<p>Lately I have been toying with the idea of deferring my admission a year and working full time, as otherwise I may not be able to afford U of C. While not the ideal situation, it would be worth it if I were able to afford to go there. I'm wondering if anyone has had any experience with this, and if they can tell me what its like starting college a year later than normal. Is it difficult to get back into 'school-mode', or do you find yourself more mature and ready to buckle down and work. Despite the obvious con of living at home for a year and working instead of starting college, what other troubles can I expect to run into in this scenario?</p>
<p>My best friend took a year off before attending college. She worked a dream job (for her) in Europe. Three or four of my housemates here did the same-- one worked in a museum, another in a video store. All, I think, made a wise choice for themselves. I have friends who didn't take a year off when they should have and now they are in a worse situation... one of my friends at Duke crumbled (he wasn't mature enough for college) and is now taking classes at a third-tier school blocks from his home. Another friend was at Mt. Holyoke and is now working and doing class part-time at a local college. These are obviously smart people; their situations are not ideal, and I think, could have been ameliorated if they took a year off and did some grunt work before attending the elite college.</p>
<p>Perhaps the biggest con is social isolation. Although my friends and I did find a significant social network through our low-end retail jobs, it definitely wouldn't have been the same without having them at home.</p>
<p>A better idea would be to get through the first two years at Chicago, and then work for a year. Half way to a BA from UChicago can land you a solid, 34-40K a year position somewhere, which if you keep your living expenses down could give you something like 25 K to bring back to school. It can also be a great point to pause and figure out what you want to do in your upperclassmen years by way of major and the like.</p>
<p>While the school also frowns on it, some people do go part-time. I knew one person who went something like 5-6 quarters at two classes a term in between his second year and his fourth years while working downtown for a non-profit. Another trick is to go 2 classes a quarter and nab one or more research assistant positions that have a large number of hours to them. I knew people in econ who got positions at the GSB or NORC at $15-20 and hour, and used this as a hedge against their expenses.</p>
<p>unless you have serious connections or get really lucky you aren't going to make enough money to pay for your first two months there let alone a year or two. Not only that, if you are working retail or something and saving every penny you are going to be poor and miserable.</p>
<p>Take it from someone who has taken a year off and worked(although for a totally different reason) I had a lot of fun and got a lot of great experience I would have never gotten in school but if I had the opportunity to go to a school like UChicago or do that over again I wouldn't even hesitate on going to college.</p>
<p>S1 took a post 2nd year, year off, and it has been amazing for him. He feels reinvigorated and eager to get back and did find one of those $20 hour jobs working for a non profit. He has been able to travel as well to three different continents doing volunteer work.</p>