posted
I'm trying to decide whether or not to take a year or two off after High School and do something else before I go to college. I'd really like to travel a bit and volunteer, and just generally take a breather from the education system while enriching my life and being.
I'm worried, though. I've heard that many people find it very difficult to go back to school after being out for a while, and I'm concerned about how it would look on a college application.
Any thoughts on this? Did any of you take a break? Do you have any ideas about what to do during that year off?
Posts: 515 | Registered: Mar 2004
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posted
My experience has been that people who take some time between high school and college to travel/earn money/grow/whatever... are almost always better students when they go to college. They also tend to be more mature, and more aware of what the real world outside of college culture is like.
In other words, I highly recommend taking some time away from school.
From experience: (5 years for me between highschool and university!) , it doesn't look bad on a transcript, or make it harder to go back to school. In fact, I love school more now than I ever did in high school. My grades are a cut above my peers, and I am dedicated to learning in a way most of my classmates straight from highschool are not.
What did I do with 5 years? Worked, worked, travelled to Ontario as a missionary, worked, got married... you know, fun stuff! :0) I have freinds who have travelled to Asia, worked on cruise boats, done volunteer work... it's all been pretty full-filling for them.
So, yah. My $0.02: Do it!
Posts: 353 | Registered: Sep 2003
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posted
I did the straight to college thing, and wound up not finishing. Course there were many mitigating circumstances, and I don't think going to college straight from high school was one.
I have found it very difficult to go back, but then I waited more than 10 years and have a family now.
So my advice is - take time off if you feel you would be better for it, but keep that college goal in sight and never let your intentions waver - be focused on that degree.
In other words, don't commit to a career path and think "Oh, I'll just do this for a while and make some money first" because that career can quickly swallow you up and then if you have a family it gets even harder.
That's what happened to my husband - when we married and moved, he was very close to finishing his degree. He actually went and met with advsiors about transferring credit and finishing his degree in math when we found out I was pregnant.
Our oldest child is 12 and he still hasn't made it back to finish. I will finish before he will, but we made the decision that I should get my degree so I can begin working again when the kids are a bit older and then he can finish his.
Posts: 14428 | Registered: Aug 2001
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posted
The majority of people who take time off don't end up going back, at least not for year (if at all).
I would go to college AND work, I have found that that is the best solution, evne if it means taking ONE class a semester. That way you don't get out of pratice of classes, and going to school, and you continue to make progress in credits, however slow.
posted
Look into whether it will affect your financial aid status, if that is an issue. If you have a scholarship or some sort of package, I believe most schools will allow you to defer it for a year.
The whole seeing life and being and all that sounds good, but if you start pulling in a bit of money, and then you are faced with the prospect of losing your income and shelling out money for your classes, it can make it hard to go back.
My original plan was to get a Ph.D., but after my first two years of grad school I couldn't take it anymore, and also I had financial aid issues (which I could have dealt with with more student loans, but didn't). I got a job teaching, and then I got married, and pretty soon I just couldn't make the sacrifice, or ask my family to, to go back. Now, there are several reasons why my situation might not be relevant to you. Already having a degree, I got a job paying enough money to live on, as opposed to the dead-end hourly wage jobs you're more likely to get with only a high school diploma. It might not be as hard for you to walk away from $7 an hour as it was for me to walk away from $22,000 a year. But I think the fear that you may never go back is a legitimate one to keep in mind.
Posts: 1112 | Registered: Jan 2003
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posted
I would reccomend going straight to college, unless you have a very specific goal with sound reasons for pursuing it before college.
You're used to school. You're used to living with little income of your own. You're used to having a wildly fluctuating schedule. You're used to the artificial seasonality of school.
You will have many more ways available to you to volunteer and enrich your life and being with a college degree than without. You will be older, you will be more experienced.
In many ways college is training wheels for life. If you're going to do it, do it when the training wheels are most useful to you.
posted
Not to mention the many ways available to volunteer IN college. In my orientation that I was forced to attend last week, one of the presentations we saw was on the many different volunteer opportunities on campus.
Posts: 14428 | Registered: Aug 2001
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posted
I would reccomend taking a year off if you have a definite plan for what to do in the meantime. If you don't know what you would do, then go straight to school and take time off in the middle sometime.
I took a break in the middle for my mission, and I was a much better student and much more focused when I went back. I'm glad I got some school in there before I took the break, though.
