Share your Gap Year Success

[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.

Do you know what organization they did this through?

[Anonymous]

Enlist. They will definitely mature.

[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

They are not. $400k house in my neighborhood, one car etc etc.

Kid made decent money in Australia and SE Asia is cheap.

[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.

Do you know what organization they did this through?

They found the job independently on the internet and did the visa paperwork themselves.

[Anonymous]

Can you do Gap Years in high schools in other countries? I had a hs classmate that did a year at a high school in europe before attending college.

[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.

Yeah, my understanding is to only plan for a gap year AFTER the kid has been admitted. Barring discovering cures for all cancers during the gap year, nothing done will enhance the application, even if your DC ends up more mature and feels like a different person after the time.

[Anonymous]

I took a year off between college and grad school, so it wasn’t exactly the same. But in my experience:

1. It’s almost always a great idea on a personal-growth level and also makes school easier to manage psychologically because you’ve got more perspective on the world outside of school.

2. Your fears of him just wasting the year may be justified if he just stays home and figures out what to do when the time comes. I recommend either something away from home, some kind of “real job” (whether paid, internship, or volunteer) that will stretch his skills in a new setting, or at least a very firm advance plan of what he will do with the time. I worked for room and board at a school abroad. The office work itself didn’t add much to life, but the need to navigate a foreign country on my own for a year was huge.

3. In terms of applying in advance or not applying, seems like that can go either way. It’s certainly easier to do it in advance, and most schools seem to be good about deferrals for accepted students. But then again, having another interesting activity can only help an application. I applied from abroad, and it was a bit of a headache trying to get transcripts, recommendations, and whatnot to the right places at the right times.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can you do Gap Years in high schools in other countries? I had a hs classmate that did a year at a high school in europe before attending college.

This is what I did but “13th grade” has been phased out in some countries that used to have it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I took a year off between college and grad school, so it wasn’t exactly the same. But in my experience:

1. It’s almost always a great idea on a personal-growth level and also makes school easier to manage psychologically because you’ve got more perspective on the world outside of school.

2. Your fears of him just wasting the year may be justified if he just stays home and figures out what to do when the time comes. I recommend either something away from home, some kind of “real job” (whether paid, internship, or volunteer) that will stretch his skills in a new setting, or at least a very firm advance plan of what he will do with the time. I worked for room and board at a school abroad. The office work itself didn’t add much to life, but the need to navigate a foreign country on my own for a year was huge.

3. In terms of applying in advance or not applying, seems like that can go either way. It’s certainly easier to do it in advance, and most schools seem to be good about deferrals for accepted students. But then again, having another interesting activity can only help an application. I applied from abroad, and it was a bit of a headache trying to get transcripts, recommendations, and whatnot to the right places at the right times.

interesting. how old are you? i don't think this is as germane for someone applying for undergrad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

PG is only for kids who didn’t have the grades to get into the sort of college they wanted or for sports recruiting to try again

[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

+1. I roll my eyes at all the photos fancy locations posted by someone whose kid is taking a gap year and “volunteering.” These are just rich kids indulging themselves for a year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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

+1. I roll my eyes at all the photos fancy locations posted by someone whose kid is taking a gap year and “volunteering.” These are just rich kids indulging themselves for a year.

You didn’t read the comments. They earned the money working in Australia. There is no program. You get your work visa and find work.