"If you commit to a school and then defer admission, many schools require that you do not take academic classes at another school."

I think this is focused on the wrong part of the requirement. I don't think any school cares if you take classes at another school during a deferment.

What colleges don't want is you showing up with a years worth of community college classes to transfer and thinking you only need three more years to have a complete Top 20 education.

Take classes during part (or part time) during a gap year. If you hope to be an engineer, retake Calc II or take Calc III and repeat it first semester.

I know math skills can atrophy over a gap year from personal experience. If you hope to study a writing heavy major, it can never hurt to take a class or two that strengthen writing skills.

Not every skill will atrophy equally but lots of times gap years are desirable because of perceived pressure.

Pressure often comes when students are trying to hold together a high GPA when they have skill weaknesses/holes.

So part of what might be thought of as skill atrophy is really skill gaps/weaknesses. If part of the gap year can be used to fill holes/address weaknesses that is good.

Further, the set of study skills you used in HS may not cut the mustard in college.

Classes during a gap year can expose these issues if any of the classes taken aren't just repeats and explorations of new subjects.

For example, calc III will expose any weaknesses in your AP Calc BC background.

My son is an athlete and had an intense HS career and was going to gap year until he was recruited for his sport so it never came to fruition. He had 2 friends do the following programs that we were looking at....

https://www.volunteerhq.org/

http://www.gapyearsouthafrica.com/

My DD was in the same situation it sounds like, recovering from a major head injury senior year, and really was not ready to start college in that situation. She deferred her admission without any difficulty (agree with all above, get in and defer, don't put off application process) She spent the summer/fall working (and stayed on at a place she had worked during high school and moved up in responsibility, actually learning to manage people, deal with budgets and logistics, and this experience helped her get jobs all through college that paid quite well, so a win-win). She stayed in town, and did some coaching at her old high school, and traveled on weekends to visit friends at nearby colleges. Then she got herself a position in Europe (working in a hostel, free room and board, and some opportunity to make some cash running tours on the side) where she became absolutely fluent in a language, which was fantastic, and she gained independence and just had a fantastic time. Then she spent the spring in a language program picking up a third language in South America, through a study abroad program that gave some structure but also lots of independence. All in all she was thrilled she did it even if the reason at the time was the injury and not totally her choice. And she didn't lose anything academically, she was eager to start college when she returned, she had gained language skills that helped in college where she continued to study both languages, and she in one year certainly did;t forget how to read,reason or write.

In terms of more organized programs, I second NOLS if interested in that sort of thing, and EF has gap year programs I have heard good things about. Also many colleges (listed above already) encourage gap years before coming and even provide programs.

Class Afloat

WWOOF

AmeriCorps

Where there be dragons
Carpe Diem
IVHQ
Pacific Discovery
NOLS

One idea is to work for one semester to earn the money to travel the other semester (or participate in one of the above programs). They can be quite expensive

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Unless your kid has some really good reason (world-class sports training, charity/political goals, like the gun-control kids from Fla) a gap year is probably a bad idea for most.


NP: Why do you say this? Formal gap year programs (e.g. foreign exchange, service learning) give valuable experiences. Working can make you more motivated and ready for college. I think the gap year has potential to flip kids out of the high school mode into taking more initiative. Some kids need an extra year to grow up or some time away from school to appreciate it or just a little broader life experience. The only thing I would do is to apply now and get accepted to a college so she doesn't drift away from going altogether. Also, select a gap year program that has some reading/writing requirements and/or if she stays home and works have her enroll in a few community college courses to keep academic skills sharp.

Exactly why a gap program is a bad idea for most. Academic skills can weaken, peers are all off at college, new peers may not be as motivated......

If you commit to a school and then defer admission, many schools require that you do not take academic classes at another school.

My DS contacted a non-profit he had volunteered with (in another country) in high school and asked if he could do an internship for a gap year and they said yes.

Were considering a post grad year at a boarding school for our kids.

OP here: TOTALLY agree! That's why I wanted to hear from folks that may know of good volunteer gap year programs. If you know which one your friend's child attended, please let me know!!!

OP, just chiming in with another anecdote. Kid of a friend applied to colleges as a senior, got in early, and then just melted down from all the stress. Close call with graduating from high school, and dropped some classes in order to finish. She had a wonderful experience doing a gap year (a few different overseas volunteer organizations), and was able to start college feeling refreshed. Although it sounds like your daughter's difficulties have been with her physical health, it's a similar sort of thing. Clearing her head for a year doing something different (but structured) that may help her regain her confidence/independence (assuming that's part of the issue) sounds like a great idea.

