<p>Well, I'm considering taking a gap year in order to travel and volunteer, though I'm still undecided. I would really like to experience new things through volunteer work, and hopefully, travelling to do so.</p>
<p>Can anyone point me in the right direction of some programs that offer some form of "group" volunteer work, rather than individual? I've looked into Americorps, and it seems like a good alternative, but it's domestic, so I'd like to find some international ones as well.</p>
<p>I actually took a gap year this year, and I highly recommend it! I ended up teaching English at a primary school in Shanghai, China. A lot of people tried to discourage me, saying that I would be a year behind all of my peers; but, the truth is that I may be a year behind in school (or not even because of AP credit), but I am years ahead of my peers in life experience. There was a group of volunteers in Shanghai with me, but we were all in different places around the city and would meet up once or twice a week. I was pretty much living on my own the entire time, but the other volunteers were grouped together in pairs. Hope this helps!</p>
<p>" I may be a year behind in school (or not even because of AP credit), but I am years ahead of my peers in life experience."</p>
<p>Very true. My S, 19, took a gap year, volunteering with Americorps for a year after high school. During that year, he had the kind of major responsibilities that included representing his agency at meetings with city officials, organizing and running a county-wide program for teens, etc.</p>
<p>Now in college, he has avoided the freshmen frenzy of acting wild because of finally being on his own. He has helped organize some campus-wide projects (including being the sole facilitator of a leadership workshop), is now on the board of a campus organization, is carrying an "A" average, and as nice friends who include students of all classifications, and a recent graduate.</p>
<p>The gap year helped him get over his shyness, increase his confidence and organizational skills, and also taught him what to appreciate about college. He always planned to go to college, but the gap year taught him how to recognize things in college that you don't get after college. </p>
<p>For instance, when my S sees fliers about guest lecturers and presentations, he goes to those events -- whether or not his friends choose to go and even if he doesn't get extra credit. He realizes that college is just about the only opportunity in which it's easy to do things like that, and to even do them for free.</p>
<p>Maybe find a friend and backpack across whatever country?</p>
<p>Wow, this thread immediately brought out spammers promoting their programs along with some well-meaning links from other CC members.</p>
<p>To prevent promotion from rearing its head here, let's conduct the discussion without links (or names) of commercial or other specific programs. Thanks!</p>
<p>For those who have done a gap year, did you find any loss of academic sharpness from being away from Calculus, English Lit, etc. for a year?</p>
<p>I've found that sometimes being away from something for a while may result in loss of memorized info, but improved conceptual understanding. I did my PE exam a few years after engineering school, and found that the stuff I had slogged through in college mostly by cramming facts and formulas began to make sense when I re-studied it.</p>
<p>sorta new to this concept for me. If you were to take a gap year after HS would you apply to a college and then take the year (will they let you do that?). Or take the year away and apply to school during that year? I guess that either way would work, is one better then the other?. If you do the second choice (apply during the gap year) would the gap year make it harder, easier or doesn't matter, to get accepted? Assuming that you have a plan for that year and don't just use it to sleep late and play video games.</p>
<p>Roger_Dooley I completely disagree with you! I was looking forward to seeing what specific organizations out there people recommend! There isn't any books written on this, so I am 100% relying on CC to find out what programs people liked and why. Please DO NOT delete comments that have specific organizations. It's not like anybody here makes money from "spamming" an organization they liked.</p>
<p>^^^ Completely the Same. I would love to know individuals companies people would recommend.</p>
<p>Everyone I have known who has done this recommends it whole-heartedly. </p>
<p>As long as you have a specific plan for what you are going to do, I think it's a great idea.</p>
<p>Make commitments early on (like $$ deposits) so you sort of ensure that you go through with your plans.</p>
<p>I tried to copy and paste this (my own post) earlier from a different thread about gap years, but failed...Anyway:</p>
<p>Generally, it is easier if you apply to colleges before taking your gap year, so that you don't have to worry about that during your year abroad. Most colleges are very open to students taking gap years, and will allow you to defer your enrollment until the following year. You will probably be asked to give them an outline of what you are going to do so that they can approve it. </p>
<p>If you decide not to apply to colleges this year, however, you must be very organized when you actually do get around to it. Give all your teachers the recommendation forms and everything very early in the fall; since you will no longer be a student at the high school, you will be asking a very big favor of them. Try to complete as much of the application(s) as possible BEFORE you leave on your great adventure, especially if you don't plan on returning for an extended period of time in December. </p>
