<p>This year I'm not going to college and I'm pretty sure there are people here who are not accepted anywhere, want just to have a year off or can't go this year. </p>
<p>So what are you going to do this year?</p>
<p>It'll be cool if we gather different ideas about how can you spend a year after high school, while preparing for college and doing something that really matters, because I don't think there is someone who wants to spend a year doing nothing. And I think there is a lot to do. </p>
<p>So what are your ideas for a international student who wants to take year off? This topic is especially for the internationals because I saw many opportunities for us citizens, but these for not-US students like me are few.</p>
<p>why are you taking a year off?? school begins here in june and all of my friends who are staying here for college have all begun classes..</p>
<p>...i on the other hand have been rotting like a vegetable. lol i'm dying to start college already! i can't imagine why you want to spend a year off!!! (except of course if youre gonna travel or something, in which case i am so jealous)</p>
<p>anyways you can take classes or workshops that are related to your course; CAD classes for architecture, math tutorials, etc.</p>
<p>i'm taking up french right now since BU has a foreign language requirement and i figured it'd be easier to get an A if i already know the material.
hope this helps. :)</p>
<p>vavalooey you're rotting like a vegetable?!?! College begins in february here and I've been like.. dying from boredom lol.</p>
<p>Some people I know have taken a year off but they are planing to come back to university here in this country next year.. Anyway, a LOT of them went backpacking to Europe.. well the majority of them did. They went all solo, and I think some are them are planning to meet up with eachother in Amsterdam hehe. Some are doing CampUSA in the states.. One I know is going to brazil next year to become a 'nanny' because she wants to get into childcare.. and she wants to encorporate working experience with travelling.. so to brazil she goes..</p>
<p>Umm yeah.. sorry not much info.. but these are just students that are planning to return home to uni here, not to the states..</p>
<p>If I had to take (half) a year off right now for some reason I would apply for a work and travel visa and head off to Australia.</p>
<p>In Germany there are quite a lot of gap year programs that involve community service, targeted mainly at male high school grads who don't want to join the military. Activities range from working as a paramedic (including the necessary formal training) to doing development work in Africa. Maybe your country has those programs as well.</p>
<p>I can certainly understand the wanting to take a year off after graduating from high school. I mean, for many of us in this situation it will be the first school-free year in thirteen years or so. Sometimes it's good to take a step back, reflect on what you've done all these years, do some work, BREATH, and (hopefully) come to a decision about what it is that you want out of life professionally. Perhaps university isn't a part of that. And if it is, enroll next year. </p>
<p>You're still very young; surely you have the luxury of at least a year to figure things out. Last year at university I met a lot of 17 year-old freshmen who didn't know why they were there, aside from their parents expecting them to. Perhaps if they took a year off after high school and entered "the real world" for a little while, they would know why.</p>
<p>umh taking a gap year! cool! there a lot of things you can do! like working, doing community service, learning another language, practicing some sport... whatever u enjoy.
I have been really considering taking a gap year, but not because I didn't get in any college but because I don't think I'm too ready for college. I haven't decided yet since I know that it'd be kinda difficult. However, I have been thinking on travelling and volunteering abroad.</p>
<p>I took an year off too (joining Fall 2007 instead of Fall 2006) because I didn't want to leave home so early and also because I wasn't interested in college apps or had the willingness to work on it in high school (call it laziness). So I ended up spending time on something which would have been one of the most enriching experiences of my life if some backstabbers and enemies hadn't ruined it. Now everytime I am not doing anything, I recall all those bitter moments and often do not feel like doing anything because of it. And whatever I spend my time on is something I am addicted to (nothing bad, like I said enriching and one-of-a-kind experience and hard work too) but I want to give it up. However, I am sure there's nothing else I'd enjoy as much. It's just that, because of those people, something I would have enjoyed otherwise is being a pain to do... mentally. I really hope that once I am in college I would find something which I like more so that I can give this up. I know if I try to give it up now, I might want to go back later on and then it will be too late. So when I give it up, I have to make sure there is nothing that will pull me back to it. When you've done so much for someone or a group of people and some of those people whom you trusted just get together and team up against you --- and you realize it was your being naive that they took advantage of --- you think twice before committing to anything again... it's known as insecurity. My mom always said it was a waste of time (as it didn't get me any $$) but I did learn many things which I am sure no one else in this country knows. It's still a waste of time because I can't use these skills in practical life and I used some unorthodox and time-consuming amateurish methods to work stuff out as well but I did gain some friends and perhaps these friends are the ones who are keeping me as addicted. One thing I know for sure is, those activities negatively affected the important things of my life HEAVILY just like most addictions do. I am sure I would have been more happier now if not in 2006 if I hadn't gotten myself into it the first place. For example, I remember all the fightings and disputes with the others happening at the same time as most of my important deadlines and test dates and they left me all upset and rotten inside. I just couldn't focus on my work... the real work which was going to shape my future.</p>
<p>a lot of ppl i know are taking a gap year after sophomore year in college - college kind of burns you out if you're in the math/sciences field and by the second year you needddd a break. one of my friends decided she'd had it with math and went to london and waitressed for a year, someone else i know just went home for a semester, a lot of people volunteer abroad (india, latin america, africa etc)</p>
<p>b@r!um, I wouldn't have brought this up in the forums if I wasn't suffering from depression from it. If I say what I did, which was a rather cool thing, those people who made it hell for me will find their way here... including someone special who was part of the action too, sadly.</p>
<p>One straight point, I have taken a gap year...conclusion: A big blunder, unless you are is a country like US (where there are loads of things to do). But, even in that situation, rotting is confirmed and boredom is the only living alternative!..
So, don't take a gap yr unless you a good experience of ''it''!....</p>
<p>or take a gap year if
i) where you're going to for college won't take it as something negative
ii) if you have good plans for the year
iii) if your college advices it/if you're going to a top college with extremely hard and challenging curriculum or your major requirements are crazy and feel you need a break before beginning it.</p>
<p>I have to take a gap year (actually half a year) anyway because I'm in Australia and the school finishes in November, if I can get into any American universities.</p>
<p>I'm planning to take summer courses in the University of Melbourne on Spanish and travel to Spain in May to live with my friends there. And I'm also going to work (definitely...) and to help the community...Yah..and also travel to New Zealand for half a month.</p>