<p>The few stories I know of people who have taken gap years and reapplied to the schools that rejected them were also rejected the second time around. They did not have acceptances on the back burner so to speak. If Brown doesn't allow it don't do it. Personally there are a lot of things about Brown, such as the open curriculum, that I like better than Harvard. </p>
<p>As for as the Jordan program is concerned I highly recommend sticking with it. I spent a year in France before starting college. Even though I'd spent much of my childhood overseas as a foreign service brat - there's an enormous difference when you are actually living and working with the natives. It's also a huge advantage to speak a language fluently. You can start right away taking interesting courses, you can use your Arabic fluency to do research for other courses as well. (I wrote a number of architectural history papers about French architects for example.) I also discovered that learning one language fluently seemed to open up pathways in my brain that made learning all other foreign languages easier - even when they were only loosely related from a linguistic point of view. Enjoy your year in Jordan.</p>
<p>I would highly recommend a gap year abroad before college, based on my child's experience. While her major has nothing to do with the language skills she acquired abroad, she came back a very focused and mature student, and had an incredible freshman year.</p>
<p>However, I want to caution you not to overestimate the fluency you may achieve. While abroad, my daughter was totally immersed in the language she had studied throughout high school; she lived with host families and attended a foreign high school, and was expected to complete all coursework assigned to native-speaking students. She would describe her current abilities as "highly proficient," but not completely fluent.</p>
<p>Everyone is different in this regard. Since it sounds like you have not studied Arabic previously, you will definitely learn a lot, but do not count on fluency.</p>
<p>From my experience, though, no one can be "completely fluent" in a language. Slang, different versions of the language (i.e. American vs. British English), and a whole host of other factors make it difficult, if not near impossible, to truly master any dialect.</p>
<p>It's true that there are degrees of fluency. I thought I was pretty fluent after four years in Germany, but when I decided to have a baby there was a whole vocabulary devoted to pregnancy and birth and babies, I'd never actually been exposed to. I also agree that if you have a leg up from studying a language in high school it's a lot easier to achieve fluency in a year than if you are starting from scratch.</p>
<p>Thank you so much for your advice! It was truly helpful.</p>
<p>I've ultimately decided not to go to Jordan and therefore, I will just go on to Brown in the fall (unless I find a publisher for my book, although that is more unlikely than my admission to Harvard). Though the Jordan program was an excellent opportunity, it's not exactly entirely suited towards my interests--I would like to learn Arabic, but I think I'll be able to do as such in college, where I will also hopefully be able to continue my other extracurriculars.</p>
<p>As far as Harvard goes, my heart still pangs a bit when it is mentioned--if hearts could release one heavy sob, mine definitely did this afternoon when I saw a picture of the Harvard Krokodiloes in Newsweek. However, I suppose I will soldier on because that's life, right? Besides, Brown is lovely, and perhaps I will learn to appreciate it more after my time abroad this summer.</p>
<p>I think I will still think about Harvard in the future, but maybe I'll think about it a little less everyday, and eventually, I'll completely forget about it (and Gordon Teskey and the Crimson and the house system and all the other little things I loved about Harvard that aren't at Brown) altogether. That, or I'll attempt to transfer in 2 years...</p>
<p>Sounds like a once in a lifetime opportunity. If Brown allows it, I say go for it! What have you got to lose? There may be plenty more obstacles to similar opportunities in the future with college, jobs, family - if you can do it now, you should.</p>
<p>Vfrizz - get a life. Harvard is a fine school, but so is Brown, and so are 100 other American universities. What one does in college matters far more than where he or she attends school. </p>
<p>I see plenty of Harvard, Yale types who are not particularly successful (although there are plenty that are, too), and they often make the sordid mistake of relying on their credentials. </p>
<p>And no, I am not a person without these credentials - I have them - and was an All American athlete to boot - the latter factor probably accounting for success more than the school I went to - since in athletics no one cares about the effete airs one puts on, or where you go to school - or any other frivolous factor - performance counts. I also had a union job in a factory for some time - kept my nose from sticking up too high - not a bad lesson to learn - and kept me in touch with real people - i.e. people other than those who live in the yuppie playgrounds of San Francisco, DC, or the upper West side. </p>
<p>Make a mark on whatever school you attend - and get past whining about Harvard. No one cares, and you should not either.</p>