I don’t know how many people on here are realistically thinking about taking a gap year after high school, but I thought I’d just throw out my assistance just in case someone out there wanted some advice.
Last year during my senior year, I was like everyone else and was applying to colleges during the fall/winter time. In the spring, I had a few acceptance letters and some scholarships to consider. But after many, many, many sleepless nights, I decided it was not the time for me to go to college yet. I just felt I needed time to mature and ponder more on what I really wanted in life. Plus, it’s always been a dream of mine to travel the world.
So far this year, I have finished up a volunteering stint in Tanzania as an English teacher. I am currently in Cambodia to perform a job shadow at a local dental clinic and soon I will be off to Australia to work for 5-6 months. This whole time that I’ve been overseas I have also been reapplying to colleges.
If you are a high schooler that has questions about taking a gap year, please feel free to ask me! If you have questions about what to do on a gap year, how applying to colleges while on a gap year works, where you should go/do, etc., I promise I will do my best to answer them or point you in the right direction to find an answer!
Based on what you know, does applying during the gap year put you at a disadvantage vs. just applying during your senior year and deferring attendance?
@turkle321 My case is kind of weird. I applied to only three schools last year (which was the worse decision of my life) and got accepted to 2 and denied to the other one (even though my GPA and SAT scores were well above their standards). For School A, I got a decent scholarship but after a lot of thinking, I realized that I most likely was not going to like it there (again, I had to worst college planning ever lol). For School B, I got a small scholarship and I imagined I would like it there, but the cost was still too high for my parents and I. So basically that’s why I didn’t seek any deferrals. I am reapplying to School B again to see if I could possibly get a better scholarship.
But if you did get accepted to a school you liked and are able to afford it (either with or without scholarships/aid), then it would definitely be a good idea to seek a deferral. The only problem is that every school is different regarding deferrals. Some colleges accept deferrals, some don’t, and some do but won’t hold your scholarship for you (if you got one). Here’s a small list of deferral policies for some colleges http://www.americangap.org/fav-colleges.php, but it is for the 2013-14 year so they definitely could have changed. The best thing to do would be to directly contact a university admissions officer.
@turkle321 So in some cases it is best to defer and in other cases it is better to just reapply; it all depends on the university’s policy. Sometimes you will have no choice but to reapply!
^That was my question too - and also what does the support system look like? Do you have to pay for your own food and lodging or does the program pay for that?
@juillet Almost every program I have ever read over always includes food and accommodations, which in my case was with local families. But of course, you should always check and make sure. As far as support system goes, do you mean in terms of like leaders and managers? For myself personally, both of my volunteer placements were really independent. The companies I worked with had contacts in country which got my settled and were always there for help but for the most part I was pretty free to do what I wanted. But there are plenty of group volunteer projects available where obviously you’d be working with a group of volunteers (usually younger adults) and there would be a guide/leader that would be with you the whole time and manage the trip.
I would love to hear your advice! My senior year I always talked about taking a gap year because I just honestly had no idea what I wanted out of a school. However, I applied and was accepted to a few. I visited two of them and fell in love with one (university of Florida). However since I’m out of state it was $40,000 a year. Even though my mom wasn’t too worried, The price freaked me out so bad. I panicked so much I applied to two schools with rolling admissions that were cheaper. I got accepted to one in Florida and figured I would be happy being in Florida (that was one thing I knew I wanted out of a school was a warmer climate). However, the first time visiting the school was the day before I moved in. I was so upset, I don’t know if it was actually the school or just not being ready to go off to college. Anyway, me being dumb I stuck it out for the semester but suffered severe depression and anxiety. Now I’m home from break and feel much better. I was thinking about taking next semester off and taking a temporary leave of absence. How was your experience? Did you feel it was hard to come back to school? Did you get bored or feel like you were missing out? Did you actually discover what you want to do - i know someone who took a gap year and still has no idea
@newuser321 Hey I’m sorry for the really late reply! My life has been very chaotic and busy for these last couple of weeks!
But anyways, I am very sorry to hear about your situation but I am glad to hear that you are doing better! Without a doubt, my experience has been absolutely beyond amazing. At this moment in time, I feel like I have changed so much (in a good way) and have really have matured. If I had to make the decision all over again, I would without hesitation choose a gap year again.
I am actually pretty stoked to be heading back to school next year (for the record, I am still overseas )! Part of my reason for taking a gap year was that I felt pretty burnt out from high school. But now I feel really refreshed and reenergized. I think it’ll be a little difficult for me trying to recall some things that I learned in high school but I think it will be a very minimal problem.
There were definitely times that I got a little bored and felt I was missing out back home (especially during the Thanksgiving and Christmas time). But it wasn’t very often and anytime I would feel like that, I would just think how lucky I am to be doing what I am doing. Just staying positive and really indulging in the experience were the keys.
And as the for the whole discovering what I want to do thing… well it’s an interesting story. The reason I volunteered at a dental clinic in Cambodia (besides just generally wanting to help) was because I was pretty certain I wanted to go into dentistry. But now that I have done my volunteer project, I no longer want to head in that direction. Now just to be clear, the project I did in Cambodia in was so cool. Like I generally find dentistry interesting, it’s the cost, uncertainty, and extreme commitment that I realized was something that I didn’t want to take on. I in no way think my time in Cambodia was a waste, I mean it helped me to realize the direction I was heading was not right for me! And Cambodia is one of the coolest places on Earth too
I still have 4 months until I have to head home so I still have plenty of time to reflect on what I want in the future!
