I think it's becoming more common among many students in this area, including kids graduating from a range of schools. In almost all cases, these students have already applied to college and been accepted. They work as volunteers at a range of different organizations, travel in the US and overseas, and in some cases work at "grunt" jobs to help pay for their travel (e.g., bussing tables, clerking at Giant, etc.). I don't know a single kid who's done this who regrets it , and their parents are just as enthusiastic. For many kids who've been in highly competitive high schools, the gap year is a chance to think about what they really want to do with their lives -- not just what they should be doing in order to gain admission to a selective college.

DH took a gap year in 1979 and was an exchange student for a year. It was great for him, he was young for his grade and it gave him an extra year "on the vine". He feels he was much more successful in college as a result of that year. Plus, it gave him another language even if only 4 million people would understand it. He took another year off in college and spent a year in Germany- half of it working and half it as a student. Plus, a few more people know German.

My father took a gap year in 1949 to put on right rear bumpers for Chrysler and worked nights as a janitor in a bowling alley to save up enough to go to college. That savings and an ROTC scholarship did it. He does not recommend it. He said it took him a semester to get his studying chops back in order.

It really depends on the teen and the goals of the gap year.

Yes, I'm seeing it more in families I know.

Anonymous wrote:I'm wondering if I should encourage DS to consider this when the time comes. I ask because I myself wish I had taken a break before committing to college and selecting a field. It would have been so beneficial if I had had some real world experience and a better understanding of myself. In a lot of ways, I think I had been too young and inexperienced to make the best of college. When I look back now, I think, wow, I really didn't know what the heck I was doing with so many missed opportunities due to a lack of patience and ability to see the bigger picture. What are you thoughts on this? Is a gap year something to be pushed?

HIGHLY recommend this, especially if you don't feel that your kid will have the focus and maturity needed.

Anonymous wrote:just another way of saying my kid is nto responsible to go away to school ontheir own ot they are not up to the standards of the schol they wanted to go to.

I only met 1 "gap year" kid who was doing something useful. She went to south america to work in a health clinic and she wants to go to med school, she was already accepted to a great school but deferred a year. the others are all doing some sort of program that is associated with a lot of drinking. so if youa re doing a lot of drinking, you might as well be doing it as a college student.

I am the PP who had two kids take some time off before college. I think if you met mine, you would agree that it often works out well. Both of mine worked full time and lived completly on their own. After my oldest graduated, he accepted a position at the company he had worked for before starting school. $62,000 a year in Raleigh, NC isn't too bad for a 25 year old just out of college. Especially considering the number of unemployed/underemployed college grads.

just another way of saying my kid is nto responsible to go away to school ontheir own ot they are not up to the standards of the schol they wanted to go to.

I only met 1 "gap year" kid who was doing something useful. She went to south america to work in a health clinic and she wants to go to med school, she was already accepted to a great school but deferred a year. the others are all doing some sort of program that is associated with a lot of drinking. so if youa re doing a lot of drinking, you might as well be doing it as a college student.

DS might have been a candidate for a gap years but instead we encouraged easing into college with 12 credits only (still full considered full time) and a major that allowed for exploration. We were prepared to pay for 5 yrs, but now it looks like he'll get it done in 4 + a summer.

We wanted to keep the education going. And on our dime, well, he may as well keep knocking out the credits.

Anonymous wrote:I would question what maturity or useful experience would be gained during the gap year and would worry that the year out of an academic setting would do more harm than good.

Would they really benefit from a year of working a minimum wage job, or a year of failing to find a job and playing video games in the basement of your house? Or even a year of traveling - enriching, yes, but after traveling on someone else's dime would they be likely to go back to a rigorous academic environment or turn into a dirty hippie hobo?

+1

I have yet to see this work out favorably.

I think it's great for some kids. My daughter went straight from high school into college. Both of my boys worked for a couple of years before starting college. All three are doing great!

Yes.

My children are too young to consider this seriously, but it's very much on my radar.

I think practical work experience would be great. We have family in different parts of the world, so the idea of living abroad with language immersion and a solid volunteer gig also feels very appealing.

Maturity doesn't play into it, enrichment does. And gratitude. I'd like them to make the most of the academics once they start college. I was so busy with all of the independence business that I lost out on true, brass tacks learning. I'd like to give them the opportunity to focus on success, with a solid base of confidence to stand on.

It's probably beneficial to have real world experience as an independent adult instead of an adult with helicopter parents financing and protecting a fully grown adult from reality.

I would question what maturity or useful experience would be gained during the gap year and would worry that the year out of an academic setting would do more harm than good.

Would they really benefit from a year of working a minimum wage job, or a year of failing to find a job and playing video games in the basement of your house? Or even a year of traveling - enriching, yes, but after traveling on someone else's dime would they be likely to go back to a rigorous academic environment or turn into a dirty hippie hobo?

I'm wondering if I should encourage DS to consider this when the time comes. I ask because I myself wish I had taken a break before committing to college and selecting a field. It would have been so beneficial if I had had some real world experience and a better understanding of myself. In a lot of ways, I think I had been too young and inexperienced to make the best of college. When I look back now, I think, wow, I really didn't know what the heck I was doing with so many missed opportunities due to a lack of patience and ability to see the bigger picture. What are you thoughts on this? Is a gap year something to be pushed?