Why are gap years trendy?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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."

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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 !

Mine either! Straight to College she goes.

Like the good robot she/ he was trained to be.

Unless the kid is totally supporting themselves during the gap year (and the ones I hear about do not) that's an expensive proposition for the parents, so it's only really for the well-to-do.

I know Princeton for sure has organized a pre-freshman gap year where you can used financial aid.

That's interested, but to my uneducated (about the Princeton program) eye, it sounds like more loans?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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 !

Yup, heaven forbid they spend a year learning to live without running water, taking bucket showers and sleeping under a mosquito net, planting crops or fixing up a school, eating rice and beans for dinner, just "taking it easy" while their peers head off to college and join a fraternity and drink themselves into oblivion. Not to mention that it will be a whole extra year before they can get to Wall Street and start earning a six-figure salary. Glad I don't have a slacker who would waste a year that way.

But when kids do that, they know they have a warm bed waiting for them back home. They know they're parents will pay for a flight back home if something happens. They know they are supported.

I actually think that in some ways it gives kids a false sense of what it really is like for people who live in those areas of the world where they have no running water, and it's not just a year of roughing it; it's their lives.

It's a bizarre form of poverty tourism. There's also been a number of studies that have shown that some of those programs (where wealthy kids spend a year building things for free in poor areas of the world) actually make things worse because it would be far better to employ people living in those areas (who need employment) to do those jobs.

When I was in college, we had a couple of volunteer groups wherein kids would do those kinds of things over their summer breaks. They saw it as a kind of vacation. None of them ever came back (in my view) with a deeper understanding of poverty. If anything, they came back with a kind of self-righteous view of themselves. It was bizarre.

+1 it's for rich kids. For MC kids the years go by fast. Their classmat s of year 20xx are finished freshmen year and all that entails and are self confident sophomores. If they wait another semester they are even further behind. And in our case if the money runs out ...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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 !

Mine either! Straight to College she goes.

Like the good robot she/ he was trained to be.

Unless the kid is totally supporting themselves during the gap year (and the ones I hear about do not) that's an expensive proposition for the parents, so it's only really for the well-to-do.

I know Princeton for sure has organized a pre-freshman gap year where you can used financial aid.

That's interested, but to my uneducated (about the Princeton program) eye, it sounds like more loans?

Princeton is a no loan school. They have an extremely large endowment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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?

I lived and studied in Austria for my gap year. I was one of the younger kids in my grade and didn't want to start college as the "baby" (I would have turned 21 after college graduation). I've never known anyone to stay home and work at the mall for a gap year -- seems like a waste, no? If my kid wanted to travel, I'd encourage him to get on LinkedIn and network to see if he can get internships in his field of interest.

Well, perhaps you live in a bubble. Some kids need the money. They work to save up some money b/c their parents either aren't paying for college or are only contributing a minimal amount. So they work for a year to save up some spending money.

Not everyone can afford to live in Austria for a year.

Again, I haven't seen that happen. The children I can think of who couldn't go to college due to financial constraints usually went somewhere on a big scholarship, or didn't go to college at all -- it wasn't a gap year and then go type of situation. The ones who weren't well off enough to go without aid but not poor enough to not go had a difficult time, that's for sure. I knew one guy who studied full-time and worked at a bar full-time, one girl who did the same but with EMT work. None of them could have taken a gap year to work at the mall or kayak or whatever and forego their education, as they'd see gap years as a frivolous thing for the middle class and above (which they are, TBH). And that was my point -- if you (read: your family) are in a financially secure position to take year off and "live your truth," working for minimum wage at the mall WOULD be a waste, when you could be doing so many more exciting things in your own backyard (volunteering, interning, taking courses in things like art/history/MMA, road tripping, whatever strikes your fancy).

[Anonymous]

We're thinking of making our child take a gap year. We're told this isn't a good idea, but he is dozing his way through school and is immature and interested in nothing. We've been helping him (dragging him is more like it) get through his senior year, but I'm not sure it's such a good idea to let him go right to college. He's smart, so was accepted, then let his grades fall into the toilet. He's not used to responsibility and has no concept of how difficult the world is without parents there to pick up the pieces (yes, guilty as charged). I think it would be great for him to get a job stocking shelves at Wal-Mart for minumum wage. He could see how real people live, how hard it is to make a living and make ends meet on such poor wages.

He wants to go to college. I imagine he'll socialize and do a little studying. Wouldn't a gap year be a good idea, or would it be just a waste of time for him?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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 !

Mine either! Straight to College she goes.

Like the good robot she/ he was trained to be.

Unless the kid is totally supporting themselves during the gap year (and the ones I hear about do not) that's an expensive proposition for the parents, so it's only really for the well-to-do.

I know Princeton for sure has organized a pre-freshman gap year where you can used financial aid.

That's interested, but to my uneducated (about the Princeton program) eye, it sounds like more loans?

Princeton is a no loan school. They have an extremely large endowment.

Tufts has the same program. They are the only two school I know that have it. Unfortunately my kids can't get into either school.

[Anonymous]

Because this generation will have to work until they die w/ no SS. Why not take a gap year?

[Anonymous]

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.

How is this year of volunteering overseas being funded?

