<p>Well two things stand out. He does not prefer a gap year, yet it is still an open question – and it should not be, if he is in charge here. Second, it is more than a bit strange to think that he cannot reach his full potential at Rutgers. </p>
<p>I have seen more than a few people on CC get all bent out of shape over how precisely prestigious a school is. Indeed this seems to be a particular problem for parents in your region of the country; New Yorkers especially. I encountered this exact problem with two students over the past month, and in both instances the families lived in the NYC metro area. Those parents were clearly out of line and driving their kids to distraction over the prestige of the colleges. Nothing but the absolute best for their kids, whether the kids wanted it or not.</p>
<p>Sorry, no offense, but I was starting to get suspicious.</p>
<p>I do not know your financial resources, but if your family can realistically afford to send him to Rutgers and if that is the only alternative to a gap year, then he should go to Rutgers unless he personally comes up with a serious gap year plan this month. A gap year is not a reasonable response to disappointing admissions results. Life rarely allows “do overs” and, besides, Rutgers is a perfectly respectable institution.</p>
<p>“Hanna, the gap year is risky if you do not fill it with serious activity, and do not really want to do it anyway.”</p>
<p>Risk of what? What bad outcome could occur for a motivated student, other than perhaps some boredom that will put college and a professional career in a whole new perspective? I consider working 40 hours a week in retail or hospitality or landscaping to be serious activity.</p>
<p>And why does the gapping student need a job “beyond the service industry”? I’ve known a lot of students who had minimum wage jobs during a gap year. I had one (for two gap years). They can be just as enlightening – and just as helpful to the future applicant – as any expensive travel program.</p>
<p>I agree that a gap year doesn’t look like the right option for the OP’s child, but the idea that a gap year could be “extremely risky,” posing some kind of danger (?) to the student’s educational future, is novel to me.</p>
<p>Life does have second chances, but they are not risk free or cost free. The possible upside is small, while the cost is known and significant (delaying his life by a year, possibly doing something that he considers less desirable than going to college), and the first chance option of attending Rutgers is a perfectly good one.</p>
<p>Wow. A kid with great scores and ECs, but with a 3.7, doesn’t get into Ivies, Chicago, Berkeley or Northwestern. This should not be a surprise to any GC in the country.</p>
<p>Things may have changed, but as of a few years ago, Rutgers did not allow deferrals. I’m active in the Jewish community, where a lot of students do post-HS gap years in Israel. I recall Rutgers being one of the very few schools that required students to reapply if you took a year off.</p>
<p>Another vote here for Rutgers. I did very well in English PhD admissions several years ago. The person I met on visits who had done by far the best was a girl from Rutgers - as far as I could tell, she got in everywhere, which is almost unheard of. I also have a friend who was something of a slacker in high school who wound up totally blossoming at RU and got into many top physics programs, including MIT. She had a tight-knit group of friends in college, all of whom were very bright, serious students - and none of whom were the typical “big college” types. </p>
<p>These are anecdotes, but the point is I don’t think they are total anomalies - really bright students will find others like them, get plenty of attention from professors who single them out as stars, and do extremely well after graduation. </p>
<p>When it comes to undergrad admissions, I just don’t think a gap year is going to make that much of a difference. The chances that OP’s son will get into some of those top choices next year isn’t necessarily great either - and given the opportunities available at Rutgers, I’m not sure it is worth doing a gap year to get into a Rochester or Tulane. If he really isn’t happy in a year, there are certainly some schools (although perhaps not his current top few choices) that might be reasonable transfer options, </p>
<p>I vote for Rutgers too if he can muster some enthusiasm and can go in with an open mind. It will not be the last time he will have to work past a disappointmemt. I also wonder about the GC. Many schools just do not like it when the GPA does not really line up with higher SAT’s. There needed to be more matches and safeties on the list, especially if he knew going in he really did not like Rutgers.</p>
<p>@mlfkoenig I am glad you are researching to find the best options for S. Sounds like your S is a great, very bright, motivated kid! I hope all your medical issues are resolved too! I think this will end up being a good year either way for your S and family. It may be a delay in launching far but lucky for all to have a little more time near each other. I have nothing to add just positive support for you. Big hugs to you both. </p>
<p>Funny, growing up in the Midwest, I thought Rutgers was a private university. I had no idea it was the NJ flagship until much later – when I was in academia in the sciences. It has a very good reputation in the sciences among scientists.</p>
<p>I thought you were prohibited from applying elsewhere with most deferrals, but no mention. Be sure.</p>
<p>Before he decides to defer or not, he may want to look up transfer rates at a selection of colleges–it can vary and in some cases be extremely unlikely.</p>
<p>More anecdote but a few years ago at my daughter’s large high ranking HS in NJ the salutatorian went to Yale and the valedictorian went to the honors college at Rutgers! As far as I know both have done very well and been successful. At the honors college in Rutgers he will be in good company with other top performing kids.</p>
<p>As others have said, with the 3.7 GPA, none of this should have been a surprise. It is a shame that the GC did not give your son more realistic expectations.</p>
