<p>i got a wellesley likley letter EE, and since i live on the west coast i won't find out for sure until tomorrow. anyway, i'll probably be at wellesley unless i get into georgetown or columbia (my chances are slim). anyway, i'm planning on taking a year off before I go to school by deferring enrollment until fall 2006. </p>
<p>is anyone else thinking of doing that? a lot of my friends are, but i live in a very liberal, educated, and wealthy place (that pretends to be granola). I'm starting to think that hardly anyone outside of my town takes gap years (if they aren't international students), especially since i've never seen it mentioned on the CC boards. </p>
<p>personally, i feel like if i went to college next year, i would explode... or maybe i just know that there are so many things i want to do in my life, and i see taking a gap year as one opportunity to do them.</p>
<p>I think it's a good idea. Personally, I couldn't do it. (I'm waiting to take mine before grad school, which should be fine since I'm young, hehe). Especially if you feel burned out, I think you should do it. Just make it worthwhile!</p>
<p>Oh, and speaking as someone who probably will be waitlisted....I love it because it opens up another spot! ;)</p>
<p>It depends upon how hard you worked in school and how burned out you feel. I would agree with Wolf that a year between college and graduate school is probably better spent. College is probably less stressful than high school.</p>
<p>i'm 90% positive that i'll take a year off.. i'm just curious as to why more people don't seem to be headed in the same direction.</p>
<p>Here in Orange County, I don't know many people who take "gap years". In my area, most kids either take the community college route (a surprising amount) and then transfer to a UC after two years, but even this is limited to the college-bound group. I'd venture to say that out of my class of 600, not even 50-60% are college-bound. There are quite a few kids who don't go to college, and several who don't even graduate (some of these kids even drop-out days before graduation to get their GED instead).</p>
<p>Most people who take their education a little more seriously stay in-state for the UC or CSU system (even some of the smartest kids I know, which I don't entirely understand), and even a smaller percentage decide to venture out-of-state for other private, four-year colleges and universities. People look at me like I'm crazy when I tell them I'm looking to get out of California.</p>
<p>I suppose the reason people don't take a year off is partly because of all the buildup of high school leading to the experience of going to college, and partly because for the most part we're just not ready. Although college provides more academic and personal freedom than high school, there's still a sense of structure--it's a concrete plan, it's safe, and it's comfortable in its own way. I know I couldn't take a year off between high school and college. I'm certainly not staying in my house any longer than I have to, and I'm in horrible denial about entering young adulthood and the Age of Responsibility--moving out on my own and working for The Man isn't an option. Besides, I've been looking forward to college for a long time, as I'm sure a number of my other college-bound classmates have been, and why delay it for another year still?</p>
<p>Nevertheless, I admire people who take a year off and do something meaningful. To me, it takes a lot of guts. It's a little unconventional, it's a little risky, but people who do it tend to make the most of it and have incredible experiences in the process. My only advice is not to just sit around and do nothing (OK, maybe for a few weeks) or work for The Man, but really make the most of those 365 days.</p>
<p>yea, i'm planning on saving a year off for after college - med school's going to be a long, expensive road... </p>
<p>It really depends on you. I know two people who have taken a year off - one is taking a gap year to fulfil a queer contract with a university, and is miserable because he's sitting in an office doing clerical work. The other is having a heck of a time in Africa, learning languages and volunteering there.</p>
<p>The word "gap year" is very British, and guess what, Americans who take gap years historically have been graduates of elite eastern private schools. However, it is changing, and some colleges encourage accepted students to take time off. My son took a fabulous gap year before Harvard, and we didn't spend a huge amount of money. I know quite a lot about gap year programs. What are you interested in?</p>
<p>The one thing that I know I want to do during my year off is travel through (or volunteer in) east Asia. India would be nice. I'm not sure how I'm going to do that. </p>
<p>Also, I want to work on a foreign language. I know some spanish, so I'm thinking that maybe I'll go to Spain and be an Au Pair, while taking spanish classes. I may decide to be an Au Pair in Paris instead.... I'm planning on majoring in International Relations in college, so I need to learn a boatload of languages anyway. </p>
<p>I don't realllllllllly want to be an Au Pair, but I think that it's the only way that I can go to europe for 6-8 months and not spend a ton of money. The drawbacks are living with a family that I may not necessarially like, and the stereotype that Au Pairs are very promiscuous. Even though being an Au Pair isn't the reason I want to go to europe, I think that I could handle it, and probably enjoy it. It's kind of the same way as I feel about going to the college that wasn't my first choice. </p>
<p>I'm still trying to figure everything out. I'd love to spend a lot of time in Asia, but I'm not sure how. </p>
<p>I don't understand why more students don't take a year off. Who wouldn't want to go to Madrid?</p>
<p>And if taking a year off makes me part of an elite, eastern private school group, so be it. It would be an interesting change.</p>
<p>islander, I know exactly what you mean! I'm hoping to take a gap year next year to volunteer abroad, and I don't understand why it's not more popular. I guess people in the US are just so focused on high school -> college -> grad school or on getting jobs and making money that they never think to slow down and do something different. I think pretty much anyone could benefit from a focused gap year, especially one spent abroad, because it provides so much perspective.