I'm a Group 2 kid but from Europe. I worked for 6 months (living at home) and earned enough money to spend my 2nd 6 months travelling and studying abroad. Yes, I obviously had parental support as my parents didn't charge me rent while I stayed at home and continued to pay for my food and all needs. And yes if anything had gone wrong while I was away they would have been able to fly me home or pay for medical treatment or whatever. But the same was also true while I was at university. The difference was that I funded the trip myself, I planned it all myself, booked and arranged everything, and it was an incredible experience. Maybe it is not for everyone but I can't see why there are so many negative reactions to it here. I will definitely be encouraging my kids, who will probably also be of the Group 2 variety, to do the same.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We're thinking of making our child take a gap year. We're told this isn't a good idea, but he is dozing his way through school and is immature and interested in nothing. We've been helping him (dragging him is more like it) get through his senior year, but I'm not sure it's such a good idea to let him go right to college. He's smart, so was accepted, then let his grades fall into the toilet. He's not used to responsibility and has no concept of how difficult the world is without parents there to pick up the pieces (yes, guilty as charged). I think it would be great for him to get a job stocking shelves at Wal-Mart for minumum wage. He could see how real people live, how hard it is to make a living and make ends meet on such poor wages.

He wants to go to college. I imagine he'll socialize and do a little studying. Wouldn't a gap year be a good idea, or would it be just a waste of time for him?

Your kid is a PRIME candidate to fail out of college after 2-3 semesters. Gap year for sure. Job and structured volunteer program. Tell him it'll help his resume.

[Anonymous]

Pretty commonly done outside of the US and not considered trendy.

A year to gain some experience and maturity

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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 !

Yup, heaven forbid they spend a year learning to live without running water, taking bucket showers and sleeping under a mosquito net, planting crops or fixing up a school, eating rice and beans for dinner, just "taking it easy" while their peers head off to college and join a fraternity and drink themselves into oblivion. Not to mention that it will be a whole extra year before they can get to Wall Street and start earning a six-figure salary. Glad I don't have a slacker who would waste a year that way.

I did that in Peace Corps after college. Those paid for gap year programs in developing countries are paid for tourism by rich kids. They do not have the experience/training to add value nor are there long enough to make an impact. They should wait tables for a year and just send the money. It would be more helpful to the beneficiaries.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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?

I lived and studied in Austria for my gap year. I was one of the younger kids in my grade and didn't want to start college as the "baby" (I would have turned 21 after college graduation). I've never known anyone to stay home and work at the mall for a gap year -- seems like a waste, no? If my kid wanted to travel, I'd encourage him to get on LinkedIn and network to see if he can get internships in his field of interest.

Well, perhaps you live in a bubble. Some kids need the money. They work to save up some money b/c their parents either aren't paying for college or are only contributing a minimal amount. So they work for a year to save up some spending money.

Not everyone can afford to live in Austria for a year.

Again, I haven't seen that happen. The children I can think of who couldn't go to college due to financial constraints usually went somewhere on a big scholarship, or didn't go to college at all -- it wasn't a gap year and then go type of situation. The ones who weren't well off enough to go without aid but not poor enough to not go had a difficult time, that's for sure. I knew one guy who studied full-time and worked at a bar full-time, one girl who did the same but with EMT work. None of them could have taken a gap year to work at the mall or kayak or whatever and forego their education, as they'd see gap years as a frivolous thing for the middle class and above (which they are, TBH). And that was my point -- if you (read: your family) are in a financially secure position to take year off and "live your truth," working for minimum wage at the mall WOULD be a waste, when you could be doing so many more exciting things in your own backyard (volunteering, interning, taking courses in things like art/history/MMA, road tripping, whatever strikes your fancy).

You live in a tiny, tiny bubble. There are many kids who put off college for a year to earn money, or who take a year off to work during college, or who go part-time so they can continue working, because they don't have a generous 529 to count on. It's becoming more the norm than the exception. We just don't call it a "gap year" in those cases. In any event, I would not consider it a "waste" if my kid wanted to work for a year before college, even at minimum wage. I'd consider it an excellent learning experience about the world of work and money.

[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.

How is this year of volunteering overseas being funded?

I'm a Group 2 kid but from Europe. I worked for 6 months (living at home) and earned enough money to spend my 2nd 6 months travelling and studying abroad. Yes, I obviously had parental support as my parents didn't charge me rent while I stayed at home and continued to pay for my food and all needs. And yes if anything had gone wrong while I was away they would have been able to fly me home or pay for medical treatment or whatever. But the same was also true while I was at university. The difference was that I funded the trip myself, I planned it all myself, booked and arranged everything, and it was an incredible experience. Maybe it is not for everyone but I can't see why there are so many negative reactions to it here. I will definitely be encouraging my kids, who will probably also be of the Group 2 variety, to do the same.

I'm one of the critics but your experience sounds different. Very self-directed and substantive. The negative reactions are the notion that a pre-programmed, parent-controlled, parent-funded year abroad are somehow going to be enriching or maturing.

[Anonymous]

Lot of parent funded gaps include travel AND academics. So kids keep he academic juices going, see some cultures, and yes, many also party -- but at least the partying isn't tanking a college GPA.

With everyone going to grad programs these days, and the job pool has a lot of swots with 3.9-4.0s, GPA is very important.