<p>I'm a senior in high school and I'm not entirely big on the idea of going to college next year. I know that one could take a year or two off before going to college, but wouldn't that make it harder to get back in? Also, my parents expect me to go to college seeing as my father struggled to get where he is in life after immigrating from Africa. Not going at all or even postponing it is probably not an option in their minds.</p>
<p>My dad is set on my going to an IV league school though I would most likely not get in with two D's on my transcript (both in math, one second semester of my sophomore year and one second semester of my junior year). However, I am not big on going to an IV league school anyway.</p>
<p>In place of going to college I'd like to travel the world, experiencing different cultures and exploring new countries. I know that to do this would require money, that of which I obviously don't have being that I am still a high school student.</p>
<p>If I decided to go to college, I would most likely major in Creative Writing and minor in General English or something of the sort. I have been told that I am a great writer and have been taking honors english every year of high school.</p>
<p>Advice on any of my various problems would be greatly appreciated; I just need a little guidance and an outside opinion.</p>
<p>Well, I don’t think you are ready for a full college experience, so I would suggest a community college. Those D’s don’t help. You need to go to the CC for a couple of years to figure out if English is what you want to major in.</p>
<p>BTW: IV means “intravenous” to me, but I think you need to know that “ivy” is a plant. It used to run rampant over the walls of buildings like elite campuses so, the references to Ivy league schools are usually to the elite schools that used to have lots of ivy running all over the walls. </p>
<p>Aim to work and travel in a gap year or two. Then start college as a freshman. Good luck selling that to your parents. Look for evidence that proves it’s a good choice for teens. </p>
<p>If you’re not ready for college, don’t go. Trust your instincts. You want to go to college when you are ready to take full advantage of the opportunities it offers. There are too many students who go to college not ready or not wanting to be there and spending a lot of money to make their lives miserable. :(( </p>
<p>Stop dreaming about traveling the world because that isn’t happening next year. I want to do that, too, but then there are these bills to pay and mouths to feed. Put that off until you can afford to do it. </p>
<p>Tell your father that an ivy league school is unlikely at this point and that you’re going give yourself some time to mature and firm up your college resumé. Also, around your dad you might want to quiet the talk about majoring in English and instead spend some time doing some creative writing on the QT. </p>
<p>Try to find substantial work (even if that means digging ditches) so that you can take courses at a community college and pay for them yourself (and with the help of any financial aid). This is an inexpensive (usually) way to take college courses (gen ed requirements often) and then transfer into a (more expensive) four-year school. A long hard work week combined with a couple of college courses has a marvelous way of focusing the mind on what’s important to you. Compared to college, work often really sucks and serves as a good motivator to climb out of the ditch and get that college degree–but only when you’re ready.</p>
<p>Your parents will probably fight you on this, to some extent. After all, what did your parents struggle all those years for if you’re not going to college? You ARE going to college, just not on their timetable or anyone else’s.</p>
<p>College is not an escape from hard work, but it’s a very different kind of work and, when you are ready, much more pleasurable than most kinds of work. </p>
<p>Yeah, it is likely you shouldn’t go if you are firmly against it. But no one is going to fund your vacation. I know a guy who spent 2 years living in different parts of China teaching English but that was after he got a degree. I know another guy who has spent his life living in different countries, Sweden, Spain and is now in Berlin, but he has degrees and teaching credentials. </p>
<p>Travelling isn’t something you do in place of college. That is a false dichotomy. You can do both or neither too. In fact, going to college is one of the easiest ways to go overseas with the study abroad opportunities. My daughter went to Budapest for a semester and it was covered by her financial aid, she got a grant for airfare and travel money and spent a few weeks going to Ukraine, Turkey, Czech Republic, Italy, Germany, France and England. She also went to Thailand and Australia for a few weeks with her signing bonus before she started working.</p>
<p>If you got into Princeton or UNC you might even get your gap year paid for. (But you will not get into those colleges with Ds on your transcripts, you will not be going Ivy League, show your Dad some evidence of that if needed, you can find it online.) So you will have to do some research on cheap travel, or overseas volunteering options and how much that will cost you and how much of the year you will have to work to pay for it. Did you save money from previous jobs from your travel? </p>
<p>Basically if you want to convince your parents, have a plan and do your research.</p>
<p>There are certain travel trips that are “free”, where you don’t have to pay for your stay, but you do have to pay for your plane tickets. Ex. WWOOF. Just something to think about, if you really want to go traveling. </p>
<p>Also, you should probably make sure you do your testing, it is better to do while in HS, in case you didn’t yet. And you should probably put a few applications in at least this fall, just so you will have options if things look different to you next April. HS age people aren’t known for being constant.</p>
<p>What’s your GPA? Have you taken the SAT or ACT and what’s your score?
