My S26 is expressing an interest in taking a gap year. I think it’s a good idea for him. His dream involves a lot of travel, some work to help pay for it. As much as I encourage travel and independence, I think he’d benefit from a more structured program, at least for part of it. Any recommendations on where to research?
Also, I assume he needs to apply to college as though he’s not doing this and then request it of his chosen campus. Is this the only/best way to go about it?
Seems to me if he 100% knows he’s not going next year, he needn’t apply next year. He can and ask to defer but he needn’t. If he did, and a school grants a deferral, he would have less “stress” as he travels but of course, he might also change his mind and then have to re-start.
As for programs, there are study abroads that have “internships”. So that might be structured. I’m not sure if you can do it outside of a university or it needs to be through. And what pre-reqs might be required.
But CIEE seems to offer this.
Another option might be a first year education abroad - FSU offers this as well as NEU and Hamilton - while it’s school, maybe the ability to travel weekends and breaks?
Good luck.
Are there any cost constraints for this gap year?
It’s a good question. I’m guessing his 529 might not be permitted to cover it if it’s travel/volunteer oriented. I’m ok with spending some cash on it. I’d also like him to have some skin in the game. So, for now, maybe, we explore a range of possibilities and use that to help him focus his thinking. I’d be ok with spending 15-25k and I’d like to see him work and add 5-7k of his own money. But I don’t really have any reason for the budget—other than 30k seems like a lot 
Also, does he have any foreign language skills (current or those he wants to improve)?
These two organizations have programs that look as though they would fall within budget:
He’s been studying Japanese in high school so I could see him enjoying a program that takes him there.
If you would like further specific ideas, Hamilton provides these suggestions to applicants it has offered deferred admission:
IIRC you are in CA. That won’t work at UCs, they don’t grant deferrals except in exceptional circumstances. So you may need to wait to apply until after HS graduation. That may also affect his ability to be away from home in the fall of a gap year if there are essays to write, counselors to chase up etc.
Good point. I do want UCs/CSUs to be in the consideration set, though I don’t know if he actually wants to go to one/would choose one. He’s expressed interest in cold climates, rain/snow, and he likes cities/college towns—doesn’t want to be isolated. Our first multi-college trip will likely be to Oregon, where my brother and his wife live… to check out University of Oregon, OSU, Lewis and Clark and Willamette. Maybe Reed, but not sure he’d be well suited for what appears to be onerous rigor and grade deflation.
If it won’t harm him to delay applying until after graduation, maybe the answer is to work a lot in summer/fall and do his applications, then travel January to July or so. I only know of people who have applied senior year, then deferred for a gap year, so I didn’t know this was a viable option (he won’t be in school, per se, unless he picks a program like language-based study). I guess I also leaned toward applying senior year/deferring bc it would be nice to have the decision made.
Choosing a study abroad start or a school with spring admission might also be appealing. I will gather options and float them to see if that helps him get some clarity. (Today he told me he wants to hitchhike on trains—yes, like Jack Kerouac—and I was like… um… no.) Was he kidding? Maybe. Hard to say with this one!!
There’s always schools one can do sans recommendations - but to me, it makes sense to get into schools (that have a deferral) and pick one.
Best case - it’s the one and he starts next year.
Worst case, he decides it’s not for him.
UC says this - so maybe in a year from now it won’t be as hard as you think applying. You won’t have to chase down old teachers.
You should not submit letters of recommendation for the UC application. However, some campuses/majors may request letters of recommendation as part of a supplemental application review. Be sure to check for an email message from a campus.
CSU says:
Applicants do not need to submit any letters of recommendation, resumes or personal statements. A majority of the admissions decisions are based off of academic coursework they enter into the application.
Unless there’s a requirement to apply right after graduation, why can’t the student apply in a year if he knows 100% he’s not going right after school.
The flipside is - he’ll be travelling - maybe he won’t want to bother but the CSU app shouldn’t be a big deal.
The good news here for UC and CSU applications is that counselor and high school support is not needed for the application (no recommendations or transcripts on application; applicant enters courses and grades into the application, to be verified by final transcript if the applicant is admitted and matriculates).
Agree generally, but there may be some scholarships that are available only to those attending college immediately after high school (like these).
But other colleges may still need those recommendations etc. It doesn’t seem wise to apply to a bunch of colleges during HS, accept one and defer, then reapply to UCs the year after. It also seems unwise to wait until after HS then just apply to UCs. So that only leaves the option of waiting and applying to everywhere in the fall of a gap year.
Why wouldn’t it make sense to apply now, accept, defer and then if the student decides it’s not for them, apply to the UCs and CSUs next year.
If they get an offer they like more, then could then just decline the deferred school.
Or what am I missing?
Will your high school allow you to do this? More to the point will the college you’ve deferred at? Maybe they won’t find out, but if they do would they pull your offer?
Many people say it’s morally wrong to keep other applications open after being admitted to an ED school (though it isn’t illegal). What’s the difference?
This has come up before:
Was this an ED?
ED is binding. I didn’t realize they were doing ED.
Is it wrong to accept a school, ask for a deferral, and then back out (non ED)? I don’t see why - but perhaps I’m misguided.
As long as you withdraw from the school you accepted so you aren’t committed to two but that’s at least as I see it.
The old thread I linked to above talks about signing an agreement to attend as part of the deferral. That’s very similar to accepting an ED offer and agreeing to withdraw any other open applications. The precise terms of that agreement will be specified by the college you agree to attend.
Just like ED though, there may not be much the school you’ve agreed to attend can do about it beyond forfeiting your deposit. And I suppose if you just apply to UCs and can self-report grades etc then your HS may not be able to stop you (or even know about it until much later when it’s time to send your transcript). The main risk is that the college you originally agreed to attend might find out and pull your offer before you’ve been admitted to anywhere else.
To widen the possibilities he’s considering, what about starting college in the Fall but then taking a term or more off before graduation? Many privates allow this automatically and even CSU/UC allow taking at least one term off with guaranteed return. Since you mention he has an interest in travel he could couple time off with a study-abroad program. Taking terms off would probably not work so well for majors that are very sequential such as engineering.
I like the idea of putting a few possibilities in front of him, but I lean toward making time for it right after high school. One of the main things a gap year gets him is another year to mature. He has ADHD, and while he has come so far with his treatment and his abilities in the classroom, I have long felt that he’s about a year behind in the executive functioning skills he’s expected to have in a traditional classroom environment. This has nothing to do with his intelligence, motivation, or abilities. He’s very intrinsically motivated to learn, has an incredible memory and learns content easily. His gaps are in organization, prioritization, focus on tasks that are not his favorite things to do. I believe employment and independent travel/community service could be huge opportunities for him to experience a new world of possibility as well as natural consequences in these environments, and allow him to come back to an academic environment with more clarity on what he wants to do and more maturity and skills to make it happen.
I appreciate the concern over whether he applies senior year and asks for a deferral, or he waits to apply and then has to chase down letters of recommendation from former teachers. He’s changing schools this year (his junior year) and it might actually be not very difficult for him to go to his senior year teachers and ask for letters, if he’s applying after graduation. It would also give him another year to form relationships and have a wider range of teachers to ask. I’m not sure if his high school has any rules or recommendations on how and when he applies–definitely something I will ask about!