Why are gap years trendy?

[Anonymous]

I wish I had done one and will encourage my DD to do the same.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wish I had done one and will encourage my DD to do the same.

Why? Did something bad happen freshman year?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some top colleges, like Harvard, offer students on the "bubble" (often kids of donors, athletic recruits, etc. who aren't quite at the academic level of the other admits) admission on the condition they take a gap year.

Some of these people might claim to be taking a gap year by "choice" or "it's trendy" but were really forced to as a condition of admission.

I know two nearly perfect kids, middle class, who were asked to take gaps as a condition of admission this year. Never heard of it before. And they certainly aren't bubble or legacy kids or anything.

[Anonymous]

What schools pp? This deferred acceptance route is fine as long as the student has a plan for the year off.

[Anonymous]

My oldest isn't in high school yet, but unless a switch flips he'll be a good candidate for a gap year.
He's really not interested in school. He loves his athletics and his hobbies, but he struggles to give the commitment he should to his academics. He needs a lot of movement. Middle school with all the sitting in class listening to teachers has been really hard on him.
I anticipate him being pretty burnt out by the end of high school. One of my siblings was, and it meant the first year of college was a disaster. It's hard to crawl out of that hole.

I see a gap year as giving him the opportunity to experience something other than school in a serious way, to either refocus him so he starts college interested and strong, or give him some practical clarity about what he'd like to do instead of college.

His younger sibling on the other hand thrives in school. Unless she has a strong feeling about a gap year, assuming all else stays the same, I think going straight into college from high school makes a lot of sense for her.

Gap years are "trendy" because them being a common choice is new. My sibling could have used a gap year, but it was unheard of in our family/social group not to go straight from HS to college.

[Anonymous]

It is the new name for it that is trendy. Foreign exchanges have been around for 40+ years. DH did one between HS and college in the 70's. Taking time off to save up for college has been around longer. My Dad worked at a Ford plant for a year to save up money to go to college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is the new name for it that is trendy. Foreign exchanges have been around for 40+ years. DH did one between HS and college in the 70's. Taking time off to save up for college has been around longer. My Dad worked at a Ford plant for a year to save up money to go to college.

gap years aren't exchanges. It is just taking a year off to travel, work or do other things of interest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is the new name for it that is trendy. Foreign exchanges have been around for 40+ years. DH did one between HS and college in the 70's. Taking time off to save up for college has been around longer. My Dad worked at a Ford plant for a year to save up money to go to college.

gap years aren't exchanges. It is just taking a year off to travel, work or do other things of interest.

I know a few kids doing gap years and none of them are traveling, working or doing "things of interest".

Most are doing a structured volunteer program or going to a boarding school to work on their academic profile.

[Anonymous]

What kind of "structured volunteer program" wouldn't fall into the category of "traveling, working or doing something of interest? Seems most would be all three.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is the new name for it that is trendy. Foreign exchanges have been around for 40+ years. DH did one between HS and college in the 70's. Taking time off to save up for college has been around longer. My Dad worked at a Ford plant for a year to save up money to go to college.

gap years aren't exchanges. It is just taking a year off to travel, work or do other things of interest.

I know a few kids doing gap years and none of them are traveling, working or doing "things of interest".

Most are doing a structured volunteer program or going to a boarding school to work on their academic profile.

Going to boarding school isn't really a gap year....its a post graduate year to, as you point out, upgrade academics.

Structured volunteer programs are a joke and carry little weight with admissions.

I think gap years are a great idea but the student should think about what the goal is. If it is to mature so that they get the most of college then perhaps working a job would make sense. If they feel they've lived a sheltered life then by all means travel the world.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My oldest isn't in high school yet, but unless a switch flips he'll be a good candidate for a gap year.
He's really not interested in school. He loves his athletics and his hobbies, but he struggles to give the commitment he should to his academics. He needs a lot of movement. Middle school with all the sitting in class listening to teachers has been really hard on him.
I anticipate him being pretty burnt out by the end of high school. One of my siblings was, and it meant the first year of college was a disaster. It's hard to crawl out of that hole.

I see a gap year as giving him the opportunity to experience something other than school in a serious way, to either refocus him so he starts college interested and strong, or give him some practical clarity about what he'd like to do instead of college.

His younger sibling on the other hand thrives in school. Unless she has a strong feeling about a gap year, assuming all else stays the same, I think going straight into college from high school makes a lot of sense for her.

Gap years are "trendy" because them being a common choice is new. My sibling could have used a gap year, but it was unheard of in our family/social group not to go straight from HS to college.

Sounds exactly like my two kids, plus my boy is on the young end for his grade -- will be not quite 18 when graduating from college. Definitely think a gap year could be beneficial for him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is the new name for it that is trendy. Foreign exchanges have been around for 40+ years. DH did one between HS and college in the 70's. Taking time off to save up for college has been around longer. My Dad worked at a Ford plant for a year to save up money to go to college.

gap years aren't exchanges. It is just taking a year off to travel, work or do other things of interest.

I know plenty of people that refer to their exchange between HS and college as a gap year. I don't see why they should not be considered a gap year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is the new name for it that is trendy. Foreign exchanges have been around for 40+ years. DH did one between HS and college in the 70's. Taking time off to save up for college has been around longer. My Dad worked at a Ford plant for a year to save up money to go to college.

gap years aren't exchanges. It is just taking a year off to travel, work or do other things of interest.

I know plenty of people that refer to their exchange between HS and college as a gap year. I don't see why they should not be considered a gap year.

+1 Of course an exchange is a gap year. It's one of many options for a gap year.

[Anonymous]

Because they are a good idea? Both kids took gap years and ended up a lot more focused than their peers once they went to college. They also got into better schools with more FA than their h.s. grades warranted, I think because of their meaningful public service experiences in gap year.

[Anonymous]

OP, I watched my child be immature his whole life. This killed him in ninth. Now after 11th, he's grown up substantially, but I honestly feel a year off to let that brain keep catching up would do him wonders and improve the chances that he will handle college well. He doesn't want to, though.

I think people looking for miracles are mistaken, though.