<p>There are many great options for volunteer work abroad. If you have the money, and feel that you need someone to help you plan out and make the most of your gap year, and there are advisors who can be hired for a fee. Generally, directors of these consulting services are very experienced and have a lot of knowledge about the kinds of programs that are out there. They also know many of the people that run the programs personally, and have other contacts, such as other students who have previously taken part whatever program you're interested in, who can share personal experiences. </p>
<p>You can also find programs without the help of a gap year advisor; you just have to do a little more work to sift through the many, many programs that are out there. You mentioned that you wondered if the programs would "take care" of you. That is absolutely something you need to look into when researching a program, especially if this will be your first time abroad on your own. Most programs are group programs, meaning that you will be part of a small group working in whatever country and whichever field you choose. Programs with a strong group dynamic are especially good for the first half of your gap year, because you have a good support system as you ease yourself into this year abroad, far away from your family (and often without easy access to internet or telephone). Try to contact people who have participated in the program before, because they will be your best sources of information on how well-organized the program is, and what day-to-day life is like. A poorly-organized program with little support from the program staff would be an absolute nightmare, especially in a foreign country where you are not well-versed in the language. </p>
<p>I am currently the in the middle of a gap year abroad, and am having the time of my life. I was in Costa Rica for three months this past fall, will spend two months in Argentina (I leave in February), and then will head off to Spain in April for five weeks before backpacking my way to Paris at the end of May. I have absolutely no regrets about my gap year; in fact, I consider it the best thing that has ever happened to me. I am one of those people who applied to college during my year abroad, but so far so good. PM me if you would like to know about the program I participated in or have yet to take part in, or if you have any other questions.</p>
<p>Best of luck!</p>
<p>Does anyone have any experience with Foundation Year offered by many UK universities? My daughter is thinking of one of these as an prep year for either getting into a UK university or as a Gap year. Would appreciate any information on experince with these. She is specifically lookint at Bath, Edinburh and Leicester.</p>
<p>I hope this is not seen as a commercial plug by the powers that be (although I interpreted the OP as requesting specific programs). There are a bunch of books on what to do in a gap year. Here are a few:</p>
<p>My son will take next year as a gap year and will apply to college during the first semester. He is completing a novel he started and hopes to complete it in the first semester. We expect that in the second semester and subsequent summer, he will travel, either with a friend or within the context of some organization. He's been fortunate to travel all over the world because of my work but has never been to Israel and there are programs for Jewish kids to visit Israel. Plus, I think he might like to go backpacking in New Zealand. He might also get an internship or job at a local lab studying something interesting in neuroscience or a related area. </p>
<p>We're haven't gotten to the point of getting literate about the options, but know of a few friends' experiences. A friend's son is working in the office of a state senator in Hawaii. My son also heard a presentation of a boy who worked for a year as an assistant to General Petraeus and is now on going to Princeton.</p>
<p>Roger Dooley, I think the question of lack of sharpness upon return is a good one. I suspect it would manifest itself more in math/physics/languages than in less cumulative subjects. My suspicion is that returning to those subjects, if you've done them at a high level, will require recovering the intellectual discipline that you had.</p>
<p>Rotary International has great, reknowned exchange programs. Google them and contact your local exchange coordinator!</p>
<p>Has anyone been involved with City Year? I'm looking at spending a year with them after applying during my senior year (next), telling interviewers I intend to defer admission for a year, and then enrolling afterward. The program sounds fantastic in terms of both experience and "book" learning (although you could still definitely study while involved). For me, it also has the benefit of tacking a year onto my age--as is I would enroll when just barely 17.</p>
<p>City Year (particularly the Boston one) is probably the premier Americorps program. In fact, I am fairly sure that Americorps is partly based on City Year.</p>
<p>I visited Boston's City Year about 10 years ago, and was extremely impressed. I spent a day there, talking with the men who started it, and also seeing some City Year programs and talking with participants. </p>
<p>It particularly seemed to be an excellent program for motivated teens who planned to eventually go to college, but were unsure about what major, careers they might want to do. They got lots of opportunity to develop and use their leadership skills. </p>
<p>That's a reason why I encouraged S, 19, to do his gap year with Americorps.</p>
<p>I think that one of the parents on Parents Forum's D did a gap year with City Year in Seattle, and had a good experience.</p>
<p>"For those who have done a gap year, did you find any loss of academic sharpness from being away from Calculus, English Lit, etc. for a year?"</p>
<p>S, 19, was the epitome of an underachiever in h.s.: Scores in the 99th percentile, unweighted grades about 2.7 with a rigorous curriculum that he chose.</p>
