I don't want to go to college anymore.

[bopambo]

Gap years can be great, and some people need them. If you have an overwhelming desire to NOT go to school next year, I'd listen to that. If your parents are OK with the gap year but not traveling, then take the year off and get a job. Wait a minute, I didn't say for the whole year. Work while also convincing your parents that planning a travel experience responsibly is a good idea. Research and plan and show your parents your plans, I bet you can bring them around. I went to Europe with a backpack at 18 and had the experience of a lifetime. Good luck!

[liek0806]

You are very mature for your age.

I don't know how to word what I want to say, but I'll try my best.

I do agree with the perspective that if you die tomorrow, and/or in the up-coming future, it's better to have experienced life and new places, or do what you really want to do, then to have tried to joined the rat race. I didn't gain this perspective if it weren't for my college education and the experiences I have had living in the same city where my current school is located.

Attending college is a life changing experience. You will grow, you will become more educated, you will gain new points of views, and you will meet new people. The type of experiences and education you gain in college only make traveling more enriching. Even though it's taken me over 5 years to finish an undergraduate education(I will finish in the Fall), I can't imagine having traveled at 18 or before my college education and having really appreciated new places the way I do/could now.

I feel that $25K+ per year in loans is way too much for any school if you and your family will be repaying it for years to come. There are alternatives to that if you're open to not attending Boston University. It appears that the things you love about Boston U mainly have to do with the city. I personally think getting into debt just to be in a city you like is not worth it. You have your whole adult life to work and live in Boston. I think it would be smarter for you to attend a cheaper school(if you have other options) or to attend a community college and transfer(either to Boston, or a better school) then to attend Boston U at this time. By not attending Boston U, you'll have the financial freedom after finishing college to do the things you want to do, or you'll have the freedom during the summers, while you are in school, to travel and/or potentially study abroad. I honestly don't think Boston U, nor most other schools, are worth $100K+ in debt.

If you're dead set on attending Boston U, be it now, or in the future, travel now. College will always be there. Traveling will add a new point of view to your life that can only help you in figuring out what you want to do with the rest of your life. You are right that once you're out of school, you won't have the freedom to do some of the things you want to do(this includes having the freedom to take unpaid internships with companies you may really want to work for or in fields that really interests you) especially if you plan to live out that life of "graduating college, getting a career, getting married, buying a home, having kids, etc" unless you have little-to-no debt. I just personally wouldn't count, or rely, on your plans of working abroad because they may not be feasible. You will learn with time that not everything in life you plan out happens the way you want it too, and usually it doesn't happen because it's not in your power to control.

[LasMa]

[insert sound of brakes screeching] $25K per year??? No. Not this year, not next year. Never. Gap year or no gap year, that is FAR too much debt to take on.

I completely understand the part about being academically exhausted. My D attended a rigorous high school (and middle school) and went straight to college, despite her misgivings about being ready. She had a rough freshman year, and ended up taking a "gap semester" at the beginning of sophomore year. She didn't yearn to travel, but she seriously needed a break. She had a happy ending; she's loving college now, after the semester off. But in retrospect, I really wish she had taken a gap year before starting; it would have saved alot of misery that first year.

[levirm]

IF you do end up taking a gap year - please do it with a peer experience! I've known kids who took a gap year and found it very socially isolating. For example, they worked somewhere that no one their age worked, they were nannies in Europe and had no friends, etc. They had idealized the gap year experience, which made things worse. Their friends, at college, were surrounded by thousands of people their own age who couldn't wait to engage with them. The gap year kids found themselves somewhat depressed; the college kids were enthusiastic.

[lkf725]

My daughter's friend just spent $30K+ to go to college out of state for freshman year. He didn't do that well, didn't get a lot done and can't really afford to go back. He lacked a plan and focus. He would have done well to either choose a more affordable option or take a gap year to assess what he really wanted. Waiting can be a good thing.

OTOH, it doesn't sound like you are afraid of hard work. Since you are a high achiever, maybe you are just afraid (on some level) of not being able to keep up your excellent record? It would be normal to be a little nervous.

[qdogpa]

Perhaps we place to much emphasis on 'getting to college',between honors,ap,sat tutors,ec's and for some work and athletics...you shouldn't be burnt out from HS...i am in the camp,get to college,find a study abroad program...i am not a big fan of gap years

[pacheight]

Harvard College Admissions § Applying: Taking Time Off

[happymomof1]

$25k in loans each year for four years is $100k. That is way too much to borrow. Run the loan repayment repayment calculators at FinAid! Financial Aid, College Scholarships and Student Loans to see how much you would need to pay back each month, and sit down with a loan officer at your bank or financial institution to find out if you and your family would evenbe able to borrow that much. There is a thread right now in the Financial Aid forum discussing the option available for a student whose parents have not been allowed to borrow any more money.