Posts: 26077 | Registered: Mar 2000
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But I regret it because I was too naive to know that I had lots of career options. I took English because I loved it, and then I fell into teaching. What I should have done was study linguistics and anthropology. That would have covered my love of words and a lot of other of my interests. Because the school I was in didn't offer enough options I was interested in, I took the only one that did. I should have shopped around and found a college that had a program I was really into. The problem was, I didn't even realize there was anything other than just plain English.
Now it's too late for me to go back and change things and I don't have the time, money, or inclination to start all over. I'm getting my masters in English now because it builds on my bachelor's. And I might go ahead and get either my masters in library science or media technology. But if I wanted to get into anthropology, I'd have to start from scratch. I'm not into that.
So, I can't recommend that you not go to school right now and I can't recommend that you do. It depends on you. If you don't know what you want to study, don't waste your time. I used to say that you can take 2 years while you do your generals to figure it out--but for me, it wasn't enough time to really figure it all out. And if you DO know what you want to study--and you've researched it and you're not settling, then don't waste your time. Go to school and get the degrees that you need.
posted
As has been said, the biggest consideration is financial. Often times financial offerings that are made to you as a senior wont' be there two or three or more years later.
My own son wanted to take a 'breather' but got offered a huge scholarship. So now he's going to take the breather AFTER college instead of before.
But if finances aren't a concern, then I would vote for the time off, as well. As sometimes it helps get your life more in focus before you decide on a career path.
I believe Syn was part of it... It's a big deal up here in Boston, since I believe it started up here. From all the stuff I remember about it (back in high school) it's akin to the Peace Corps, only within our nation. I haven't heard much bad press about it.
I was in Leaps in Literacy an Americorps program. City Year seems to be... rather military like. They all wear the same jackets and stuff, but it seems like a cool program. It's good for earning some money to use to college, you get to gain a bit of experience and work with children or whatever you choose to do.
Posts: 9942 | Registered: Mar 2003
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posted
Honestly...I've learned so much about myself after having been in college for 2 years, it's phenomenal. And it's helped me realize what sort of life-enriching experiences I really want to have, what would mean the most to me, and what I would most enjoy. I highly recommend going straight to school for that reason alone -- when you end up having the time for those life-enriching experiences, you'll know more what you want.
Secondly, college is also an important social experience. The vast majority of students (at a four-year college, anyway) will have come straight from high school. If you want to be in class with people your age and have the same sort of social life, I'd recommend going straight through.
Posts: 1784 | Registered: Jun 2001
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posted
I don't know if what I did counts as a break, since I've been in classes this year... but I didn't enter the formal structure of a college right after high school. I came to Israel, and spent the year connecting to my roots.
It's true that I had class, but that wasn't the main point of this year. And I seriously considered actually traveling for a year instead of staying in Israel, but I didn't want to do that on my own, so I didn't. As it is, this year was amazing, and I don't regret it in the slightest. Now I'm going to a great school, and looking forward to learning.
posted
I would go straight to college and then take a year or two off afterwards. A lot of the programs that I think of when I think of travel and or volunteering are only for college students.
College is nothing like high school, at least in my experience. If you're going away from home for college you're going to test your limits and experience all new sorts of freedom.
Then think about doing programs like semester's abroad and maybe after college the Peace Corps or AmeriCorps.
Posts: 872 | Registered: Mar 2002
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posted
I'm looking at something right now for a year working in a Nepalese meditation center...or in Australia, conserving the Great Barrier Reef...or in Micronesia...
I love to travel, and this is expenses paid. I'm worried about going to college, settling down, working, and never being free again...
What's it look like from the other side of the glass?
Posts: 515 | Registered: Mar 2004
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posted
Definite plan, expenses paid, school and program that you know before starting school with financing in place. If all the above are true, I say go for it. Adventure is great, and while this will not be your only chance, it may be the only chance for this specifically. I say go for it.
Posts: 26077 | Registered: Mar 2000
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posted
I seriously doubt you'll regret taking a year off, especially if you get to go travel and work to Save the World. You might not ever get a chance to do that again.
Just don't get permanently sidetracked. Get all the education you can.
Posts: 5957 | Registered: Oct 2001
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posted
I didn't start college until two years after I graduated high school, and I don't think it had any effect on my being accepted. It also gave me time to grow up a little bit before starting school, I think. Also, I graduated in four and a half years, so it didn't hurt me in that regard, either.
