice school and didn’t have to worry about how the admissions officers would view his internship. OTOH, he’s HAD that internship and it might help with future jobs.</p>

15

<p>I am thinking about a gap year for my son, too. He is fairly smart, participates in sports, and is an all around great kid. However, he is very young for his grade (turned 16 on 9/26 as a Jr) & most kids in his class are 17. Although he gets along with other kids, he is socially immature. I am always looking for opportunities to expose him to other people his own age. </p>

<p>I would love to hear about the impact of deferring on more selective schools and how other kids handled it. My son worked this past summer as a paid intern and could go back. I feel he needs an extra year to grow up.</p>

16

<p>Some schools like Harvard suggest to their applicants to defer a year.
Oftentimes schools will hold your place- others want you to reapply.
Both my daughters deferred, one did CityYear, the other worked two jobs to save money to spend 5 months volunteering & traveling in India & the UK.</p>

<p>I’ve also known students who have used this program to arrange their gap
[LEAPNOW</a> | College Alternative | Gap Year Programs | Study Abroad](<a href=“http://www.leapnow.org/]LEAPNOW”>http://www.leapnow.org/)</p>

17

<p>Check out afsusa.org and look at their gap year programs. (:</p>

18

<p>Rustic Pathways runs Gap year service trips - I think you can do a month or connect trips for up to a school year. I have a D that is very young for her class and has done summer service trips with Rustic. We have been happy with them - they typically work about 30 hours per week. They don’t call it “rustic” for nothing. Accomodations are usually in villages, and are bare bones with bathroom amenities…each year my D has matured greatly on these trips.</p>

19

<p>Check out a book called The Gap Year Advantage by Karl Haigler and Rae Nelson. Lot of resources, programs, ideas for kids who want to do something different for a year after high school.</p>

20

<p>I think City Year is great - I’m also a big fan of learning a foreign language fluently.</p>