<p>So, I have a college fund with a decent amount of money in it, but my mom has declared that she is done adding money. I really want to travel and am seriously considering a gap year because it would give me the time to travel to a lot of different places and do what I want there. The problem with this is that I would have to get a full ride to college that I would also be able to put on hold, because I would need my college money to pay for the gap year. I've always intended to get a scholarship, but I see the difficulty of getting a full ride and I don't even know if I would be able to put it on hold. So does anyone have any advice? Are there full ride scholarships I can put on hold? Scholarships for gap year travel?</p>
<p>Ask the admissions counselors at the colleges you’re looking at if they defer enrollment and scholarships. Many defer enrollment for a year, but I’m not so sure about the aid. Especially if you’re just looking to travel “for the fun of it” and not to do volunteering, activism, etc. </p>
<p>Do you actually have enough in your fund to pay for 4 years of college? If not, then you’ll probably need to take out loans anyway. Think about it…spend the money on travel and take out loans for school, or spend the money on school and have fewer loans and perhaps be able to travel more later on. Sure, it’s easier now and since you have the money available. But you need to consider your job prospects and what you can afford to pay back, as well.</p>
<p>Full rides are difficult to come by in general and this would certainly be a case by case decision by the school. What schools are you considering that give full rides? </p>
<p>Have you discussed using your college fund for travel with your parents? There may be tax consequences for doing this and, personally, I wouldn’t have allowed one of mine to - if it wasn’t used specifically for college then the money would have reverted back to me or been redirected to the college funds of the siblings. </p>
<p>There are scholarships specifically for study abroad once you’re actually in college. That may be a better option, especially if you don’t get the full ride you’re looking for.</p>
<p>My daughter worked two jobs for 6 months to pay for almost 6 months of travel- you may have to adjust your expectations.</p>
<p>She would have liked to have had a full year but as the mom wondering what her child was doing on the other side of the world, I think 6 months was plenty!</p>
<p>I agree that study abroad options in college might be better, and a lot of schools have summer internship and volunteer opportunities in different countries as well. The summer programs can be pricey but sometimes offer some support or include fundraising to lower costs. You could spread your trips out over one summer to the next instead of running all over the place at once.</p>
<p>When you say college fund, do you mean the 529 fund? There is a penalty of 10% on earnings if its is used for nonqualified purposes, in addition, the balance of the eranings will be taxable. So, lets say your parents put in $5,000 in the fund 20 years ago and the fund is now worth $15,000. If you use all $15,000 for the traveling, your parents will pay first a $1,000 penalty plus the remaining $9,000 will be taxed in the prevailing rate on the tax return.</p>
<p>I’m curious, is your Mom willing to let you use the college savings to go traveling?</p>
<p>I know I would not have. I’d have been fine with one of my kids taking a gap year and traveling - on their own dime. But money we had saved for college would not have been used to finance it. It would have stayed in savings for when the kid eventually went to college and if they did not go to college, it would have been rolled into the other kids college account. If neither had gone to college it would have reverted to Mom and Dad.</p>
<p>Do you have very high stats - SAT/ACT/GPA? Full rides are very rare and very hard to come by. To find out if you can get a full ride you would have to apply to the school and be awarded the full ride. Then you would have to ask if it can be deferred. This will vary by school and possible by each scholarship within a school. I know the full tuition scholarship (not full ride, just full tuition - still lots of expenses to pay) my daughter got required her to start at the school the fall following HS graduation and could not be deferred. There may be some out there that can be deferred, but only the school could tell you.</p>
<p>I have certainly never heard of a scholarship for gap year travel. Some schools do give scholarships for study abroad through their study abroad programs.</p>
<p>I have certainly never heard of a scholarship for gap year travel.</p>
<p>I agree with your post swimcatsmom.
As well, there are various levels of cost for gap programs, some like CityYear, will give you a living stipend as well as an education award that can be applied to tuition/loans.
( not as glamourous as travel however)</p>
<p>Have you considered working for the first part of your gap year, and then using that money to travel for the second part? </p>
<p>It isn’t exactly “travel,” but Rotary offers some lower cost student exchange programs. The Peace Corps is open to those 18 plus.</p>
<p>The peace corps generally requires people to have at least an undergrad degree, or some special skills and experience.</p>