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The british, and maybe other countries, have the concept of a 'Gap year' where it is acceptable to take a year between high school and college for the purpose o
by marquis 12y ago
The british, and maybe other countries, have the concept of a 'Gap year' where it is acceptable to take a year between high school and college for the purpose of travel and community service. This can alleviate the problem of "not being ready".
- danielweber 12y agoI would love that to be the custom in the US. Get a job, even a menial one. Live on your own. Develop an intrinsic goal of why you want to go to college.
- lmm 12y agoAcceptability varies. When looking at mathematics courses I was told taking a gap year would be frowned upon.
- oddevan 12y agoSame here; I would lose eligibility for several (all?) of my scholarships by taking a year off, without which I could not have attended the college I went to (or maybe any college).
- michaelt 12y agoOn the other hand, for Engineering some Cambridge colleges positively encourage deferred entry; no College discourages it [1]. [1] http://www3.eng.cam.ac.uk/admissions/guide/otherfactors.html http://www3.eng.cam.ac.uk/admissions/guide/otherfactors.html
- superuser2 12y agoCost of attendance rises slightly every year (say 3%). Delaying college means you come in later in the appreciation cycle; your total cost is substantially higher. Gap years are, unfortunately, a privilege for students who are so wealthy that doesn't matter or so poor that they're on full rides anyway. For a middle class student, it's just throwing away money.
- dllthomas 12y ago"For a middle class student, it's just throwing away money." They cost money, but that's not the same as throwing money away. It depends on what you're getting in exchange. If the gap year serves its purpose of helping you figure out what you want to do, the delta in cost is substantially less than paying a few years of tuition while you figure out the same thing.