<p>S1 is going through the motions of applying to schools, mostly large state schools w big sports programs, however I'm starting to realize these are probably the wrong schools for him, as he will get lost in the crowd. The reason he has been looking at the big schools is he currently wants to major in mechanical engineering and has ruled out any schools that don't offer that major. I have my doubts that this is realistic, as he's struggling in AP Physics. That said, he's a smart kid and has scored a 4 on AP Stats as a sophomore and a 5 on AB Calc as a junior and has a 31 ACT. Personally I think business or environmental studies would be more in line with his areas of interest and aptitude. </p>
<p>He's a good kid and has participated in many volunteer rebuilding projects with our church and Boy Scouts, as well as spent a significant time in the wilderness. He loves to do this and is not a terribly motivated student, despite his string standardized test scores. I wonder if a gap year would help him to see what it's like to live on his own and see the value of education. </p>
<p>I've searched CC and don't find too much in the way of recommended places to turn. One viable idea was NCCC and I could see him applying to the FEMA tract. </p>
<p>He could simply find a job and work for a year like a lot of kids do that aren’t planning on attending college right after high school. Depending on your financial tolerance you could probably pay for some enrichment program. If you search these forums for gap year you might find posts about whatever other families have done. I had never heard the term gap year until I subscribed to these forums so past threads are probably your best bet. I would not advise him to give up an engineering and the. Big unis have an abundance of majors that he could move into should engineering not work out for him.</p>
<p>I would like him to live on his own and be responsible for his own laundry and picking up after himself (or have someone other than his mother get on his case about it), which is why an organized program sounds interesting. </p>
<p>Finances aren’t an issue; it’s really about getting him to see the bigger picture. He’s been a lifeguard the past 3 summers and taught private swim lessons, so he has plenty of money in the bank for himself and we have money set aside for college. My fear is he gets to a big school and falls through the cracks, which he has a tendency to do in our large public high school. (If we could turn back time 4 years, I wish we had sent him to the nearby Jesuit HS)</p>
<p>I have searched ‘gap year’ here and have found far less than I expected. </p>
<p>When I worked in Yellowstone I met quite a few recent high school graduate taking a gap year. The national parks hire loads of people every season for the menial jobs such as bellhop, cook, and room attendant. They also offer dorms, employee cafeterias, and an opportunity to meet people from all over the world. Xanterra, Delaware North Company, and Aramark are the major employers in this sector, but the are plenty of other, smaller concessionaire companies. </p>
<p>@nj2011mom You mentioned church in your post. Does your denomination have a year long domestic service opportunity, where people volunteer to work in a place for a year and housing, room and board, insurance and a stipend are paid by the churches?</p>
<p>Doesn’t sound like HE is on board with the gap year idea, or the smaller school idea. You would be amazed at how your college freshman will step up to things like laundry, co-existing with a roommate, etc. If he isn’t able to keep up with Mech E coursework next fall, I doubt a gap year will make that easier. He may surprise you, or he may wash out and end up in an easier major. But again… it is going to be better if it is his decision instead of one that you push on him. I did give both my kids the option of a gap year, both turned it down. I wouldn’t think it would have gone well if I had tried to force it on them to somehow get them to grow up more prior to going to college.</p>
<p>Many of those big schools that have automatic scholarships for GPA+ACT scores, which he would qualify for, require that the student enroll the fall immediately after graduating high school, so… make sure if there’s a gap year that he doesn’t end up becoming ineligible for those, if that’s of importance.</p>
<p>He also still has time to apply to some other smaller engineering programs – there are a few such as Bucknell, Union, Lafayette, LeHigh…
What about City Year as a Gap Year (but only if S is on board)</p>
<p>Both my kids took a gap year, I think every student should consider it, and many of the top colleges, ( like Harvard) actively suggest it to accepted students.</p>
<p>My kids mainly took a gap year to do something outside of a classroom.
When you have been doing the same thing earlier than you can remember, ( most kids don’t remember much of kindergarten) it can be very empowering to do something else for a while.</p>
<p>The Americorps programs also have the perk of a living stipend and an educational award to be used toward school tuition/loans.</p>
<p>If he doesn’t take a gap year, you mght want to consider schools which would still be affordable even if he changed majors/ schools and took 5 or 6 years to do so.
One of my kids friends has a great job at a space transport company, but I believe it took him 6 or 7 years to earn his engineering degree.
( I also think he took a break inbetween)</p>
<p>Are there honors programs available to him at the big state schools? Some of them have better advising so that getting lost in the crowd isn’t as likely. </p>
<p>A gap year without using the math he has learned has to possibility of making math difficult for a first year engineer. Also, how much is he struggling in AP Physics, is it Physics C, and could some of it be the teacher? AP Physics can be very difficult as a first exposure to heavily math-bases science, and I’ve heard of plenty of kids who struggled with AP Physics B (now 1&2) who went on to get Mech Eng degrees and be successful.</p>
<p>Since a typical gap year involves work, the typical resources would be wherever lists of entry level jobs suitable for high school graduates are found. Or he can continue lifeguarding and teaching swimming for a year. If he decides that doing that is not his long term career goal, that may motivate him more in terms of education.</p>