<p>Hi everyone. I'm currently in my second (should be final) year of community college, 19 y/o. I want to go into English and Drama, but I'm thinking that since my debt is 15k, I want to take a year off to work full time and pay that off before going back to school. I live at home and the only thing that my parents make me pay for is gas (I'm rent free, free food, cell phone, etc). I think that it would be a weight lifted off of my shoulders to get most, if not all, of it paid off. I'll still be filling out transfer applications for the 2015-2016 school year to see where I can get it/financial aid I can get. I'm also looking at several drama schools in Europe, as tuition for US students is much lower (and in some cases free).</p>
<p>Any advice? Has anyone done something similar, take a year off to pay, and then go back? Thoughts on this? Advice on what I should do to pay off loans? Advice as to what I should do during the year to still look good for universities?</p>
<p>I am not sure if transfer students can take a gap year… maybe someone else can comment on that. That might be a good alternative if it is allowed. Fill out your transfer applications and get accepted, then request a gap year. Then you don’t have to worry about “looking good”, just about working to pay down your loans. I don’t think this is too bad an idea, as an English & Drama degree isn’t likely to give you an income that will make loan payback easy. However, the cost of college does go up every year, too (we were tracking averages about 3 years ago for planning for D2’s undergrad experience, and it averages about 4% a year increase). So keep in mind that the price will go up slightly if you delay going.</p>
<p>Any student can take a year off at any time. The student would just be applying for admission next year rather than this year. </p>
<p>Sure, but if she wants to reduce the stress of doing something that is of interest to the colleges during that time along with making money, then applying now and taking a gap year makes sense. But as I said, I don’t know if gap years are an option for transfers or not. Might be a question to post over in the transfer forum.</p>
<p>She wants to take a year off to pay back some loans. There is nothing wrong with that at all. It is not a “gap year”. It is a year off to pay back loans. </p>
<p>I’m sure she isn’t the first student to take a year off in the middle of college, who then transfers to a different school. Not unusual at all.</p>
<p>Intparent…I think what you are thinking of is deferring her acceptance if she is accepted THIS application round. But the OP said she is applying this round to see if she gets sufficient financial aid to attend. My impression was if she did, she would go now. </p>
<p>But she should keep in mind how working full time for a year and earning $15000+ might affect FAFSA EFC.</p>
<p>YES! It is perfectly OK to take a year (or more) off while you pay down some of your debt, and while you think about where you would like to finish your degree. Depending on where you live, and the strength of your technical theatre skills, you may be able to do career-related work and make some half-way decent money.</p>
<p>And YES! You do need a cheap place to finish up, because $15,000 of debt for just the first two years at a community college is too much debt already. Especially in English and Drama. Take as long as you need to identify that affordable place.</p>
<p>I graduated from a community college, transferred to a 4-year school that I left after a semester because I felt it wasn’t worth the money I was going to have to pay for it, then took 3 years off to get on my feet financially before enrolling in another school. Even then, I only took classes part-time (as often as my employer would pay for them). After 2 years I enrolled full-time to finish my last year. I know many people who worked their way through college that way. What seemed to be most important was how old the credits were. I think credits have to be several years old before they’re considered too old to transfer. If you’re concerned, check the websites of some colleges you’re thinking of attending or call the office in charge of transfer admissions.</p>
<p>Why did you borrow SO MUCH for a CC???</p>