<p>I'm about to finish my junior year of high school, and I'm thinking about taking a gap year after high school and applying to Americorps NCCC. It sounds like a great experience and I know I'll learn a lot from it, but I'd be spending 10 months traveling around the country, and I'm not sure how much time I'd get to practice. I'm planning on majoring in music education with a concentration in voice, so I'd probably have more opportunities to sing than say if I was majoring in tuba or something, but I'm not sure how my voice would be affected without a lot of training for almost a year. Would this be a detriment to me when I actually start college the year after? Would I even be able to defer my admission to the college I decide to go to for a year, or would I have to re-audition again?</p>
<p>Most people who take gap years and are music majors do it in order to get their chops together and audition. Not playing your instrument/voice for 10 months is definitely not a good choice, unless you’re really confident that you’ll be accepted even after letting your skills slide a bit. The only real detriment would be that you won’t be ready for your audition, and you might not get in anywhere(but again, that depends on how good you are as of right now).</p>
<p>As stated, the musical gap year is typically used for intense preparation to build skills or hopefully take a student to a point where they would be competitive in the top performance programs. </p>
<p>Much is contingent on your current skill set and development, and if you have the time and ability to AT LEAST maintain them during a gap year.</p>
<p>Consider the schools where you would be applying. As a music ed major, your best financial options are probably within your state system, and not necessarily the most competitive of audition pools like the conservatory programs. Also, music ed auditionees are not (usually) held to the higher audition standard of performance majors (but often to a higher academic bar). Consider also your current level of development and musical experiences and get your private instructor’s feedback and assessment, along with that of another professional or two.</p>
<p>If you’ve had high intensity training and immersion experiences, including competitive audition based summer programs where you could peg your skills against a national base, you might be ok.</p>
<p>As for auditioning, applying and asking for a deferral for a gap, it’s usually not an option for music admits, but I would suggest you look closely at the policies of the schools where you would be applying and ask the pointed questions upfront.</p>
<p>Our daughter, a music ed major, is doing a gap year. However, she has already been accepted – just immediately deferred. (School was cool about it – merit aid is held for 1 year.)
Rationale for doing this now is that she wants some time to travel and learn a language, and is aware that there will NOT be time for this once she begins college. The music ed curriculum is so scripted that even study abroad is unlikely. So it’s a ‘now or never’ proposition.
Conservatories may not be so accomodating, but most LACs/etc. are accustomed to the gap year by now. I would not wait to apply, however! Much easier to do so with your class, with the guidance department’s help, etc.</p>
<p>My concern would be regarding the same soft of issue mim brings up about loss of merit aid – I know of one school at least which is not forgiving of gap years – in at least one situation, it allowed the student to return after the gap year but the scholarship money would not be available. That was one case at one school. Its applicability may be relevant only to that student; that situation, and that school, but I would certainly check into it before making any plans written in stone. Good luck to you.</p>
<p>I am a high school junior now. looking for something after he finishes senior year. only found 2 so far one in Australia working in a music company with opportunity for experience in music production and recording and opportunity to build up vocal chops while learning the business and technical side. through Global Experiences</p>
<p>another in new zealand where I could be music teacher or assistant to music teacher teaching musical instrumentation to orphans. this one is through Gap Year 365</p>
<p>anyone else go any other recommendations?</p>
<p>I would think that if someone is entirely focused on music, the two best options are to go right into the conservatory or college music program, or to spend a year getting improving (if not accepted into the program you want to go to).</p>
<p>A desire to do something else, though, might mean that you could develop other interests that could be fulfilling.</p>
<p>Music is a pretty all-consuming path. Before embarking on it, if you have doubts, maybe a year off doing something very different will lead you to other interests.</p>
<p>Keeping all options open might be tough. At the very least, practicing enough so as to maintain would help prevent closing off the music possibility. (I don’t really know much about voice, but know that the urgency is less and that preserving voice is important versus overtraining at your age, so that makes a gap year a little more appealing for you than others, perhaps).</p>
<p>My daughter just took 9 months off from professional dance, to have some broader experiences. She does not regret it, but her technique will need to be built back up if she decides to go that route. It was worth it, but now things are tough for her in class. And she may never go back to that same single-minded kind of discipline. Which is fine, and it was good to find out before she is fully committed.</p>