High School Grads: Taking a Year off vs. Heading Straight to College
Gap years can offer incredible opportunities, but there are some drawbacks, too.
One evening last winter, while at my son’s high school for a meeting, I wandered into a Gap Year Fair. Now I know what Alice felt like when she fell into that rabbit hole. Although I knew vaguely about gap year programs, and even know some kids doing a gap year, I had no idea the extent of the incredible global opportunities available to high school graduates. I wandered around the tables collecting brochures filled with colorful photos of beaming teenagers volunteering in health clinics in the Andes, teaching computer skills to people in Sri Lanka, helping coach youth soccer teams in Moldova, and working with the Sea Turtle Protection Society of Greece. I was thinking what a great opportunity this would be for my younger son who, if all …
Susan Schaefer
4:32 pm on Sunday, August 12, 2012
Sully! Where have you been, my friend? The kind of gap year I am referring to is well planned and goal oriented. I do not suggest students take a year off to hang out with friends, but participate in one of the hundreds of gap year programs, do an internship, community service, etc. The best plan for a gap year is to apply to college and defer for a year. Kids that do this usually do go on to … more ›