<p>Have any Berkeley students taken half the year for a gap year type travel/service experience (and just come in the spring) and then graduated before the spring semester on the other end?
I'm curious how this would affect one socially and academically.
It would be nice to take only half a gap year- you don't lose a whole year but you still get to decompress/ gain valuable experience for 6 mos before hitting the books- but it seems like it might be tough to just come in half way through. (?)
It also seems like it would be cool to finish halfway through the year too, especially if one was going to be applying to graduate schools.
Has anyone done this or know someone who has?
It seems like most spring admits go the FPF route, but maybe this might be just as good in a different way.
Thoughts or comments?</p>
<p>I have a friend who was a spring admit and went to Spain for the fall semester for some sort of internship. She was really happy with the experience and was able to fit in easily into the dorms in the spring. I don’t think she had any trouble catching up and she does plan to graduate in 7 semesters. Seems like a pretty good idea to me.</p>
<p>i want to do that too! i’ve been looking at independent programs such as [Semester</a> Abroad in Australia, Fiji, New Zealand | Study Abroad and Gap Year Programs](<a href=“http://www.carpediemeducation.org/southpac.php]Semester”>Gap Year in the South Pacific | Carpe Diem Education) but i’m not sure if berkeley will take the credits.</p>
<p>So, did you end up taking the safe route (FPF) or doing the gap semester? (I think the gap semester is a great idea; you graduate with your peers, yet you still get a “gap” experience by the way.) Do you ever wish you made another decision ultimately? Thanks!</p>
<p>A third option is to take transferable courses at a community college (use [Welcome</a> to ASSIST](<a href=“http://www.assist.org%5DWelcome”>http://www.assist.org) to check course articulation). One semester of community college plus seven semesters of Berkeley typically costs less than eight semesters of Berkeley.</p>
<p>Actually, looking at it now, only 3 major differences w/ Fall Program for Freshman and “regular”:</p>
<p>a) classes with other spring admits (but, again, it’s not like spring admits are “less qualified”; lots of examples of over 4.1 GPA and high test scores and extracurriculars. so. unless we all wrote terrible essays. which would be bad. but unlikely. but then again, turned down UCLA for Berkeley spring. if UCLA liked my essays… This is getting nowhere…)
b) extra campus location (very Harvard-like actually with all the brick and lawns)
c) smaller classes. </p>
<p>and FPF professors are usually (or were at one time) Berkeley profs and it’s not like spring admits aren’t Cal students and aren’t allowed to participate in extracurriculars… </p>
<p>So FPF is actually quite a win-win solution.</p>
<p>I’m a spring admit doing FPF for fall semester and I’m actually way excited for it. The classes are smaller so you get to know more people better, you’re still living in the dorms and involved in campus activities/clubs, AND the class registration was way easier and quicker than teleBEARS haha. If I hadn’t gotten into FPF a gap half-year would’ve been awesome, I talked to a couple of spring admits who started in the spring and still got through in seven semesters. You just have to be a little more proactive about your classes, make sure you satisfy all breadth and major requirements, etc.</p>
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<p>Except for the limited selection of courses. Basically, no “expensive” courses (those with labs, or those more advanced than freshman level) are offered.</p>
<p>That semester/year abroad program sounds amazing! I kinda wish I had gotten in for spring so hat I could do it.</p>