Posts: 9945 | Registered: Sep 2002
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posted
I think, like most of the posters here, that you should only take time off if you have something concrete to do, something that will add to your experience of life.
For some, this might just be a year working a job 9-5, to gain a bit of maturity.
I graduated a quarter early from high school - I was so burnt out that I just had to get out (very competative H.S.). I already had an acceptance letter to a college with a very nice scholarship attached, but I didn't want to head on to four more years of schooling. After talking to the financial aid office, I was able to convince them to let me start a semester late with my award intact (although I agreed to finish my diploma in 3.5 years instead of 4).
I went to Germany for 9 months as an Au-Pair, and it was a wonderful experience. Very, very good for me, and a great way to see Europe on the cheap - I didn't come away with any money saved from those 9 months, but I also didn't have to take anything out of my savings for trips around the continent or my flight there and back. I highly recommend it, or something similar if you're not sure you want to start college now. It's nice if you don't gain experience at the expense of your freshman GPA.
The problem with planning on doing something AFTER college is that, unless you're in the Peace Corps or something similar, you'll have to start paying those loans back. Plus, you just never know what may be happening in four years - my boyfriend was planning on traveling across India on a motorcycle the summer after he graduated, but he's already had a VERY lucrative job offer for work he enjoys (he's a rising senior - it's for after he graduates) that he doesn't want to pass on.
If you want more information on the Au-Pairing thing - and yes, guys can do it too! - feel free to email (profile) or post. Often it's nothing more than tutoring in English for a family's teenage kids, or just a housekeeping type of job.
Posts: 2409 | Registered: Sep 2003
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posted
I wish I'd taken some time off between HS and uni. I didn't make good choices when it came to my studies and I certainly didn't take them as seriously as I would've if I'd had some real-world experience first.
Additionally, it's now nearly fifteen years since HS and I still haven't travelled. It eats at my souls I tells ya....
Posts: 2245 | Registered: Nov 1998
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posted
It's similar to a nanny, but not exactly the same thing. Basically, it's a system setup to allow young (under 25 or 30), foreign adults to come to your country and work for you. Most countries have pretty strict laws regarding how many hours an Au-Pair can work. Au-Pairs typically take care of the younger children of the family, but they can also do tutoring, housecleaning, cooking or whatever else a family wants and the Au-Pair agrees to. You don't get paid much (maybe $300 a month), but you get room and board (and sometimes language lessons), and you're suppose to be treated like you're part of the family. The term of stay can be from one month to one year, typically.
When I was searching for a family, I came across all types of ads. From huge families in the Alps to 20-something professionals looking for someone to clean and cook during the day and help them with their English after work. One family in Spain wanted an English tutor for their flying school - they offered free pilot lessons as part of the deal.
There's a LOT of demand in Europe for Au-Pairs from the US from families wanting to learn American English.
Posts: 2409 | Registered: Sep 2003
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posted
Taking a break is not a bad thing. I stopped and started more than once and it worked out fine. Don't get lost in the paycheck and forget to return to college.
Posts: 514 | Registered: May 2005
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posted
I didn't know what I wanted to do when I finished high school, so I went to a couple of years of community college before dropping out. I've never gone back, but I'm only now getting to the point where I'd like to. The nice thing is that my current job will pay for my classes if I get good grades. That's quite an incentive.
Posts: 1751 | Registered: Jun 1999
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posted
I will also point out that once you get into college and afterwards, it becomes incredibly hard to take time off and just experience the world with the wanton abandon such an expedition requires.
posted
If you ever want to travel like you say you do, do it before college, or a year off once you're in school.
I took a year off to be a ski bum, and all I heard from my friends is how much they wish they'd done the same. I busted ass and graduated with my peers, and if wanted to do it now, I couldn't.
No one asks why you waited to start college, but a one to two year gap on your resume between college and real world can be a black mark.
I loved my time off, and I came back to school motivated and hungry, not to mention older and smarter (world wise) than my classmates.
Posts: 5462 | Registered: Apr 2005
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The secret, and they don't tell outsiders this so keep quiet, is that pretty much every resort job or mountain related menial work comes with a season pass. This is crucial, because they cost about 500 bucks otherwise, and I absolutely couldn't have afforded it.
So I worked in a rental/retail shop, skiied on lunch and days off, hitchhiked to work, and spent more on beer than food for a year.
Posts: 5462 | Registered: Apr 2005
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