<p>I'm gonna finish highschool (Switzerland) this year and I don't wanna go to University right away because I'd like to go to University in the US/Canada the year after that. What can I do for 1 year? I'd like to improve myself. Any ideas?</p>
<p>thanks</p>
<p>Get a job in a field related to what you want to major in? If it turns out that you hate the job and can’t imagine yourself doing it after university then it’ll make you re-evaluate your chosen major.</p>
<p>If I had taken a year off, I would have probably gone through basic paramedical training and been a paramedic for a year. (Back in Germany, the ambulance driver only needs 3 months of training, as opposed to 2 years for the paramedic staying with the patient.)</p>
<p>Is there anything you really want to do? This is your chance!</p>
<p>it might also give you a chance to look at new fields, like journalism</p>
<p>…or cool fields like conservation (WWF), outsourcing (call centers) and traveling (Africa)</p>
<p>haha WWF reminded me of wrestling (WWE) :D</p>
<p>Now that would be fun :D</p>
<p>work to save up money for college.</p>
<p>I took a year off for the same reasons you did and did research at a university in my country. It impressed the University of Richmond so much, that they gave me a full tuition+room and board merit scholarship. You could try it too, depending on your interests.</p>
<p>ana_ro: which research did you do at a university in your country? can you tell more about it?</p>
<p>it’s really courageous for you to do so ana_ro
you know, most people just follow the rule but i believe you really know what you want.
if i were the “IVY” commitee, i would let you in as well</p>
<p>I don’t think it matters what kind of research I did. What I think matters is that I did research in chem, the subject I plan to major in. I think it impressed Richmond because I wrote a scholarship essay about it, in which I revealed how passionate I was about what I was doing.</p>
<p>For the actual thing, I contacted a professor and told her that I would like to do research, and after that, things were pretty much easy: I kept in touch with the professor and she told me what I was supposed to do next. </p>
<p>But as I said before, it depends a lot on your interests. If you want to do research, don’t do it just for the sake of having something to impress colleges, because they’ll figure it out. Do research in an area you are passionate about, to emphasize that interest in your application, not to make an interest appear out of the blue.</p>