<p>It sounds like there are at least several of us, just based on how many have been speaking up lately. I'm curious if there are others in hiding out there, lol? Tufts told me that there were about 30 of us (unusually high number) this year. So post if you got in last year but deferred for a year and are coming next year.</p>
<p>I took a year off w/o deferring admission</p>
<p>anyone else?</p>
<p>I am probably deferring enrollment and taking a year off this coming year, though I don't know if I'll be going to Tufts. I'm currently in DC visiting a couple schools, and I'll be in Boston Saturday night-Monday night visiting Tufts and BC.</p>
<p>70reve4rotag- did you get my PM? Feel free to ask me any additional questions if you want :)</p>
<p>yes, I got it. Thank you VERY much. It's helpful to hear from people who have actually taken a year off. I'll let you know if I have anymore questions! Thanks again!</p>
<p>Sure thing =)</p>
<p>Why did you guys defer for a year? I'm just curious...</p>
<p>I recently posted this here: <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=42841%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=42841</a></p>
<p>I decided to take a gap year for myriad reasons, the first and most important of which was a family issue (dad's health) which is somewhat personal. Other reasons included the following:
2) I am one of those overachieving students who was taking 4 APs every year and getting good grades at a competitive private college prep school while also pursuing a strong interest in voice (opera). Basically, I had many weeks when I would get a total of 6 hours of sleep (for an entire WEEK, not just per night) or sometimes less. I was handling it and somehow my performance never faltered, but it was starting to effect my health. At Tufts, I will be a dual degree student with NEC, so I'll have a significantly heavier load than even the more high-achieving Tufts students. I was somewhat worried about going straight into that kind of environment for fear that I would exhaust myself so much over the sum of my high school and college years that I would end up either very sick or in the hospital.
3) I wanted to have more time to focus on my singing, without the distractions of a full course load.
4) I wanted to spend more time with my family here in LA before moving across the country to Boston.
5) I'm sure there were other reasons, but they escape me at the moment.</p>
<p>This is what I've been doing:
June-July- Singing program and some auditions. Also a trip to Denmark where a close friend of mine lives.
August-October- I lived in Moscow, Russia where I spent some quality time with my dad and visited every museum/cultural landmark I could get to. I also visited St. Petersburg.
Late Oct-Dec - I studied Italian and French (first time studying both; I was already fluent in Russian, English, and Spanish) along with having 3 voice lessons a week (the norm is 1 so this was very great to be able to do). I also participated in several singing competitions, auditioned and was accepted at an Opera program in Italy that I will be participating in in July 2005, and did other similar things.
Jan-April- I decided to stop studying French because it was too confusing learning both it and Italian at the same time and stuck with the Italian. I also started intensively studying Music Theory and preparing for my solo voice recital which will be in May. </p>
<p>So that has been my year so far. I feel wonderful about it, in retrospect. I have gotten so many things accomplished and I am sure that I'm in a far better position now to do well at Tufts and NEC without sacrificing my health. It has also really given me a chance to get to know myself better. Sometimes when you are constantly busy to the degree that I was, where every minute of every day is planned out, you don't have time to really reflect on your life and to see if the course you are following is still really the one best suited to you. I wouldn't say I've changed my plans or goals very much. But I would have to say that I have changed my approach to them and to life as a whole.</p>
<p>I'm hoping to defer for a year because I would really like to go abroad to volunteer, and I feel that this is the right time for me to do it. I'd like to work in an orphanage in Africa or Asia for part of the year and perhaps in a community development position of some sort, and then possibly work at home for a while to make some money before college. I also think that taking a year off to go abroad can do wonders for one's perspective and make one more appreciative of one's educational opportunities.</p>
<p>I took a year off too and I'm starting this fall at Tufts. I did City Year with Americorps for the year (Americorps is like a domestic version of the Peace Corps, City Year is a year spent working in the city with 17-24 year olds from around the country). If anyone's wavering about taking a year off, I think you really ought to. My perspective on Boston, not to mention the country, has expanded in a way I never thought it could. Everything I ever thought or believed has been challenged and I think I'm a lot stronger now. If you have any questions about it, ask away. </p>
<p>btw Julia, I got your email, sorry I haven't gotten back to you, it sounds like you had a really great year.</p>
<p>You guys who deferred are lucky you are so patient - I'm wayyy to excited to defer a year even though its a great time to travel and study more.</p>
<p>Hcpjk, are you Ethnix33? It sounds like you had a fantastic year too- go you! Do you have AIM?</p>
<p>Mjones, it was definitely a difficult decision to make and it's been hard waiting even though I've really enjoyed what I've been doing. But at least I knew that the opportunity to be at the place that is absolutely perfect for me would not expire and nothing would really change about it over the course of that year that I wasn't there.</p>
<p>Haha yeah, i forgot i had that name on here...</p>
<p>I think when they revamped it, somethign happened and i forgot my password or somethign like that...who knows</p>