My child is very young to be a Senior in HS. We are considering a GAP year after graduation. Does anyone have experience with applying to schools and asking for deferrment to attend GAP programs? What GAP programs are legit and worthwhile?
Humm, might be a better question for the Parent’s forum. Many colleges will grant a gap year, but I do see publics that state they will not.
Take a look at The Gap Year Advantage by Haigler and Nelson.
Where is the parent forum?
Tufts offers a new program that funds a gap year of community/global service
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/14/tufts-gap-year-pay_n_4963850.html
Moving to the Parent Forum.
Many colleges encourage gap years. Harvard even puts it right in their acceptance letter as a suggestion. Personally, assuming your finances are up for it, my favorite gap year activity is a year in a foreign country nailing down whatever language your child studied in high school. Achieving fluency before college is a hugely useful skill that makes many things in college that might not be otherwise. For example, I wrote my college undergrad thesis on low cost housing in London, Paris and Berlin. I got a grant the summer before my senior year doing research on site. If I hadn’t been able to demonstrate my competence in those languages, I would not have gotten the grant.
I graduated high school at 16 and spent a gap year living with a French family and attending this place: http://www.institutdetouraine.com/en The German I learned in college, but also spent part of the summer after my Freshman year solidifying it at a Goethe Institute.
There are a number of threads about gap years here at CC if you do a search. Here is a recent one. http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1773907-gap-year-parents-p1.html
My D is doing a gap year. Every college (small LACs) she contacted about the gap year indicated that it would be fine to defer and that she would keep her merit aid.
Her plans are still up in the air a bit. She is on the wait list for Americorps NCCC right now and is looking at other Americorps options. But I think she is most excited about possible Student Conservation Association internships and WWOOFing. There are lots of possibilities out there and not all of them are expensive.
OP,
My son is doing a gap year after applying to colleges this past fall. He’ll start at U Penn in Aug. 2016.
He’s not doing any formal programs. He’s working as a musician and teaching cello this summer. He wants to take a class or two for pleasure (wants to take calc-based physics, and Penn said he could take a class or two as a non-matriculating student) and get a part time job working with his hands. He’ll also do a lot of music, doing another solo in the fall.
Don’t feel you have to have a plan or formal program for a gap year.
Frankly, my son needed more time to mature and for us to get his health issues in order. That was the biggest reason he took a gap year. He just had another ear surgery (new tube–hopefully, it will work better), and just found out that he should probably have another eye surgery (his eyes don’t converge, making reading hard; he had one eye done in junior year, but his eyes are worse again). And he has low energy (maybe related to diabetes?), so we need to get that somewhat figured out, too.
The extra year will be a huge blessing to my son.
if you google Gap Fair 2016 and your nearby large city, you will find a Gap Fair to attend. learned 3 things…1 gappers are: more likely to graduate in 4 years, have an overall higher GPA, and are happier. my daughter is interested in nature and animal science. she will attend the International School for Earth Studies in Quebec. They do their Gap year by the 4 seasons. Between seasons, she will come home and work. Work experience is critical to appreciating having a college degree. Many parents say, “I wish my child had taken a Gap year” they really needed it to mature.
It depends on how young is young. If you are looking for gap year programs, make sure to check age requirements. Many still want an 18-year-old. Internships can be tricky for minors as well but worth looking into.