<p>OP: Although Rutgers is getting a lot of love on this thread, I absolutely understand why ending up there would feel disappointing to your son–maybe because I’m a Jersey girl! There IS a reason that NJ is the leading “exporter” of college students! That said, Rutgers could be a wonderful experience for him. The good news is that your son has two options that could turn out wonderfully: going to Rutgers or a productive gap year followed by another, better-informed, roll of the dice. It sounds like your family has had an awful year, and that may be adding to the sense that this is a catastrophe. But, really, you have a very bright and hard-working kid who will be fine. I second the advice about his attending admitted-student event(s) at Rutgers so he has a clear sense of what he might be giving up.</p>
<p>The reason I say that is that you call him stubborn for not wanting to do what you want him to do. I am personally not a fan of gap years unless the student has a real reason to put college on hold (like a religious mission, or some other personal project). There is nothing that will be dramatically different about his academic record a year from now if he takes a gap year. He will just be a year older.</p>
<p>There really isn’t anything wrong with Rutgers. If your son didn’t want to go to a large school he shouldn’t have applied to a large school.</p>
<p>@Hanna
You used the magic word… “motivated” and I would add the word “confident.” In order to successfully take a gap year, a student should have both. I am sure that you are one of those rare people who had both and that is probably why it really worked out for you. I just do not advise more ordinary folks to take a gap year.</p>
<p>What are the risks? Well, I will list three:
The student might not actually return to college. This is a real risk and might be sufficient argument in itself. In fact, I currently know a talented young man who appears poised, for the third year in a row, to not go to college. He prefers to pretend that he can become a professional athlete.
The student could lose their “edge.” It takes practice to be a great student. No serious athlete or musician would go a year or two without performing. Bright young intellects shouldn’t either.
Lost income due to graduating a year or more later. Actually, this is not merely a risk, it is almost guaranteed. Whatever income might be earned at age 18 or so (at near minimum wage) will be more than offset by income not earned, say, between age 22 and 23 (at college graduate salaries). In business, this is called “opportunity cost” and it is real.</p>
<p>Truthfully, I admit, there can be good reasons for a gap year. However, I would never advise it. Just like I would never advise somebody else to take the three biggest risks that I ever took (which paid off for me). Some things a person should only do if they know in their heart that it is right for them, even if everybody else disagrees. In short, if a gap year is truly the best thing for you, then you should not need encouragement from anybody else.</p>
<p>Proudpatriot, I am not saying he is stubborn because he won’t do what I want. I am saying he is stubborn because he perfectly fits the definition of stubborn:“having or showing dogged determination not to change one’s attitude or position on something, esp. in spite of good arguments or reasons to do so”. This is my son, and it applies to everything, not just whether he takes a gap year. </p>
<p>I don’t know myself if a year off is the right thing for him, which is why I asked for the merits of the option in my original post.</p>
<p>I don’t know why people seem to take it personally when I say I am not sure Rutgers is the right place for him. HE is not sure Rutgers is right for him. There are many people in NJ who can understand our ambivalence. And I find it disheartening that I am being criticized for variously: helping him too much; not helping him enough; applying to the wrong school; not applying to the right school; thinking he is a stronger candidate than he is; not weighing in on CC sooner; and so on and so forth. I simply asked for the merits of the options. Personal bias was not really what I was looking for, although I do thank many who have provided well thought-out and helpful comments. </p>
<p>Also, several people have opined that his school list was inappropriate. I agree several of the schools were a reach, but not all. What schools are appropriate for a kid with a 2310 SAT, 800 and 750 subject SATs, 3.7 UW GPA at a magnet school with honors level classes (not perfect, but still an “A” average), AP calculus (the only AP course they offer at the school), top athlete, various extra-curriculars, and working as a busboy/waiter part time for last two years? I am not being sarcastic nor boastful, I am really curious. Thanks. </p>
<p>All of the schools except Rutgers and Berkeley are generally considered “reach for everyone” schools, and Berkeley is a reach for a student with a 3.7 GPA (although students with 3.7 GPAs do get into Berkeley, they appear to be most commonly those from disadvantaged low income backgrounds, and coming from a disadvantaged low income background is far from a guarantee of admission to Berkeley).</p>
<p>In any case, what could possibly be inappropriate with his list is not having a safety that he is sure that he likes. If he had a safety that he is sure that he likes, then the whole problem could have been avoided.</p>
<p>What is he unsure of about Rutgers? But since he would rather go to Rutgers than take a gap year, it seems like his uncertainty about Rutgers is not enough to override the substantial costs and risks of taking a gap year.</p>
<p>It wasn’t that the schools were inappropriate, its just they weren’t “matches”, which you thought they were - based on some of his stats, instead of realizing in this era of hyper competitive admissions, any college where the odds are far greater than any student will be rejected [80% +] than accepted [20% or even less] is a reach, not a match. He had all reaches and super reaches and one financial safety, which unfortunately wasnt a “true” safety, because it seems its not a college he or you would be happy for him to to go to. </p>