More Students Opting for Gap Year
Posted on August 7th, 2007
(Source: Georgetown University)
No, it's not 12 months spent shopping for jeans. It's a year between high school and college, a tack more students are taking, according to a Washington Post article.
Consider:
There are no hard counts of gap-year students, but the National Association for College Admission Counseling in Alexandria reports anecdotal evidence from counselors that more high school graduates these days are seeking a year off. Gap-year consultants who charge $1,000 or more to advise students on how to fill the time have emerged.
Some students say they take a gap year to escape stress accumulated from Advanced Placement courses and competition over grades and class rank.
"I grew really tired of everything in school. I just didn't like the atmosphere, especially at Whitman, where if you're not an overachiever, then you're just . . . I don't know," [Billy] Neville said. "So, I was hoping, in my year off, I'll find out what really interests me."
Neville asked for his deferral in a letter to the admissions office. "And they came right back, saying, 'Sure,'" said his mother, Clare Neville.
Ann Larson, a senior associate director of admissions at Miami of Ohio, said the university grants deferrals for medical issues, military service, study abroad and other reasons on a case-by-case basis.
"We really have no problem with students taking gap years," Larson said. "It's very positive what they bring back to the university. It's a maturing experience."
College admissions officers said they want gap-year students to improve upon an area of expertise or perform some kind of public service. John Blackburn, dean of admissions at University of Virginia, said students often seek deferrals for missionary work or public service jobs through such nonprofit organizations as Operation Smile, which performs free reconstructive surgery on children born with facial deformities in developing countries. Admissions officials at Georgetown University estimated that 25 to 30 students admitted each year in a class of almost 1,600 ask for a deferral, requesting trips abroad to learn a foreign language, intern at a foreign embassy, or even work at a foreign or domestic magazine.
Charles Deacon, Georgetown's admissions director, said: "Students have to have a plan that we approve of. Mostly it's for some type of cultural enhancement."
I, too, recommend the gap year. In fact, I took two. By the time I got to college, I was more mature, more ready and more convinced I was doing the right thing.
Think about it….
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