OP here again--thank you so much (you know who you are) for answering my questions and supporting the general idea!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Unless your kid has some really good reason (world-class sports training, charity/political goals, like the gun-control kids from Fla) a gap year is probably a bad idea for most.


NP: Why do you say this? Formal gap year programs (e.g. foreign exchange, service learning) give valuable experiences. Working can make you more motivated and ready for college. I think the gap year has potential to flip kids out of the high school mode into taking more initiative. Some kids need an extra year to grow up or some time away from school to appreciate it or just a little broader life experience. The only thing I would do is to apply now and get accepted to a college so she doesn't drift away from going altogether. Also, select a gap year program that has some reading/writing requirements and/or if she stays home and works have her enroll in a few community college courses to keep academic skills sharp.

Exactly why a gap program is a bad idea for most. Academic skills can weaken, peers are all off at college, new peers may not be as motivated......

So what data or experience are you drawing from to make these huge generalizations about academic skills weaken and new peers may not be as motivated? I think those are entirely too sweeping and sound like a personal bias against gap years rather than anything based on more wide-ranging knowledge.

I think it's the accepted wisdom that college-bound kids should apply to schools during their senior years and then ask for deferments.

Research has been done on whether students benefit from taking a gap year:

https://gapyearassociation.org/research.php

https://gapyearassociation.org/data-benefits.php

And if gap years were such a terrible idea in terms of dumbing down students, I don't think tippy-top rated schools like Princeton would encourage them:

https://www.princeton.edu/bridgeyear/

Tufts is also not a slacker school:

https://admissions.tufts.edu/apply/first-year-students/tufts-14/

Many other universities allow or encourage them as well:

https://www.gapyearassociation.org/fav-colleges.php

I’d just advise you get the kid OUT of your hometown.

If you keep them home they’re going to risk falling in with losers who didn’t go away to college or the kids still in hs (which is creepy/pathetic).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Jeez. Thanks to the two people who actually gave ideas and not unwanted advice! Not that it's really anyone's business, but my daughter is recovering from a major illness which caused her to lose almost a year of school. She's young for her grade and just wants a year to explore life before committing to college. Now can I have suggestions in response to my question? Or are folks just going to post any and everything but an answer to my original question: Do you know of good gap year programs???

What would you daughter like to do? My dd likes theatre and she plans on a gap year trying to get acting jobs, teaching at a local theatre company and taking classes at Moco. I also hope we can travel together as a family to places we didn't go when she was young.

I would start with your daughter's ideas and then go from there. Does she want to go away and experience something different..ie work on a farm?

Unlike others I think gap years can be great...

Why aren't you starting with this in mind? I think gap years are a great option for children that aren't ready for college or just want t break. But they should apply to college with their classmates as a senior and defer enrollment for a year. If people think that enrolling in some commercial gap year program is going to increase their odds of admission a year out of school they are mistaken.....that's a recipe for disaster.

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Jeez. Thanks to the two people who actually gave ideas and not unwanted advice! Not that it's really anyone's business, but my daughter is recovering from a major illness which caused her to lose almost a year of school. She's young for her grade and just wants a year to explore life before committing to college. Now can I have suggestions in response to my question? Or are folks just going to post any and everything but an answer to my original question: Do you know of good gap year programs???

What would you daughter like to do? My dd likes theatre and she plans on a gap year trying to get acting jobs, teaching at a local theatre company and taking classes at Moco. I also hope we can travel together as a family to places we didn't go when she was young.

I would start with your daughter's ideas and then go from there. Does she want to go away and experience something different..ie work on a farm?

Unlike others I think gap years can be great...

Anonymous wrote:
Unless your kid has some really good reason (world-class sports training, charity/political goals, like the gun-control kids from Fla) a gap year is probably a bad idea for most.


NP: Why do you say this? Formal gap year programs (e.g. foreign exchange, service learning) give valuable experiences. Working can make you more motivated and ready for college. I think the gap year has potential to flip kids out of the high school mode into taking more initiative. Some kids need an extra year to grow up or some time away from school to appreciate it or just a little broader life experience. The only thing I would do is to apply now and get accepted to a college so she doesn't drift away from going altogether. Also, select a gap year program that has some reading/writing requirements and/or if she stays home and works have her enroll in a few community college courses to keep academic skills sharp.

Exactly why a gap program is a bad idea for most. Academic skills can weaken, peers are all off at college, new peers may not be as motivated......