Young Judea gap year?

Parents Forum
1

<p>Thinking about gap year options for son class of 2015. A year in Israel would be an option for him. I only found old posts, 2010, about this program....any updates?</p>

<p>Son has good credentials, high SAT, top 1% of class, lots of academic rigor, but absolutely no idea what he wants to study or where. We parents support the idea of him doing a gap year, he is not enthusiastic----probably because it is something we support. He is a good kid, a pretty easy kid, but at that contrarian age. </p>

<p>We visited YJ and we the parents were pretty excited about it, but son thought it sounded too much like school. He doesn't want so much structure and classroom time. Reading old posts, however, YJ is criticized by Americans for not being so structured.</p>

<p>Thoughts? Any other gap year ideas that don't have so much structure? Son is very fit and physical, more interested in science than literature.</p>

2

<p>No opinion about YJ, but impressed you’re considering Israel in the current political climate. You’re a brave parent :slight_smile: </p>

3

<p>If he doesn’t want to do a gap year before college, maybe he’d be more interested between college and grad school. I’ve not heard of YJ before.</p>

4

<p>I know a ton of people who did a year in Israel-- I think it’s an awesome and really fulfilling thing to do for a year, and depending on where he goes to school, he’ll probably be among others. (I remember “I’m a freshman” “An Israel freshman or a regular freshman?”) being a common thing at my college. I know a bunch who did Nativ and all had great experiences, so maybe look into that? I’m familiar with YJ but not with their year in Israel programs. </p>

5

<p>Many of my friends did the Year Course back in the 1980’s. They all loved it. Most applied to college during their senior year in high school, and then deferred entrance to college.</p>

6

<p>Thanks. I will look into the other options mentioned as well. </p>

7

<p>Young Judea has always run their programs really well. I would certainly consider it highly among your choices. Their year course has an excellent reputation. You can check out the Masa Israel search page to help find other options. </p>

<p><a href=“http://www.masaisrael.org/find_programs”>http://www.masaisrael.org/find_programs&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;