<p>Hi, I'm a rising college senior who's considering taking a break from school. I figure I'll probably graduate as much as year later, but I'm fine with this as long as I get to spend my college years the way I really want to. I'm doing really well, but I just need to take a break from the daily routine and experience a world larger than the privileged community I live in. Since I plan on attending graduate school, I anticipate being in school several more years after college. If I wait, I'm afraid I'll just get burnt out/jaded.</p>
<p>I know this is a highly personal question, but would you advise me to take this break now or wait until after college? On one hand, I might find it hard to get back into the school mindset. On the other, I feel I really need this break <em>at this time.</em> I might actually do better in school after taking this break since I'll be fully recharged.</p>
<p>I'm also concerned about finances. My college pays for most of my schooling, but I believe they will cover only up to 4 years. I would have to take loans to pay for whatever I decide to do in my year off, even if it's a study abroad program sponsored by my college. I guess I could just take on the debt and hope I'll be able to pay it all back after professional school, but this might be wishful thinking. Also, there might be programs out there that won't require a lot of money.</p>
<p>Any advice at all would be helpful. Thank you.</p>
<p>I think there’s something to be said for staying with your class. My Dad made me take a year off before college because he saw so may kids of his friends taking time off in the middle. As it happened I really enjoyed that year off, and also grabbed that the opportunity to take a year off before grad school as well. (I got a grant to travel around the country photographing fire stations, one of the best experiences of my life.) I don’t think there is one right or wrong answer here, but my inclination would be to take the year off after graduations. That said, you need to consider how you’ll support yourself and helath insurance. If study abroad is an option, that might give you your break without the other issues.</p>
<p>Well, you’re just beginning your summer break. 3 months will be enough to give you some energy to help you finish your senior year. Take the year off after graduation to do whatever you’d like to do while thinking about graduate school.</p>
<p>Yea, study abroad would be much less of a headache, since it would cover all the issues you mentioned. I’ll see what the Study Abroad Office has to say tomorrow (they were closed today). I also set up an appointment to talk to my adviser tomorrow.</p>
<p>Your project going around the country photographing fire stations sounds pretty cool. If I may ask, what was the point of it? My college also gives grants for projects like that. I would’ve applied, but I didn’t have this epiphany until after deadlines had passed.</p>
<p>Ticklemepink, I’m actually doing something this summer that requires a high level of mental energy. I might be exhausted by the end. Also, I’m concerned I might not perform my best in senior year if my motivation is not as high as it could be.</p>
<p>I’ve actually met some people from Roadtrip Nation and think what they do is pretty cool. However, at this point, I feel like I already know the general direction I want to take in life. I could be very wrong though or change my mind altogether.</p>
<p>If you need to take a break <em>at this time</em> as you state, then do it. Life is not a race, and mental health is important. Just be sure you go through the proper channels and complete the paperwork so that you can finish up the following year with no problems.</p>
<p>The point of it was to write the first architectural history of fire station architecture. (Which my partner in the project did.) We gave also gave all our negatives to the Library of Congress, where they presumably are in a box somewhere!</p>
<p>Personally, I would take this break between college and grad school. You likely will feel invigorated to get back to school into a masters program and will be ready to take it on. It is tough to take time off during college and then come back to the same thing. Better IMO to wait and when you do go back it will be to a different experience.</p>
<p>My husband went directly from undergrad to graduate school and ended up NEEDING to take a year off after the first year in his masters program at Yale (he just needed time off) but he came back incredibly rejuvenated and in some ways wishes he would have taken it before heading into the program. He ended up getting his PhD there without another year off. But a PhD or grad program is SO differnt than the undergrad life, easier in some ways (way more focused), harder in others (way more focused)
Not sure what that had to do with this, except that he said his year off was a huge boon.
