Why are gap years trendy?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What are most kids doing during gap years? Are most of them really doing tours of Europe, or are they hanging out at home and working at the mall?

In my circle, kids have done language exchanges, internships both local and abroad, one kid spent an amazing year sailing. And then some kids really do just stay home, work regular teenager jobs, and maybe pursue a hobby like restoring a car or playing in a band.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Nobody I know is "trying to impress admissions".

They are all accepted to a college and defer admissions.

Not everything in life has to be full of meaning, goal oriented or "help you get into college".

I also know a bunch of kids that after graduation didn't want yo get on the gerbil wheel chasing money and are working is New Zealand as tour guides. Just because.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am curious as to what exactly qualifies as a "gap" year. If a kid who is a mediocre student decides to attend CC for a year to improve college chances and starts a 4 year college as a transfer student, could that kid be labeled as having taken a gap year?

No, that student would have started at community college and transferred to a 4 year college.

With a gap (gap in formal education) year you are intended to enter as a freshman, not a transfer student.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Yes, I have an extended family member who was admitted to Harvard within the last 10-15 years that way.

Are you related to the Obamas?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This seems like another layer of helicoptering. A gap year your parents make you do and organize or pay for is likely to do nothing for their actual development.

Is it just the parent paying for it that bothers you? Why/how is a parent paying for college for the same aged child not "helicoptering"? Most people benefit greatly from exposure to other cultures.

It's micromanaging your kid in a way inappropriate for an 18 year old.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This seems like another layer of helicoptering. A gap year your parents make you do and organize or pay for is likely to do nothing for their actual development.

Is it just the parent paying for it that bothers you? Why/how is a parent paying for college for the same aged child not "helicoptering"? Most people benefit greatly from exposure to other cultures.

It's micromanaging your kid in a way inappropriate for an 18 year old.

Many kids get their gap year paid for but with the obvious caveat that they plan their time in an educational way. I'm not funding a "gap year" of sitting on the couch. I'm not sure why you would assume otherwise.

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

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.

How is this year of volunteering overseas being funded?

[Anonymous]

Many of the overseas volunteer opportunities are fairly inexpensive. For example, IVHQ, which runs programs all over the world, charges about $200/wk for their program in Ghana, which includes room and board. So kids can go for a few months using their earnings from prior summer jobs, or can work here for a few months to save up some money. Or, of course, there's always the Bank of Mom and Dad.

[Anonymous]

Actually, here's a more accurate description of the IVHQ program fees in Ghana:

Length of program Program Fee $USD
1 week $270
2 weeks $390
3 weeks $490
4 weeks $590
5 weeks $690
6 weeks $790
8 weeks $1,040
10 weeks $1,290
12 weeks $1,550
16 weeks $2,090
20 weeks $2,630
24 weeks $3,170

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This seems like another layer of helicoptering. A gap year your parents make you do and organize or pay for is likely to do nothing for their actual development.

Is it just the parent paying for it that bothers you? Why/how is a parent paying for college for the same aged child not "helicoptering"? Most people benefit greatly from exposure to other cultures.

It's micromanaging your kid in a way inappropriate for an 18 year old.

Many kids get their gap year paid for but with the obvious caveat that they plan their time in an educational way. I'm not funding a "gap year" of sitting on the couch. I'm not sure why you would assume otherwise.

but it's still micromanaging to think you have to program and dicate what they do for another year. parent who can't let go of control. I do have sympathy for the students burned out after a super intense HS program, but that probably speaks to HS being overly helicoptered as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Actually, here's a more accurate description of the IVHQ program fees in Ghana:

Length of program Program Fee $USD
1 week $270
2 weeks $390
3 weeks $490
4 weeks $590
5 weeks $690
6 weeks $790
8 weeks $1,040
10 weeks $1,290
12 weeks $1,550
16 weeks $2,090
20 weeks $2,630
24 weeks $3,170

plus airfare, plus the inherent ethical issues with foreign "service learning."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
This seems like another layer of helicoptering. A gap year your parents make you do and organize or pay for is likely to do nothing for their actual development.


Is it just the parent paying for it that bothers you? Why/how is a parent paying for college for the same aged child not "helicoptering"? Most people benefit greatly from exposure to other cultures.


It's micromanaging your kid in a way inappropriate for an 18 year old.


Many kids get their gap year paid for but with the obvious caveat that they plan their time in an educational way. I'm not funding a "gap year" of sitting on the couch. I'm not sure why you would assume otherwise.


but it's still micromanaging to think you have to program and dictate what they do for another year. parent who can't let go of control. I do have sympathy for the students burned out after a super intense HS program, but that probably speaks to HS being overly helicoptered as well.

These two posters are talking past each other. Not micromanaging to allow your kid to make plans for their year that do not include going to college. (But it is micromanaging if the parent is telling the kid they have to do a gap year, or dictating what they do.)

[Anonymous]

Gap years became popular in Britain starting in the late 1990s but quickly became pigeonholed as a rich kid's world tour where they mostly drank and had sex and experimented with drugs in their fifty country jaunt rather than anything meaningful.

They've lost popularity in recent years.

I'm sure for the right kid a gap year with the right balance of activities, work and travel can be a great exposure. But it can also just as easily be wasted. Looking back at myself while I would have loved a gap year at age 18 I still wouldn't have gotten as much out of it as I did in my post graduation "gap" year that I spent working in a pub in Edinburgh before going on to graduate school.

[Anonymous]

It takes a lot of discipline to succeed in college. 12 months of taking it easy at a votunteer service job would not work for my kid !