Gap Year OR Stanford Dilemma (Advice wanted)

Parents Forum
1

<p>Hello CCers,</p>

<p>I am a recently accepted student into Stanford's class of 2018. My question is about the gap year. </p>

<p>I've heard many great things about the Gap Year, such as the time to destress, pursue passions and dreams that one couldn't with the workload in college, and gaining more life experiences. If I were to do a Gap Year, I would take some time to make some money, move to San Francisco and hopefully find a job at a Start-Up (haven't found one yet) and then travel the world while destressing and pursuing individual passions. However, Stanford is super tempting too and it is my dream school. I would be fine with going to college, but traveling at 18 fresh out of high school without the burden of life is a once in a lifetime opportunity. </p>

<p>I want to have new life experiences, have freedom, and explore the world. But I am afraid of wasting my time and/or not having enough money to live in San Francisco etc. I have until June 15th to make a final decision.</p>

<p>What would you do?
Love,
gmaijoe</p>

2

<p>Do you want to go to college this year…or not? If you do, then go to Stanford. My bet is you can do some traveling this summer, or during the Christmas vacation…or spring break, or summer next year. But that’s if you want to go to college now.</p>

<p>If you don’t want to go to college now, you can request a deferral from Stanford. </p>

<p>I will say, most students choose to take a gap year NOT for an extended vacation. </p>

<p>San Francisco is a very expensive city in which to reside…think $2500 a month for a studio apartment. You would need quite a well paying job to support yourself there. You don’t HAVE a job there now. You are hoping to get one. We know someone who is a college grad who hasn’t been able to find work there. I can’t believe it would be easier for a HS graduate.</p>

<p>I’m not telling you to head off to Stanford, if you really don’t want to. But I think your plan to support yourself in SF isn’t very well thought out.</p>

3

<p>“I would take some time to make some money, move to San Francisco and hopefully find a job at a Start-Up (haven’t found one yet) and then travel the world while destressing and pursuing individual passions” <==seems like you might be able to do one of these, but two or all three seems unlikely. San Francisco is amazingly expensive – your chances of doing more than getting enough work to pay for minimal (really minimal) living expenses there are pretty low. Saving up money while living there is a trick that has eluded many college grads. </p>

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<p>Unless you are one of the people who has a realistic idea with which to start a startup, your chances of working at a startup as a high school graduate (as opposed to a college graduate with a relevant major or course work) are rather low.</p>

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<p>Stanford is not a bad place in itself to de-stress; you will have a fantastically fun first couple of weeks at least, until midterms lol. Seriously, Stanford is awesome and people are really, really happy there… </p>

<p>Yes, think $2,500-$3000 per month for a one bedroom apartment in SF, plus the deposit of course. And that’s if you find a job. My D is graduating this year with a practical major, and it was hard to find a position. </p>

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<p>I have never known anyone who regretted taking a gap year, no matter what they did.</p>

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<p>GFG…I think the OP will be lucky to find a pone BEDROOM for under $3000 in San Fran. They will be lucky to find a studio!</p>

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<p>I would submit that two of the three are unlikely. (When I first read this post, I assumed a ■■■■■ – no one smart enough to get into 'furd, could be that naive, I thought to myself…)</p>

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<p>When my on e kid went to just see the Stanford campus, she said it looked like a gorgeous park. That and the terrific climate should offer plenty of relaxation!</p>

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<p>I’m in favor of gap years in general, but you have to be realistic about finances. Between now and June 15 you should be able to do some research about the cost of living and working in San Francisco for a few months. </p>

<p>The indications here from knowledgeable posters are that it won’t be so easy to find a job, support yourself and save some cash at the same time. I would take this advice seriously, but still do some deep digging on your own. If you’re smart enough to get into Stanford, you’re smart enough to do a “business plan” for your gap year.</p>

<p>Surely you’re not the first starry eyed but broke person who wants a piece of the tech action. Find out what a high school graduate with your qualifications is likely to get paid and what it would cost to live cheap and cheerful with others of your kind. If it doesn’t work out financially, then don’t despair. Four years will fly by and you can always do a post-graduate gap year.</p>

<p>As for seeing the world, do some rough calculations on airfare and daily expenses in the part of the world you want to see. If you’re thinking France, you’ll need a serious expense account. If you’re headed to the less developed world, you can get by on a proverbial shoestring. And, as mentioned, you can cover a lot of ground during summers and school breaks.</p>

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<p>My 2 cents. It usually takes more than a 1 year for someone to substantially change, so for that reason a gap year is like an extended summer or in other words a waste of time. Go to Stanford. </p>

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<p>I don’t think it has to take more than one year to substantially change - I think it depends on what you do in that one year.</p>