Pick up the phone, call BU and arrange to defer enrollment. Take the year off. If you can't travel abroad with Woof, look for similar opportunities in this country. Rodale used to take volunteers at it's research facility in Pennsylvania, and there certainly would be other options around the country.

[Jared53]

If you want my opinion than you need to go to college this semester. You have had a break, it's called summer and I find it hard to believe that you can be mentally exhausted after such a long break. I'm already itching to get back into it again. It's not like high school either, college is a fantastic opportunity to learn great new things, to meet so many new people, and to have so much fun.

I would be willing to bet that if you took a gap year you would find yourself not only somewhat lonely but regretful. What would you do during a gap year? You said travel but would it be alone? I just couldn't do that. Let's not forget that after an entire YEAR without school you will be rusty on all of your subjects and will find adjusting to college life much more difficult. There is no other place than college that I would rather be at or be going to after high school. I have a friend who is taking a gap year and I couldn't be more disappointing in him. Not only will most of his friends be leaving him in the dust but he won't find anything to fill his time with besides flip burgers at Wendy's.

It sort of seems like your making college out to be a dull, lonesome, and exhausting ordeal. That is not the case! There is literally unlimited fun to be had in college and your day actually seems to open up more. I only have class a couple hours every day and on Friday only one class mid-day. Studying certainly won't occupy nearly the rest of my available time, one of the reasons for college (for me) is to have fun!

At best I feel like it's a far-fetched, lofty, and unorganized plan. You might want to extend your life as it is now, but it wouldn't be the same. Go to college and before you know it your apprehensions will disappear and you will be glad that you made the right decision.

[compmom]

Forty-two years ago I felt just as you do: burned out from hard work in a rigorous high school, and anxious to do some living before buckling down again. What I didn't understand was that the best way to "do some living" was probably to go to college and interact with peers, explore interests, enjoy the city, all things available to you at BU.

I wish I had gone, honestly. The bottom line is that life works out regardless, but taking a full gap year may, indeed, isolate you, and you may not enjoy going back to college so much after a year off. It can go either way. When you are 23 and still in college, you may wish you had just gone ahead and gone, too (though many of us today spend decades on a degree, so you won't be unusual).

If you are tired, consider other options: take the fall off, or go this fall but tell yourself that you can take a leave of absence for spring term; look into taking a reduced courseload (3 classes) and make it up later. If you are working full time now, can you take a few weeks off in August and relax?

The college students I know do way more traveling than the kids I know who did not go, with the idea of travel. I know several kids who delayed college, and Woofed or Couch Surfed or backpacked and came back tired and disappointed. In contrast, study abroad during the year or summer, in a college program, provides a home base for deeper exploration of a culture, and a focus. Many schools provide grants for travel as well.

Is there any chance that you are depressed? I am not pathologizing your feelings, I promise: your questioning is mature and justified. But some kids do get a boost from either counseling or short-term meds for the transition to school. If this is totally off base, please forgive me: just a thought. At Harvard, I have read, 50% of students fall in this category!

I strongly advise you to try school, but give yourself a break in some way, either by letting yourself try a break after first semester, if needed (you can decide in late fall) or by taking fewer courses. If you start, you will have a school and friends to come back to after a gap term.

Only you know the extent of your burnout. All I can say, from the vantage point of experience and even some hard-earned wisdom, is that really "living life" and developing as a human being usually happens in ordinary day to day ways, not in dramatic experiences like travel. I have watched my kids grow and mature in the college years in truly amazing ways, and not one of them has yet left the country!

(If money is an issue, then that is another thing to consider. I have responded without addressing the money concerns, except to say, again, that travel and living abroad will be subsidized by colleges in many cases, and if you go on your own, you will have to earn the full costs of travel.)

[pacheight]

What's wrong with taking on debt?

I can't think of a better reason to take on debt. What's better than education debt? A 25k car? A 200k house?

Bu is an excellent education that will likely result in a life time of high income. A car will be worth zero in 10 years

[vlines]

^^ Nothing wrong with taking on debt in certian instances, and for certian students. What is wrong is taking on debt when an equal program would produce the same results. If you were shopping for a car, and one dealership's price was $4,000 less than another for the same car, why would you pay the extra $4,000. Some people may have legitimate reasons. But most of us would purchase the same car at the lower price.

[pacheight]

I can't think of a state school, including cal, that will provide as good an education as bu

[Chriszeoli]

Maybe study abroad?

[compmom]

The amount can go down each year, too. As assets are spent on college costs, financial aid can dramatically increase.