Share your Gap Year Success

[Anonymous]

I can easily see my sophomore son benefitting from a gap year after senior year of high school. Maybe because he is an Aug birthday in a school system with a Sept 1 start date. Mostly a maturity thing. Besides working locally, what has your student done that has been a meaningful gap year experience? I fear it will turn into a video game, extended summer vacation so would need a plan in advance.

[Anonymous]

My friend’s child did working travel in Australia and then used that money to backpack South East Asia. Now they are at the University of Toronto.

[Anonymous]

The easiest method is for your DS to apply to college his senior year, and then when accepted to his school of choice, request a deferral to start the following fall. I think the process of managing applications from afar would be a PITA. Think about communicating with guidance for transcripts and teachers for recommendations after you have graduated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My friend’s child did working travel in Australia and then used that money to backpack South East Asia. Now they are at the University of Toronto.

They sound wealthy

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The easiest method is for your DS to apply to college his senior year, and then when accepted to his school of choice, request a deferral to start the following fall. I think the process of managing applications from afar would be a PITA. Think about communicating with guidance for transcripts and teachers for recommendations after you have graduated.

OP here- good point!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My friend’s child did working travel in Australia and then used that money to backpack South East Asia. Now they are at the University of Toronto.

They sound wealthy

Op here. If we could find something like this with a reasonable cost. sounds great. I will say, I dont want to invest in a “PG” year at a prep school. I need the $ for college.

[Anonymous]

Except for the ones who enlisted (in which case it was four gap years) I have never seen a good outcome from this.

Four cases. The only one where the kid ended up in college, he started at community college after the gap year. Took seven years all in to get a degree.

[Anonymous]

My child has an unpaid internship at a nonprofit, will travel, participate in a sport. No college classes because the school he is accepted to does not allow them to get credits while on gap year.

We made sure to get an acceptance in the bag before deciding on all of this. Gap year was official approved thru the admissions office.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Except for the ones who enlisted (in which case it was four gap years) I have never seen a good outcome from this.

Four cases. The only one where the kid ended up in college, he started at community college after the gap year. Took seven years all in to get a degree.

I know 5 kids from class of 21 who took gap years. 3 now in 4-year colleges full time. One pt in cc. One started a business and will probably not attend.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My child has an unpaid internship at a nonprofit, will travel, participate in a sport. No college classes because the school he is accepted to does not allow them to get credits while on gap year.

We made sure to get an acceptance in the bag before deciding on all of this. Gap year was official approved thru the admissions office.

Thanks- how did he find this opportunity?

[Anonymous]

Mine is a cautionary warning.

I thought a gap year would be beneficial for DC for several excellent reasons. During the gap year she befriended the "lost" kids who didn't go on to college. They turned out to be a very bad influence.

In theory it sounds like a great idea, but it can backfire.

[Anonymous]

Our DS is on a gap year -- he was accepted and deferred a year -- we were pleasantly surprised he was accepted into the college of his choice as we thought he would be doing college applications. He is doing scholarship applications. We had him develop a plan during his senior year in HS. He needed to do something larger than himself, travel and applications. He is working on his EMT, tutored through Catholic Charities, part-time job, traveled some, found reading lists on a State department rand CIA website and is working through some books, learned how to get his car services, weekly shopping (those other things that magically happened) He needed to submit a paper to his college in Jan re: his gap year experience. I will admit I was skeptical at first and thought it would be a year of "basement dwelling" -- which we weren't going to allow. He has really matured. Gap year doesn't need to be some expensive program. You should have some form of plan.

[Anonymous]

Mine had a great gap year. Part of it she worked as a line cook at local restaurant. Rest was combo of volunteer gigs found through WWOOF ( organic farming) and Workaway ( all kinds of cool opportunities) and some road tripping/backpacking with a few other gapping kids she met. She figured everything out herself, learned a lot, met new people, developed new interests and skills some of which have had a big (and very positive) impact on her college experience so far.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My friend’s child did working travel in Australia and then used that money to backpack South East Asia. Now they are at the University of Toronto.

They sound wealthy

NP - Probably but you can earn a decent wage in Australia to cover your expenses. They have a labor shortage. Backpackers share rooms and the outdoor activities are almost free. And of course, travel in SEA can be super inexpensive. A street meal in Thailand is less than a $1. Toronto is a good deal compared to private universities in the US. This is all doable for the typical DCUM family. It’s far less expensive than a pg year.

[Anonymous]

My son worked until about thanksgiving, then did an academic program in the Bahamas where he also learned to dive. He came home for a few weeks and did a “volunteer” program in Costa Rica. That turned out to be something of a scam, so he bailed on it and traveled in Costa Rica (he speaks Spanish and had been to Costa Rica several times previously, so he knew where he wanted to go).