<p>But I don’t think OP has realistic plans, or particularly good plans, for the gap year. First of all, unlike most, I don’t get the point of a gap year unless you didn’t get into a desired school and/or can’t afford to go to any school to which you are admitted. The main problem is that unless your family is relatively wealthy, there’s little you can afford to do as an 18-year-old high school graduate.</p>

<p>Moving to San Francisco? As already pointed out, that’s really expensive and no high school grad with zero training is going to make enough to afford an apartment there. Are your parents wealthy enough to put you up in an SF apartment?</p>

<p>Making money? With what job? Again, without training beyond high school you’ll be lucky to make much more than minimum wage flipping burgers or selling clothes - unless you’re a prodigy-level programmer or build the next great app. Start-ups usually hire college grads with some sort of technical/mathematical/computer science major.</p>

<p>Travel the world? Again, are your parents wealthy enough to fund this? Most of the travel-the-world options I can think of (teaching English abroad, Peace Corps, volunteer programs, etc.) require a college degree.</p>

<p>The other thing is - forgive me, but de-stress from what, exactly? I know from your vantage point high school can seem stressful - something worthy of taking a year “off” afterwards - but in a few years you’ll be amused at how stressful you thought high school was once.</p>

<p>Traveling the world is certainly not a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Being naive enough to think that you will be free of the “burdens of life” is…certainly something that is limited to being around 18. You can have new life experiences, freedom, and explore the world at Stanford. In September you’ll be joining thousands of the nation’s best and brightest 18-22-year-olds, with whom you will seize the world. You can study abroad for a year in college (in a different country each semester, if you want). You can major in computer science and spend your summer interning at tech start-ups. And after you graduate, the world is your oyster! You can do a Fulbright and teach English abroad in a completely different second or third country (after your study abroad), then come back and work in that tech start-up you crave. You can move to San Francisco with some of your Stanford friends bunked up in a 4-bedroom or something.</p>

<p>You are super, super young. You have plenty of time to explore the world, both during your years at Stanford and after. Personally, I argue that traveling and exploring when you have money and/or the means to make it is way more fun than doing it really broke.</p>

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<p>I am a big believe in taking time off. Life is not a race. I personally was exhausted after working really hard on my undergraduate thesis and headed right to grad school and was just burned out. I took the next year off, but would have been better off doing it when I was tired. My son felt like you and took a gap year before going to college. Not a lot of plans except he needed a surgery (and in his case to take SATs and apply to college). But, he campaigned for Obama (first election), completed a draft of a co-authored coming of age novel, worked on reserach at a local university, etc. I urged my daughter to do so as well, but she got so excited about her new school that she didn’t want to. She actually transferred at the end of the first term and now says that she wished she took a gap year. She would have needed an organized program. A number of Jewish kids we know go for the year to Israel (one attended a program called Nateev (I think)). They’ve loved it. No idea what parents are required to pay. But, there are organized gap year programs for kids who don’t have a plan. My son would have hated them as he is a marcher to his own drumbeats kind of kid. My daughter would have loved some of those programs. But, I would investigate what you could do and then, if one plan works for you and your family, strongly consider taking it if you are really feeling the need to destress.</p>

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<p>I’d only take a gap if you’re headed to an Ivy or Ivy caliber school, which Stanford is. I think you earned it. I’d go travel, personally. I can’t imagine going to work in san fran though. that wouldn’t be nearly as exciting as college or traveling on another continent. you could go teach english somewhere. good luck.</p>

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<p>What about bartender/waitressing jobs?</p>

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<p>I’d run (not walk) to Stanford and start college with your own class. Get some education before you try a start-up. and take a semester/year abroad and travel.</p>

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<p>Many CS majors at Stanford take gap years during the 4 years because they want to pursue start up dreams. However, many of them start right away, make lots of contacts for the first 2 years and start finding great opportunities with friends who have similar interests. If you are serious about start ups, you have a much better shot at getting there soon being at Stanford rather than outside.</p>

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<p>I’d choose Stanford. One of the best private universities in the country, and I guarantee they have opportunities to incorporate a love of travel in order to pursue your personal passions while attending an unbelievable school. If you are REALLY caught in the middle, like 50/50, I’d look to Stanford. However, if you are leaning towards one choice, follow that feeling.</p>

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<p>I would start at Stanford in the fall. It’s an amazing school and it’s campus is breathtakingly beautiful. The students I met there also seem very happy.
If you still want to take a gap year, it’s much more common to do it after you graduate college. There also will be more things you can do with it then.</p>

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<p>I would take the year off. Why not? You have one of the best acceptances in the country in your pocket and you probably worked extremely hard to get it. Take a year and relax. Doesn’t really matter what you do. Why do you feel the pressure to move to SF and work? Get any job that will let you put some $ away and then take 4 to 6 months and travel to wherever suits you. Once you graduate from college life gets complicated and responsibility comes on full force. I love the idea of one last fling before college.</p>