<p>After a gap year, his first semester grades were 3.6. Prior to his gap year, writing had been a problem for him because he was a perfectionistic procrastinator, seldom getting even easy writing assignments in on time. This was so extreme that 10 days before he was supposed to graduate from h.s., we didn't know if he would graduate due to the large number of late assignments he still had to turn in. </p>
<p>Anyway, somehow it seems that his gap year helped him learn to write on deadline. Perhaps the fact that he had to submit monthly reports of his activities to his regional supervisor demonstrated to him that being able to produce timely reports isn't just limited to high school and college requirements. </p>
<p>His LAC is very writing intensive, and one of the assignments that he had to write for a psychology class reminded me of what I was expected to do the second year of my doctoral program in psychology!</p>
<p>He is taking a math course now, and plans to take a lab science next semester even though his AP score was high enough that he doesn't have to take a science. I've heard that the hardest subjects to keep up with after a gap year are math and science, but those always were his best subjects, and he's not planning on a science or math related major, so the gap year may not affect him that much in those areas.</p>
<p>I am currently enjoying my post-grad year. I live in Boston and did consider City Year but it wasn't for me. I began the year interning in Ted Kennedy's office, am currently at the State House interning with a state Rep and will intern for Sen. Kerry in the spring. I am also playing my French horn at a major university, volunteering at Horizons for Homeless Children and working p/t. The experience has generally been good. My word of warning about PG years is that they do have the predisposition to being somewhat socially isolating. Make sure your plans will fill your time well; after the structure of HS, even the amount of freedom accorded by a busy PG year will come as a shock.
Although the year has had its ups and down, I think I've gained invaluable life experience; I have learned to work in a variety of different settings with many different people. One of the things a PG year such as mine mandates is maturity; everyday I must put on formal clothes and behave like an adult. I am applying to college during my PG year (this may not be the OP's situation but maybe a jr. will read my post) for three reasons:
1. I was working so incredibly hard during my senior year (and knew I would take a PG year) that having the option not to worry about applications, admissions decisions, and deferring was very attractive.
2. I knew that if I planned a year that would be both personally edifying and rigorous (such internships have varying admission rates, but Senators in MA hover around ~15-20%...we have a lot of college and law students), I could write [read: brag] about it in my admissions materials. The PG year has allowed me to show colleges who I am and what my interests are (beyond listing my desired future occupation) and, on a superficial level, my activities look great on paper.
3. Applying during my PG year allowed me the time and space to devote extreme attention to my applications. I also don't have to deal with the stress and competition of my peers.</p>
<p>That said, I think PG years can be great but aren't for everyone. It is definitely hard having my friends off at school and my HS friends in the same position I was last year: overwhelmed and exhausted. Also, if you will be living at home, consider whether or not you are okay with another year w/your parents. I love mine dearly (does that make them DD and DM?) but to be honest, I can't WAIT to get out.
Also, my year was crafted by me. One can hire consultants or pay thousands of dollars to participate in a PG year program; I didn't want to ask for anymore than the 50k my parents will be shelling out next year. There are so many opportunities that are free and amazing. PG planning can be incredibly stressful (more so than college apps, IMO), because unlike with college where you take the requisite tests and write X numbers of apps and then suffer waiting, a strong PG year requires one to be proactive in planning and finding opportunities. Good luck!</p>
<p>I took time off in the Amazon plains (not the jungle) and it was the experience of a lifetime. I went with a volunteer huse that helps the Pemon indian kids by teaching, medical service, painting schools, whatevr you knw how to do. Every weekend we would travel to one of the nearby rivers or trek to one of the mystical mountains. It was great. I could live there.</p>
<p>I totally recommend gap years USED WISELY because they allow you to grow as a person and take a mental break to organize your LIFE. They say that 10 minutes of planning saves you hours of work, well, a year of planning can be VERY revealing. About applying before you leave, the problem is that NOT ALL universities accept deferrals. Gotta watch out for that! Ask first (annonymously)! There are many volunteer BROKERS that you gotta watch out for. They just put you in contact with places. Some are worthwhile because they take care of travel arrangements. But others just take your money. The one I went to is a volunteer residence in a small amazonian town with full services at the foot of the magical tepuys (flattop eons-old mountains). I wholeheartedly recommend them. Their page is <a href="http://www.peacevillages.org%5B/url%5D">http://www.peacevillages.org</a> . I totally recommend volunteering in Latin-America because it's western civilization but at the same time soooo different, but people are warm and extremely friendly. Oh, also take your gap year to read, write and to hang out with the person that cares about you the most ...yourself.</p>
<p>I second the recommendation for Rotary but it may be too late to apply.</p>