You could take a year off to work but you won’t be able to go on a yearlong vacation before colllege unless you work this year and save all the money WHILE getting good grades senior year :). Another option is to apply to do a high school year abroad - Nacel, AFS… offer those. They cost some money but are great for preparing you for college. WWOOFing is good if you’re used to farm work, which it doesn’t sound like you are.
Finally, you could apply to college, then ask to defer and do your gap year (working or “high school abroad”) then, with a college waiting for you.
Tell your dad that any university or LAC ranked in the top25 is basically out of reach at this point due to the D’s (those expect A’s). Check out Colleges that Change Lives.</p>
<p>A gap year is always a good idea if you don’t feel you are ready for college, however I think traveling is a bit idealistic and unrealistic goal/desire for how to spend the time. To sell the idea of taking a year off to your parents, say you will take classes at a community college for a year or two to test different subjects and see what interests you (which is a good idea in of itself).</p>
<p>If you have your heart set on traveling, there are many colleges that offer extensive study abroad opportunities - my sister for instance went to Northeastern and in the first three years was able to study and co-op in: the Dominican Republic, Rwanda/Uganda, India, and Thailand - next year she’s also going to Argentina. You can look for other colleges, too, that would provide this type of experience.</p>
<p>If you need financial aid do not take community college classes to dabble or it will likely make you a transfer student. Transfers can have a much harder time getting aid. A gap year needs to be a no college gap year. (Some will count you as a freshman with low units but you don’t know which and most will call you a transfer.)</p>
<p>Thanks so much for all your suggestions. I’ve taken the SAT and I got a 1770. My GPA last year wasn’t all that great: 2.8. I’ve been leaning more towards going to a community college for two years and traveling my junior or senior year of college but I would also be open to going straight into any four years that would take me, as I most likely need some amount of financial aid.</p>
<p>What state are you in?
What is your gpa for each of the other years, or your cum gpa?
What is the breakdown of your SAT, many schools only look at M and CR so what are those?
Am I correct your are Afr. Amer.?
Some rough idea of income level?</p>
<p>and your dad wants you to go to an Ivy League school??? What planet is he on? or does he not know your stats?</p>
<p>You need to inform dad that to get into an ivy these days, you pretty much need a 3.9+ and a SAT of 2150+…and typically need to rank very high in your class (the ivies have a lot of Vals and Sals.). You are nowhere near that.</p>
<p>The OP’s father is a struggling immigrant, who probably has only heard of a handful of colleges. That is not at all unusual. There are a number of students posting similar dilemmas on CC. </p>
<p>2.8 and 1800-ish does not mean Ivy and it does not mean community college. There are literally THOUSANDS of colleges between the Ivy League and community colleges!
Buy your dad 'Colleges that change lives", by Loren Pope (pretty cheap if you buy it used).
Read it too - you’d find lots of suggestions there (reaches, matches, and safeties).
In addition, check out the lists “A+ schools for B students”.</p>
<p>Well, you have few choices. I think you might not be ready for college or your dad is not ready to pay for it, so here are the choices.</p>
<ol>
<li>Take a gap year and do some thing, in the mean time you will get ready for college.</li>
<li>Learn a trade from a trade school.</li>
<li>Test the water by attending a community college and later transfer, if you do well.</li>
</ol>
<p>Of course, there are thousands colleges you can apply to and be successful, but you might have to pay hefty price for it, depends your family EFC.</p>
<p>I live in the state of California, my GPA was for last semester. For all other semesters of my high school year, I’ve had at least a 3.0. On my SAT I got a 630 in reading and a 480 in Math. My dad is the CFO of LA County so I’m guessing he makes a bit more than the average joe though i’m not sure what exactly. My mom is a substitute teacher.</p>
<p>I have felt the way you are feeling throughout my ENTIRE college career, and looking back on it, I think it would have been a good idea to take a gap year. The good news is that you have a year to figure out what you are doing, but you need to take action now. Either apply to schools or carefully plan a gap year with lots of details. If you wait to make a decision, your decision will make itself, in my experience.</p>
<p>I think that you do seriously need to consider that what your parents want does matter. It isn’t true that you can’t go to school after taking a year or two off, you just need to be serious about making it happen and have a plan so that you and your parents feel secure in the fact that you will eventually get a degree. One year off may be easier for them to stomach than two.</p>
<p>If they are the people who will be paying for college, then you do need their approval with whatever you do! If they are paying for your education, then they are really giving you a huge gift and you need to respect their wishes. If you decide to take a gap year and you can’t convince them to accept it, then I say go for it, but don’t expect them to fund you or ever pay for school in the future, that’s not fair.</p>
<p>And as another poster mentioned, if you do end up going to a 4-year university, traveling will be possible through your school. I studied abroad for the same cost as my university at home (not counting the plane ticket). Studying abroad was literally the best part of my entire college experience, and it’s a cheap way to travel, so don’t discount that opportunity when making your decision!</p>
<p>And if you really want to experience another culture/country, have you considered applying to a European university? In some countries in Europe, university is free or very close to it.</p>