So a year off is a good idea if you feel you need it, but it will probably be easier to do if you do it in between college and grad school</p>
<p>But then as one poster noted if you really NEED it now, take it. It is not the end of the world. It may be hard to go back but if you know yourself and you know you will finish, and you really need to do it (take a break), do it.</p>
<p>Just be sure you have health insurance; if you have coverage on your parent’s policy, look into what dropping from full time student status will do to your coverage.</p>
<p>Before making any decisions, you need to contact your school and get information about finances. Also, see what advice they have for people who want to take time off. My daughter’s college has an office that specifically deals with these issues. And the reason for that is that it encourages students to take the time off. I went to a session about this during parents weekend, and staff said many students benefit from taking time off, and come back to school invigorated and more focused, much more enthusiastic about their studies. </p>
<p>Only you know your mental state. If you feel burned out and know that you’ll be forcing yourself to endure another year of school, then you should take the time off. College is pretty expensive, and you want to get your full money’s worth.</p>
<p>If your mental health depends on taking a break, then take a break. Maybe working for Americorps for a year doing physical labor and volunteer work would give you the break you need? When I was on my last Habitat for Humanity build, we had two or three Americorps volunteers who were very positive about their experience. One was taking a break from undergraduate school. Think very carefully about the financial ramifications of your decision. You don’t want to take a break now only to find yourself under ten times as much pressure later. See if your college will make an exception and continue your financial aid if you take a break to do something worthwhile or something you need to do for health reasons. My son recently asked his school if he could take a gap year in the middle of his scholarship and they said he could if his leave of absence was approved by his major advisor. He is considering a gap year after sophomore year, something that never entered his mind until a few weeks before the end of the semester. It never hurts to ask, right? I love the Roadtrip Nation link, thanks for the post csleslie51!</p>
<p>rooibos - why Tibet or Mongolia? If you choose Tibet, understand that you probably won’t be allowed very far out of Lhasa, which is so populated by Chinese that you might as well just stay in China. For Mongolia there are programs that are looking for teachers to teach English; just google “teach in Mongolia”. Try reading Wolf Totem before you go. As for Nepal, there is a remarkable young woman, Maggie Doyne, who started a school/orphanage for Nepalese children ([Kopila</a> Valley Children’s Home - Surkhet, Nepal](<a href=“http://www.blinknow.org/]Kopila”>http://www.blinknow.org/)). They need volunteers. [College</a> Alternative | Gap Year Programs | Study Abroad | Leap Now](<a href=“http://www.leapnow.org/]College”>http://www.leapnow.org/) is another site offers some great ideas also for gap years.</p>
<p>Tibet because I’m interested in Buddhism, religion in general, and the human rights activism going on there. Mongolia because I want to experience life among the nomads, one of the few populations in the world untouched (for the most part) by globalization. I realize, though, that most programs there are in Ulan Bator. I’m not so sure about Nepal anymore. I lived in a dangerous country before and am not ready at this point to do it again–too much psychological stress. </p>
<p>Another country I’m considering is Vietnam. Any thoughts on Ho Chi Minh city?</p>
<p>I was hoping to apply for the Peace Corps for this fall, but apparently, one needs to start 9-12 months ahead of time. I imagine this program is highly selective, but do any of you know anything more about it?</p>
<p>Go ahead with Peace Corps. My friends who are doing it now applied in the fall and they were able to get their placement country by spring and moved there by July/August.</p>
<p>it’s a love-hate relationship from what I’ve heard. I read their blogs. My sense is that you’d better be a self-starter big time. Otherwise, there’s nothing else to do given that the school/health/economic system can be extremely messed up and inconsistent, leaving for lots of downtime. Don’t even think that you can make money while you’re there- you get what you get in PC. My friend had to do some language exchange lessons- learning Russian from a native speaker so that native speaker can get some English lessons (she’d prefer to get paid rather than speak more Russian…) You aren’t allowed to leave the country except for one month off a year.</p>
<p>Yet, some people found their niche and went with it all that they end up staying on for another year or two.</p>
<p>So in my thoughts, PC is for people who have a sense of adventure yet are willing to become acculturated in order to make the most of the experience as well as a sense of independence and resilience. It may be one of the toughest things you’d have to do in your life. I’m simply amazed by what my friends have had to do without and the kind of chores/tasks that they’d had to learn like making their own butter and doing laundry by hand.</p>
<p>Peace Corps sounds like something I would LOVE. Do you know what % of students get in? What are they looking for? I’m trying to see how widely I should explore other post-college options. If given the choice, I would definitely do PC, but it might be unrealistic to expect things would work out.</p>
<p>From the Peace Corps website (you should have been able to find this answer yourself instead of asking here)
“Every year over 12,000 people apply for only 4,000 Peace Corps Volunteer positions. Your educational background, professional experience and timely application submission are the keys to being chosen for one of the competitive Peace Corps positions in Health and HIV/AIDS, Business Development, Environment, Agriculture, Information Technology and Education, Youth Outreach and Community Development.”</p>
<p>I suggest you give the site a thorough look and then ask your questions.</p>
<p>Ohh thank you for that. When I Googled the exact quote, I found it in the Kansas page. I think they’re purposely not putting the figures in their main admissions webpage so as not to discourage applicants (I’m sure it’s one of the most FAQs yet it’s not included as part of that section even). I actually did try Google earlier but just haven’t posted the links yet. Here they are:</p>