off the waitlist for fall 2010

untoldxdestini · 06-01-2009, 06:34 PM

I've been on the waitlist for colorado college. I sent in my deposit to franklin and marshall on may 1st, but part of me has been holding out for colorado college, as i love the idea of the block plan and i feel like the students there are more similar to me.

I heard from them recently that while they don't think they'll be taking many people more off of the waitlist for the fall or winter, they want to keep my application just in case and are offering me admission for fall 2010. So basically, I would take a gap year- work, travel, etc- and then start there in a year from this fall.

Part of me wants to run to my mailbox to mail them my deposit and another part of me has no idea how the logistics of a gap year would work. Traveling would be expensive (I was thinking of going to someplace in Asia, preferably to volunteer, since that is a lot cheaper), and since I'm not covered under my parents' insurance if I'm not in school, i would need to pay for my health insurance as well. I'm planning on visiting CC soon to get a better idea of how much I would give to go there, but basically I'm looking for advice. What would you do, given a gap-year acceptance to a school you've wanted to go to? Also, does anyone have any ideas for cheaper options for spending the year?

Canadianmom · 06-02-2009, 01:21 AM

First, congratulations on getting this far.

How about discussing your chances of being accepted as a transfer? You might like F & M which is a win, or be able to transfer which is a win.

For an inexpensive gap year, just get a job, any job. Will give you a great perspective on college.

bct1989 · 06-02-2009, 01:56 PM

there are a lot of programs for gap years. heres one i was considering; next year is its first year. the app deadline was the middle of may, but they might still have spot(s), esp if you explain your situation, and you are genuinely interested.

| Global Citizen Year

CONTACT
Location
251 Rhode Island St., Suite 205
San Francisco, CA 94103
Phone
(415) 963-9293
Email
For general inquiries: info@globalcitizenyear.org
For questions regarding our application: applications@globalcitizenyear.org

poetgrl · 06-02-2009, 02:02 PM

The older I get, the more I believe in gap years. Gap years give you a chance to grow up, and give you a break from school, too. You guys have all been working so incredibly hard in this generation, just a break might give you a renewed energy and a better clarity on what you might want to study. If you have a particular passion, it gives you a chance to go deeper into it and see if it is a passing thing or something worth studying. A well-planned gap year can give you a better resume at the end of the game, too, and allow you to develop a relationship job-wise you might be able to keep during the breaks. You never know. There's just no hurry.

All that said, if you like the other school and have good offer, there's nothing wrong with that, either.

bct1989 · 06-02-2009, 02:06 PM

also, heres a program i worked with some during the winter. the upside is you get to live in Colorado and ski for free. awesome place; had a pretty cool time. the negative is that you really only make enough money to live on, so if your goal is to make money its probably better to stay at home and work. the program itself is kind of interesting (mostly just consists of a few meetings/seminar, focusing on the business of vail resorts; kind of interesting, but a lot of the stuff seemed to be common sense/or facts i could have looked up for myself), but i could take it or leave it. if you are mainly interested in working/living/skiing in Co, then i would advise trying to get a job through HR rather than the College program, because they pay the ppl in the college program substantially less (i was making $2-4 less than my job was supposed to be paid, my boss didnt believe me when i first told her what i made; i knew some ppl that were $6-7 under the regular amount). this wouldnt be very hard, because they always need ppl to work on the mountain (scan tickets, shovel snow, etc). personally, i would rather have just worked there than participate in the program and make less; it just wasnt worth it. granted, it was their first year so it might be a little different next yr. best of luck

bct1989 · 06-02-2009, 02:13 PM

also, you would be able to get health insurance via vail resorts for a pretty reasonable amount. not sure of the exact price, but someone i knew had it and he seemed happy with it.