<p>on and btw, lots of college mail does not mean that you are a good fit and should expect an acceptance. Colleges send out the same stuff to kids whose PSAT scores are at or above a certain cutoff. I myself received tons of mail from top schools, but I didn't fool myself into thinking that it meant anything. They just wanted my application to boost the numbers and get the app fee. If I got in, great, but I pretty much knew that the mail was promotion and advertisement.</p>
<p>I know mail and acceptance are not directly related but they do mean something. They usually mean that the SATs, PSATs, gpa or interests listed on the collegeboard or other website are reasonably close to what they expect. I read whatever they sent me and looked up the school and determined if its a match from there.</p>
<p>I am frankly surprised that people in the US aren't more supportive of a gap year. Sweet Lacrosse player and sharpielove, it isn't a bad thing. For Daniel, it might be a good thing. So this isn't England. English kids and American kids aren't all that different. Except for the accents. :-). </p>
<p>The principle is the same whether you are in England, Australia, or the USA. It is an opportunity for growth and maturing. Some people aren't ready to go from the pressure cooker of high school straight into college. </p>
<p>Why does it matter if he graduates a year later? Really, it won't hurt his job or graduate school applications at all. I'm a career counselor, I know. In fact, it might be great for his graduate school personal statements. Also, he may not have the opportunity to spend a year doing meaningful volunteer work ever again in his life. Let him take the year while the opportunity is there. Once you get going in college, work, grad school, it gets harder to take a break, look around, and reassess. Again, this is not a bad thing! </p>
<p>Let Daniel do what is right for Daniel, and don't give him such a hard time. He had safeties, he shot high and is clearly disappointed. He came to this forum for support not criticism.</p>
<p>But will he have a better chance to get into Berkeley, Stanford, Penn, Harvard, Yale, Georgetown when his year is up? Will they accept him then? And if they do not will he enroll at his safeties then?
There is nothing wrong with a gap year but he got into plenty of schools and is acting like he was rejected everywhere.</p>
<p>Hopefully part of the gap year will be reassessing his options and choices. Whether he increases his chances depends on what he does with his time. It won't increase them a lot because apps go in fairly early in the gap year. </p>
<p>Hopefully he find a safety he loves and some closer matches. A lot can change in a few months, I expect he won't apply to the exact same list.</p>
<p>I think the only way I'd let my kid take a gap year was if he/she were taking college classes for credit part-time , working part-time, volunteering, studying (to improve some test grades), and started to be more independent (in all aspects).</p>
<p>I would just look furthur into your safties and choose the best fit you could get at this point. If you still don't like it, you could transfer to another school.</p>
<p>I never said taking a gap year was bad. Im saying its bad if you take one for the WRONG REASONS, which I feel that he is doing. Take a gap year to learn more about yourself and to help others, don't take it because you got rejected everywhere and you have to go to your saftey. Besides, who says you wont get rejected everywhere next year too? And I would really hate to take those SAT tests over again...</p>
<p>Good point, he should take the gap year for the right reasons. Really, really, not wanting to go to a certain school seems like a good reason, and I'm discerning some general exhaustion and just needing a break from this kid. He has a plan, it needs further development. I agree with Sungchul on the types of things he should do. It must be substantive or it will waste his time and the colleges won't be impressed. Fortunately, he has several weeks to decide and assess his options. </p>
<p>Links with pros and cons for all who are interested are:</p>
<p>Good luck, Daniel, tough decision!</p>
<p>I think most of us are saying the same thing in different words. Most agree that GAP years are worthwhile IF the student puts a lot into planning it so it is well used. It's really the student who has to sell the GAP year to the parents by setting out why it's the best option & what he proposes to do. Convincing us is really not an issue one way or another, as it isn't our life and we're not paying for it one way or another.
Andison took a very well-planned and productive gap year because he didn't get into ANY of the schools he applied to & got into a lot of great schools when he applied during the GAP year. His credentials were amazing & I'm sure you can pull up threads about it.
GAP years for the right reasons that are well planned out can be awesome, but for the wrong reasons can be a great cause of family strife and may cause students to discontinue their education, with the gap in education lengthening far beyond a year. Structure and a plan are important things to consider in a GAP year.
Good luck in working through this with your family & HS.</p>
<p>Thank you for all your help. I will be attempting to convince my mom of a "gap years"'s advantages and plan it out as much as possible for the next couple weeks. Can anyone provide a link to this Andison story? I've done a couple searchs and have not found the original story. I've only found an occasional mention.</p>
<p>Look in archives, I think it was 2005 admissions season. I saw a link on another post but can't find it. Interesting story. He did, evidently, apply to an entirely different list of schools and got a free ride to a very, very good school, if I recall correctly. Did something interesting in the gap year. A great resource. If I find it I will let you know.</p>
<p>Found a link! <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=192395&highlight=andison%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=192395&highlight=andison</a></p>
<p>If it doesn't work, do advanced search on keyword andison from a year ago or less. Good luck.</p>
<p>Actually, he applied to SOME of the same schools & some different schools. He was an amazing applicant the 1st time around & even more amazing when he applied during his carefully thought out & well structured GAP year. He got a number of fabulous acceptances his 2nd time around.</p>