Why are gap years trendy?

[Anonymous]

Kids can work for some or all of a gap year; you don't need to be rich to afford that "luxury." In fact, a gap year where the kid works half the year to fund the other half gives them an appreciation and experience that is the best of both worlds.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Kids can work for some or all of a gap year; you don't need to be rich to afford that "luxury." In fact, a gap year where the kid works half the year to fund the other half gives them an appreciation and experience that is the best of both worlds.

Yes they can, but the kid from limited financial means doesn't usually have the chance to get a job which both pays for them to live and have money to save for college. Parents don't have the money to pay for them to travel for the experience to work with kids in South America for 3 months, then help kids in the Bayou for 3 months. If you look at stats, kids of color who take a gap year don't usually finish college. I absolutely wish you were right that they poorer kids could benefit but they don't need a gap year to understand the value of working.

[Anonymous]

Low income minority students have dismal college completion rates anyways - 90-95% fail out.

They aren't taking gap years in the sense we're discussing them. They aren't college ready, they don't like school, they don't have a plan and they don't want to plan out the future. There was just a Times piece on this - very depressing.

[Anonymous]

I think gap year is a great choice if the kid has something set up to do during the year, eg, job, edicational travel. So many people I went to school with back in the 90's could have greatly benefited from it. And a bad first year in college is more difficult than ever to overcome for professional grad schools.

[Anonymous]

Our DD is at elite private and she is taking a gap year whether she likes it or not. We are going to pop that little bubble she's been living in since she started private in 6th and get her a good dose of what it means to work in the real world.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our DD is at elite private and she is taking a gap year whether she likes it or not. We are going to pop that little bubble she's been living in since she started private in 6th and get her a good dose of what it means to work in the real world.

Same boat here. What are you going to make her do?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our DD is at elite private and she is taking a gap year whether she likes it or not. We are going to pop that little bubble she's been living in since she started private in 6th and get her a good dose of what it means to work in the real world.

Post high-school seems a bit late for that. Why not ease her into the real world more gradually rather than chucking her into the pool? You're doing her a disservice by coddling her and then suddenly pulling the metaphorical rug out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our DD is at elite private and she is taking a gap year whether she likes it or not. We are going to pop that little bubble she's been living in since she started private in 6th and get her a good dose of what it means to work in the real world.

She's going to work in a convenience store? Or in retail at a big box mall? McDonalds?

If you're thinking of a fancy internship or volunteering program in Africa she's just as isolated and removed from the real world, whatever the real world might be.

[Anonymous]

The hope that what a young person does for leisure might make them sound impressive in case their school record does not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The hope that what a young person does for leisure might make them sound impressive in case their school record does not.

? A gap year comes after they have already been accepted.

[Anonymous]

not always

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The hope that what a young person does for leisure might make them sound impressive in case their school record does not.

? A gap year comes after they have already been accepted.

Most get accepted and defer and then a group apply to other colleges again trying to up their admissions.

Also Tufts and Princeton have gap year programs. You can apply to those after you are accepted and do their gap year program.

Also, all the service academies have "gap year" programs. IT's not called that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:not always

Well then we need to define our terms,

My understanding is that a "gap year" is defined as deferring admission for a year before starting college. The college allows the student to do this and reserves a spot for them the following year.

If someone does not get into a college of their choice and decides to take a year off and try again next year that is not a "gap year," although some people seem to interpret it that way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think people are getting confused because there are two very different types of kids who are pursuing gap years these days.

Group 1 are the kids who are kind of middling students, not particularly motivated or interested in school, whose parents think they need a year to mature so that sending them off to college won't be a complete waste of money as they party through their days and flunk out. This is the group that most parental-aged people think of when they hear the words "gap year".

Group 2 are the kids who have spent the past four years working their butts off in a Big 3-TJ-type intense academic environment, who are highly motivated and have been accepted to top 20 colleges, and who may be considering careers that require graduate school as well. As they look ahead, they think "is this really all there is to life?" They are kind of burned out from the intensity of their high school experience and want a little break before they plunge back in for the next 4-8 years. They are the ones who start exploring volunteer trips or internships in other countries, travel, etc, because they want to experience something different and meet people who are not just like them. In this group, the kid is the one doing the research and planning the year, not the parent. This is the newer group, at least in the US (apparently this has been more common in other places like Europe). These kids are already fairly mature, and there is no question that they will be going to college, and probably excelling there, when the year is up. For this group, a year of sitting on the couch in the basement is the last thing they would do with this gift of time.

Mom of two "group one" kids here. Sneer all you want. Both have now far outperformed many of their peers who went the traditional route. Very few h.s. grads, no matter their resumes, are prepared for the wild partying on college campuses.

^^^This^^^

I can't tell you how many kids we know who went straight to top tier colleges and ending up partying, having mental breakdowns, etc. A lot of these kids really need a break and some time to mature while not constantly under the thumb of mom and dad. Many seemed to treat their whole college experience as a "gap time" and didn't get serious until a gap year after college, then grad school.

This was me. Graduated bottom quarter of public high school - I was all about partying. Parents made me take a gap year - I wanted to go to University of South Carolina and keep partying- couldnt wait to join a frat. Gap year was a life changer or maybe even a life saver. I worked as a secretary/paralegal in a small law firm for $10 an hour. It made me see that the non-stop partying was going to end eventually and that I would have to have a job and go to work everyday like everyone else. After the year, I went to college, graduated with a 3.86. Then graduated from T7 law school. Now equity partner in a major international law firm going on 10 years. I too cannot tell you how many kids I personally saw in college who were 100% unprepared emotionally bc never had gap year and who irreparably damaged their professional prospects by atrocious grades during first year or 2 of college. There but for the grace of God.

[Anonymous]

My kid went to a Big 3 and wanted to do a gap year after being accepted to an ivy, but we could not afford to have him volunteer. We told him he would need to find a job. After he did a job search, he changed his mind and went directly to college, where he did very well. For kids at my son's school there seem to be two groups that do a gap year: wealthy kids who are already accepted to college, and take a year off to pursue a particular interest; or kids who didn't get in to a college that satisfied their parents, and are doing some thing intensely academic to try to improve their chances. I feel sorry for the second group.