Anyway, I am looking to work in an orphange in Asia or Africa for a few months (3-5) and possibly do some solo traveling. My parents are a bit nervous about it all and are still deciding whether they think I should be allowed to do it.
I have also been disappointed at the lack of info from the US about gap years. I can find plenty from the British perspective, but it's certainly different trying to do it from here.</p>
<p>If you can raise a little money for your gap year, you might like Teaching & Projects in India. My son went to Thailand with them and had a wonderful experience. T & P is one of the better British gap year outfits, and their representative in Rhode Island is helpful.</p>
<p>One thing I would like to point out about gappers. British volunteer projects usually involve a group of young people your age. American organizations, however, are largely career gappers, or even retirees, and you might be the only young person. Most British gap organizations will take Americans, but not all of them. Solo travel is dangerous because you can get severely ill with such diseases as Dengue Hemorragic Fever. If you do go to Asia, take a Visa card with a big credit line. If you are ever really sick, that Visa card will get you blue-ribbon care at any hospital, even if you are a grimy backpacker.</p>
<p>70reve4rotag:
I believe that <a href="http://www.projects-abroad.org%5B/url%5D">www.projects-abroad.org</a> may be the US website of Teaching & Projects. They are a good company. They provide more than i-to-i, an el cheapo gap year outfit, but less than the expensive outfits like Where There Be Dragons. My son was with several Brits, mostly girls that were going on to universities. He lived with one girl and a family on a house on stilts on a river of a town one hour from Bangkok. The two of them taught English at the local elementary school. The shower was a bucket and a hole in the floor, but the food was good. The mother was the mayor of the town. The kids got together with other volunteers now and then to travel on the weekends. After his 3 month stint, my sons and several girls left T & P and decided to travel together. They went to Chang Mai to cooking school and to see the Hill tribes. The girls liked it so much, they decided to stay in Chang Mai, but my son headed south alone to go to diving school. He made it to a popular backpacker island, where he came down with DHF. Extremely sick and in serious pain, he made it to a clinic hospital on Koh Samui, where the doctor personally took him on a plane to the best hospital in Bangkok, where a swiss doctor ordered a platelet transfusion that saved his life. That big fat $10,000 credit line on his Visa card (actually our credit card) made everyone so eager to help my son - priceless.</p>
<p>so.. i don't have that much money. i figure that if i'll be placed in a few places for a total of 9 months, it'll cost about 9,000. i can probably make around 4,000 this summer, and 4,000 next summer, so i'll only be short 1,000. but..</p>
<p>when i went to nicaragua, they told us to write letters to people asking for money. would it be strange if i asked local businesses to "sponsor" my year off? or is that unreasonable? </p>
<p>I think that it would be hard to raise money for a gap year with a letter campaign unless you have a specific assignment. You don't have to spend $9,000, however, on a gap year. You might consider working at home for a semester and then going on a gap semester. You can do City Year or Americorps. You can work abroad or on a cruise ship (see workabroad.monster.com/articles/workoncruiseships). Check out <a href="http://www.bunac.org%5B/url%5D">www.bunac.org</a> for ideas for work in places like Australia.</p>