<p>I never thought this post would generate this much helpful information. I appreciate all the private messages with country specific information, suggestions and observations.</p>
<p>There have been some posts that expressed an observation that traveling (especially without the structure of set obligations/programs of study or enrichment) can be difficult and wearing. I wonder if it is less so with a "buddy?"</p>
<p>Has anyone traveled, or has a S or D who has traveled, out of the country over an extended time with someone that they knew from "home"? I've heard pros and cons on this. </p>
<p>I took a gap year and spent about 14 months traveling (I returned home a few times in that period, however - unplanned). For a few months of the time I was with friends from home, and both times it worked out wonderfully. My friends and I are all easy-going, low-key people, though, and I knew that it shouldn't be a problem. I have friends whom I love very dearly but for one reason or another would never travel with. I don't regret anything, my gap year was the most incredible time ever. I love my college, but I miss my gap year!</p>
<p>Thank you for your post about Israeli gap options. You have done an amazing job of exploring options, and I appreciate your willingness to share options.</p>
<p>Oh, am I getting requests for an encore? LOL -- to seek FUNDING for a gap year iin Israel, try googling up MASA, the Foundation for Jewish Philanthropies, and your local Jewish Federation, and Dorot, the Jewish Agency.
They WANT to send kids over for exactly this kind of learning at a key moment in their lives...and they know you want them to come back, too, so it's not the Aliyah people (who encourage people to move permanently to Israel)..that's another line of inquiry, not to be confused with Gap Year.
The Gap Year I'm not ready to send my kid to (although someone else might) is the Israeli army, which has opened up its Mechinah (yearlong training that it does for its own h.s. students) to foreign volunteers. That one's too much for me. They say on their website that they don't pressure kids to join the army the following year, just to help as trainees. But logically, and knowing Israelis, while I believe the officials won't cross the line, I can't imagine all the other Israeli kids NOT pressuring others to join with them at year's end.</p>
<p>I'm doing a gap year in China as a language student living with a family. Yale seems to be absolutely fine with anyone's doing a gap year. The acceptance card that came with the EA letter had three equal lines to choose from: <strong><em>I accept and will enroll in September 2007.
_</em></strong><em>I reject and will attend _</em> College instead.
_____I accept and defer and will enroll in September 2008. [Send letter with your plan for '07-'08.]</p>
<p>In 1978, my husband travelled for three months through Nepal and India with a JYA buddy from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of Copenhagen. He enjoyed it but he didn't want the boys to do it that way. His buddy ended up staying on a ashram and H travelled solo for awhile. It can be very isolating.</p>
<p>"Bez; American kids who travel and live abroad do look at their own country more critically--but I doubt they all think 'it sucks' !! LOL. Part of your reaction might be that it is hard to stop travelling. 'Gapping' is a seductive lifestyle--hence my caution about unstructured travelling."</p>
<p>Actually I've learned to look critically at US since I was a kid seeing as to how my dad's an immigrant and have identified more with Poland than with America (thank goodness!) I would hardly call what I'm doing "unstructured" travelling,also. Perhaps you should hold your judgments next time?</p>
<p>As an admissions counselor, I would recommend that your child go through the admissions process with his class, then defer his admission for a semester or year. That way, it would be easier for him to step back into the college experience upon his return. </p>
<p>Schools have various policies regarding deferrals, so check this out before choosing a school. Some schools will approve deferrals only if the activity is determined to be educational. Other schools will not defer scholarship assistance. </p>
<p>The problem with travel is that a whole year of it seems excessive ... an excuse to play around for a year and lose one's educational edge. A summer of travel, followed by a year of structured volunteer work, could provide a gap year which is more maningful, especially if your son applies for admission after taking time off.</p>
<p>Admisscouns,
Thanks for that helpful reply! </p>
<p>My question: When students are accepted with financial aid, and then they defer for a planned gap year, do you know how that affects need-based financial aid awards, as well as possibly winning a merit scholarship within the college? Would these hold over for a year, or does it generally depend on the college.</p>
<p>There's also a great advantage to the student, knowing there's a place waiting. S/he'd be more likely to stay on a productive and reasonable schedule during the gap year, and finishing it up in a year.</p>
<p>i'm almost certainly taking a gap year and looking through this thread i was very interested in the health insurance issue because that would be a deal-breaker for my parents (we are solidly in the middle class where a gap year is only affordable if circumstances remain the same as they were in high school). So, could those of you who investigated the insurance issue say what you found?</p>
<ul>
<li>is a kid who is 18 at the time but dependent and attending college the next year still covered under most health insurance plans?</li>
<li>what other kind of insurance should you be buying?</li>
</ul>
<p>Call a travel agent and ask them what insurance they recommend. If you are travelling to 3rd world countries with dubious health care, you should buy evacuation insurance.</p>
<p>I bought my 18 year old travel insurance--I think it was $300 for 3 months.</p>
<p>You need to ask YOUR parents' insurer what the rules are because each policy has its own terms. There are lots of different terms between policies, so what applies to one policy has NO relevance to what would happen for your family.</p>
<p>Health insurance IS a key issue, so I'd suggest you & your family carefully explore this issue.</p>
<p>Travel insurance does cover health matters in the foreign country. If you are away for ayear, you can buy it for a yeaer. It will cover you in every single country that you list when you buy it. Whatever you do, don't travel without it.</p>
<p>This is not as difficult or as dicey as I thought.</p>
<p>Scholarships. S's merit scholarship money at the school he has chosen does allow for a gap year. S's NM scholarship DOES defer, but you have to make a written request to NM. We called NM directly on this.</p>
<p>Insurance. I have found, with the help of several posts on this thread and using the Internet, several sourses for health, evacuation and medical coverage as well as a rider for dangerous activities. </p>
<p>I have a call out to my US health insurance carrier to see if S can be re-instated on the policy once he enrolls as a full time student upon his return. I understand that this is likely.</p>
<p>Passport. Luckily my S has a passport that was issued only last year since the wait for a new or renewed passport is growing.</p>
<p>Structured travel. A few posters have expressed concern about unstructured travel. We are at least looking at some offerings that have minimal structure, but it looks like S is going to spend the vast majority of the time traveling rather than in a program. I'm OK with this.</p>
<p>Also, the US embassies' website has a list of doctors for US citizens traveling in that country.</p>
<p>As a student, I view a Gap year as a thrilling, exciting, and fruitful time where experience and learning are at a maximum. Nevertheless, the validity of a Gap year depends on the type of experience. While I believe strictly travelling around the world is a valuable life experience, I don?t believe the Gap year is the time to do so. In this case, going to college should be the priority in that moment. On the other hand, if the idea is complemented by travelling to learn a new language, to do social service, etc., I completely in favor of a such a Gap year. In the same way, I wonder,how do colleges percieve a Gap year? Will they percieve it differently depending on the activity one has done?</p>
<p>Colleges are savvy enough to recoginize that GAP years are NOT all created equal & the value lies in what is accomplished during that time--lolling around at the beach is not the same as volunteering in a field you may be pursing and taking courses related to your interests, whether travel is involved or not.</p>
<p>The procedure for US universities is:
1) get accepted at a school
2) request a deferral, outlining the intended program for the year
3) await approval from the college </p>
<p>Colleges want to see "a year on", not "a year off".</p>