Hi CC,
I am a 15 year old high school junior (female) because of skipping 3rd grade and am strongly considering taking a gap year before college to get rid of my age difference that i have had to deal with my whole life and dont want to take to college. Anyways ive been thinking of gap year programs and i don’t know really what im look for. . I would like to do something social that surrounds me with other people my own age but still with an element of independence to be able to go out on my own sometimes if that makes sense. One major constraint i have is that i am a varsity rower who hope to continue in college, so what ever i do i would need the ability to workout for about 3 hrs or more each day, i have no preference as to location and im going to major in engineering in college if that matters (but i dont have to don something related to that). So if anyone has any ideas or suggestions id love to hear them!! also there are no financial constraints if that makes a difference.
Look into year abroad by AFS, Nacel, etc.
I know of a boarding school in France that has champion rowers.
I skipped the 3rd grade as well. A year’s difference shouldn’t be a big deal if you are just as socially mature as your peers, and there are plenty of students who will enter college at 17 (although I could have potentially graduated a year early at 16, but chose not to in order to take more college credit classes in high school). If anything your age difference is a bigger hindrance in high school than at university, where peers are more likely to be accepting.
That aside, if you want to take a gap year, you could try getting an internship with an engineering firm, if it all possible, to gain experience and try to get a leg up on other engineers who would actually be your age. I think that means you would also have time to join a gym and work out on rowing machines and other areas you need to train for rowing. Or if you want you could stay a year behind in school, stay on the varsity rowing team, and take more AP classes. The French boarding school idea sounds fine, too.
try usagapyearfairs.org for a comprehensive list of programs