But all in all, I highly recommend a gap year (or gap semester in your case). Hope this helps!
No offense, because OP means well, and is completely sincere in his efforts, but I clicked on three of the links that OP offers.
It looks like the OP is offering advice for people seeking gap year programs that you need to pay for. You “volunteer” at a place that costs you a lot of money. These seem to be expensive vacation packages that include “volunteering” to look nice on your college resume, instead of, say, water skiing or lounging by a pool as part of other sorts of vacation packages. I’m sure that the volunteer work includes actual work, but the price is out of reach of most people here contemplating gap years.
There are ways to take a gap year that don’t cost anything and during which you can actually make money, if that is your goal. But that belongs in a new thread.
Hello, I am a Junior in high school right now and I would love to take a gap year just to see what is really out there in the world. I’d like to possibly hitchhike/couchsurf to travel throughout the Americas (I live in Florida) or maybe volunteer for 6-12 months in a country like Costa Rica or Chile.
My inspiration for hitchhiking came from this video… https://youtu.be/R7vmHGAshi8
(Very interesting and only about 20 min long)
After my gap Year, my top choices for college are: Stanford, UCSD, UCLA, or Duke. I have all A’s currently and I’m taking 4 AP’s and 3 honors classes.
So my questions are,
How much would I expect to have to pay to take part in a volunteer program?
Is it simply case-by-case?
Are some free and if so are they legit?
Keep in mind I would most likely have to pay for it all myself even though my parents could easily afford it, they are very traditional and I’m sort of the standout in my family as in I’m more unconventional. However, I would have all of this summer and Senior year to work if necessary. (I will likely just take 4 AP classes my senior year and would have time for other things)
I haven’t yet started applying to colleges. But I emailed about 8 and they all said that I could either apply normally and then defer my enrollment a year, or apply at the end of my gap year.
@Dustyfeathers I think perhaps I should have made my post a little more clear. I linked those sites as places to start not as places you MUST choose from. In fact, there are a lot of programs on those sites that I would probably also not recommend. Unfortunately, you are right: there are many programs out there that are more glorified vacations then they are actual volunteer projects. But with that being said, if enough research is done (and I mean hours and hours of it), it is possible to find a program that is an actual project consisting of actual contributions.
On the topic of costs, I am very curious to know how you think someone can do a gap year at no cost? Are you referring to gap years where someone stays in their local area? If you could just clear up what you mean that would be great. And trust me, I know there are ways to make money on a gap year because that is literally what I am doing right now in Australia.
Continuing on that subject, yes many programs cost a lot of money. Of course part of the cost will be to cover food and accommodation but then shouldn’t cost that much money right? Especially in a third world country? The problem is that everyone seems to forget, as ugly as the truth may be, that these companies that sponsor volunteer programs are businesses too. They have overhead costs to cover and need to make a profit to stay afloat. Many times they will even tell you that part of your program fee is used to cover administrative, marketing, etc. costs. Is it wrong for these companies to make a profit off of young adults just trying to make a difference in the world? I would argue so. But the world is an ugly place and unfortunately we live in times where capitalism and neoliberalism have a firm position in the world of volunteering and philanthropy. It’s just how it is. This all goes back to the whole research component. The best programs are going to be the ones that i) have actual work factors to them ii) don’t hinder the local economy of volunteer areas iii) don’t include all the thrills and nonsense of the “glorified vacations” you were speaking of and iv) are of somewhat sensible cost. There’s a lot of sifting through the BS that is required before you can find an at-least-somewhat compassionate company that is more focused on the volunteering itself, not the profit.
And as for the article, I understand the message and humor behind it but I think it is a little bit too sensational and misguided.
@JBanks41 I don’t really have too much knowledge about the Americas but I will try my best to assist you!
As far as hitchhiking goes, I am obviously not going to tell you what to do but in all honesty, I really would recommend not to. Again I am a little naive about the Americas, but it’s pretty common knowledge that crime is extremely high there and that there is a lot of anti-American sentiment there also (because let’s be honest, there are a lot of reason to hate Americans :/). Another thing to point out is that imagine the extreme anxiety and fear you’re family would have to go through; just being overseas (and especially in an area such as the Americas) is enough to make parents worried. I just really think that the risks are far too high against the rewards in this case. Any transportation is certainly going to have extreme risks in the Americas, but I would recommend trying to research bus or train companies that are reputable and have a history of serving Westerners.
Now to projects, after just a google search a found a really cool website! http://www.volunteersouthamerica.net/ has a list of low-cost volunteer projects across SA and after clicking on some of the links they seem legit! But please please please be careful when looking through them as I only click on a few of them and of course scams are very prominent in the area of volunteering.
It is good that you are just a junior because you still plenty of time to save up money! Do you have a job right now? If not, I would start looking for one now (unless you have other commitments right now) since you think your parents will be of no financial help. The more $$$$ you have by the end of senior year, the less stress you will have
And this is completely off-topic, but do you have some safety schools chosen too? Don’t forget those
In my opinion, as long as you watch out for basic safety and don’t do stupid things (ie walk out alone in the mountains or a desert), then you should be fine.
Picking safe countries should also be kept in mind. Don’t be shocked when you are mugged by desperate Ghanaians while walking along a dirt path unprotected.
)! Part of my reason for taking a gap year was that I felt pretty burnt out from high school. But now I feel really refreshed and reenergized. I think it’ll be a little difficult for me trying to recall some things that I learned in high school but I think it will be a very minimal problem.