taking a year off..?

<p>Is anyone out there thinking of postponing matriculation for a year after they get accepted into college? (taking a year off to i don't kno, explore the world, pursue other interests, or just take a break?) because I know most ivies, including yale allow this</p>

<p>I think that would be really cool, but I think I'm too excited for college to wait. Plus I'm pretty old for my grade so I'd be entering with kids like 2 years younger than me...</p>

<p>yeah, i am thinking of taking a gap year, maybe to germany to improve my german or maybe going to liberia, both my parents are liberian, but i have never gotten a chance to go.</p>

<p>A gap year would be amazing but since I'm going into surgerical medicine, I have roughly 12 years of school so all the more reason to get started. Plus if I got into Yale you couldn't get to me to stay away.</p>

<p>you see i'm EXACTLY in the same case in Yoshi729's situation. damn 12 years.</p>

<p>i would love to take a gap year. problem is i don't know what to do. i'll have to get on that and start convincing the parents lol.</p>

<p>it sounds amazing, though. how many times in your life do you get the chance to do that? plus i am the opposite of stupak- i am a year younger than most '07 people anyway, so entering college as '12 would actually make me the same age as my peers...instead of a year younger as '11...which can't be bad thing.</p>

<p>if anyone has any resources for gap year ideas, please let me know.</p>

<p>gapyear.com</p>

<p>thanks for that site!</p>

<p>I'm not sure exactly where you're from, but if you're from the United States, a "gap year" isn't nearly as popular here as it is in other countries. Therefore, there aren't many US sites about it. However, there are a ton of Canadian companies that can give you ideas, help you plan or figure out what you want to do for a gap year. </p>

<p>I went to a leadership conference in Europe last summer, and one of my room-mates was a Canadian girl who was going to take a gap-year (she had just graduated). She chose to go to Africa for 6 months and help teach really young children English - she didn't even have to know any of the African languages to go. But she did have to take like 8 different malaria pills three times a day, every day until she left!</p>

<p>I think the only things she had to pay for were her shots (because you have to have them to travel to the part of Africa she went to), her malaria pills, and her plane ticket. But many places that sponsor gap-years who are service-oriented will cover any expenses that you might incur.</p>