<p>I am having mixed feelings about college right now. </p>
<p>I am a senior who in high school that has straight As, good test scores and good extracurriculars. Nothing that secures my spot in HYPS but I have a fighting shot. </p>
<p>I really do believe my future is going to be bright regardless of where and if I go to college.</p>
<p>As Mark Twain said “Dont let education get in the way of your learning.” I love learning when I am interested in the subject. I have found ways to game my educational process–doing whatever I deem moral to get As. After all, school measures grades not learning. But I have learned a lot from school and have slowly realized that school is about more than grades and now try to learn as much as I can from school. Though, I learn a lot more on my own from books, the internet and doing things. </p>
<p>I am planning on taking sometime off before college to launch a business, travel some, maybe write a book and just generally experience what the world has to offer. If the business isn’t going well and I have had my fair share of travel I will go to college with an awesome experience under my belt. Maybe my experiences will even help me get into a very top college. If the business is going well it will be a harder decision to make and I probably won’t go to college. By not going to college I might miss out on some stuff and I am a little bit worried about that. What in life is lost by not going to college?</p>
<p>I want to be an entrepreneur, a philanthropist that focuses on cool causes, a world traveler, a thought leader and whatever else catches my fancy. </p>
<p>So yeah, I am not exactly sure why I am writing this but I think it is to get feedback and anonymously voice my thoughts to the world. So what do you think of my plan?</p>
<p>Some questions to answer for yourself. Are you well prepared with just a HS diploma to be successful at what you propose? For example- do you have all of the business skills, writing skills, finances to not have to “reinvent the wheel” instead of learning what others have already discovered? Do you love learning? Will you satisfy your desires for intellectual stimulation? How will you handle all of the “what ifs” at 18? Think of health insurance, lack of credit to get started, renting an apartment, trying to stay at some hotels, car/transportation…a whole host of issues. Yes, you can go to college later and take the same courses, but you can never have the same nonacademic experiences. College is a great time to have many freedoms without many responsibilities. If you pick a school that fits you well you meet so many people who are your intellectual peers and have fun discussing anything and everything at all times of day or night. Nonacademic time off will not improve your record for college admissions nor improve your ability to handle college material. One of the realities of adulthood is needing to take the bad with the good, such as taking college courses intended to widen your horizons that you wouldn’t choose on your own, aren’t as easy for you or you’re not fond of. College involves delayed gratification- are you willing to get bigger returns later by putting in the time now? School has been easy for you so it is not a question of college not being a good choice for you. Do you want your learning to come via the school of hard knocks?</p>
<p>It is normal to second guess going to college, especially if you feel you have been programmed since you were little to go. Research and apply to colleges that best fit your academic and other facets. You can decide next spring to delay college, but you can’t apply to schools that most likely will be your best fit then. Many seniors at the brink of adulthood are impatient with school routines and want to conquer the world NOW.</p>
<p>You need to rethink your attitude towards learning- don’t let gaming the system get in the way of obtaining the knowledge- the grades mean nothing and your knowledge base means everything regardless of whether you attend college or go to work. You could be shocked at how much you were expected to actually learn in HS to be successful at any college. You have been cheating yourself by going for the grades instead of the grades coming because you knew the material. Maybe you won’t be ready for college by next fall and shouldn’t take away a place from someone who has prepared themselves to succeed there.</p>
<p>Also, if you happen to be gifted with great academic potential and managed to ace HS it doesn’t mean you will be successful without also having acquired real skills/knowledge. I can assure you that you can find a nonHYPS college that will not bore you, and even state U’s that have many more intelligent people than yourself to challenge you. </p>
<p>Finally- you don’t have a plan, you have dreams/fantasies. Come up with a concrete plan that shows how you will actually spend a gap year.</p>
<p>Wiz, I appreciate your thorough response and your kind intentions.</p>
<p>I feel well prepared to embark on what I am proposing. I am lucky enough to have a family that will support financially while I take my gap year and work on launching a business. I have read many books on business and have learned from family. I believe while creating a business I will learn many aspects of business that can’t be taught in a classroom. My writing skills aren’t amazing but they are professional enough.</p>
<p>I am willing to put in the time now if it would guarantee me bigger returns later and I know college statistically does that but a lot of that is due to the smartest and most ambitious people going to college. By working hard on launching a business I would also be putting in the time but just in a different form. Depending on the success of the business and my other pursuits, my chance at top schools may be improved.</p>
<p>I am applying to a bunch of schools that I think would be a good fit for me in order to keep my options open as you recommended.</p>
<p>I agree that in the end one’s knowledge base is the most important thing from the educational process but colleges and human resource departments use grades as a proxy for knowledge. I try not to let the pursuit of good grades override the attainment of knowledge. </p>
<p>I feel prepared for college academically. Though, I don’t know if I am mentally and emotionally committed to college at this point.</p>
<p>Finally, I have a specific mapped out plan of how I will be spending my gap year. Mostly working and a bit of travel. I have the two elements broken down much further in detail but don’t really want to go into detail.</p>
<p>IMO, if you aren’t willing to take from the education what it has to offer you will short change yourself. Taking the time to fully understand what it is you want from schooling will better prepare you to not only get better grades but to love the learning process and maximize your benefits from it. So many kids go to school and spend countless hours studying a subject only to not use what they have learned, or decide to stay home and raise kids (a great profession, IMO, but not one requiring a BA in history), or move into a profession that ends up requiring to go back to school to get the right education.</p>
<p>Go, have fun, and figure out what it is you want to do. However, I would caution at taking to much time figuring it out. Idol hands make for the devils work, and sometimes we need to travel a bit down the wrong road to find out where we are to be. It is through the acts of man that we find the works of God. All I am saying, is don’t be to long on the wrong path and have the wherewithall to realize where you stand. You seem well versed and knowledgable of what you want to do, so I say try it.</p>
<p>Something I have learned from others and want to share with you:
Often on CC, experienced people suggest that apply to a couple of colleges while in high school so you can get letters of acceptance in hand and then tell them you want to defer for one year. That way, after you’ve had about a year off, you can decide to take more time off or head to college. It is so much easier to apply to college while you are in high school and all of your favorite letter of recommendation people are right there and the GC and office who’d be sending in your transcript are right there.</p>
<p>You may not know six months after graduation if you want to take one year off or two. Having the acceptances in hand give you more time to decide. If after six months you think you might want to go back to school the following fall, you would have to apply to schools right away.</p>
<p>"I am planning on taking sometime off before college to launch a business, travel some, maybe write a book and just generally experience what the world has to offer. "</p>
<p>More like a gap decade. How are you going to get all the money to do that stuff?</p>
<p>I’m a big believer in finding your own path. It can actually save you a lot of grief in the long run, because you will know yourself. Maybe even save yourself a mid-life crisis later on! (sometimes I wonder if it isn’t the “best” students who have the worst mid-life crisis. Better to make mistakes when you have less invested.)
Timing is an interesting thing – you can still go to college when you’re ready (or anything else), and it won’t be the same experience, but it might be better.</p>