What's a Gap Year?
A gap year is a post-high school year of self-exploration and growth. It is a time to experience a world outside of your own through travel, language immersion, community service, outdoor adventure and professional internships. Examples might include volunteering at a bio-reserve associated with a language school in Guatemala; coaching, teaching and working in an AIDS clinic in Tanzania; building houses worldwide; working a construction internship with a builder/mountaineer in Alaska; or some combination of the above. Taking a gap year leads to clearer direction and motivation for college studies and for your life.
“Many college admissions officers support the idea [of deferring admission for a year or two]...they say many students who take one return more confident and self-aware."
MIT Admissions Officer, Matt McGann
MIT Admissions Officer, Matt McGann
Why Take a Gap Year?
Why Not?
Studies conclusively show that students who take a year out before college are more focused and motivated when they arrive on campus than those who don't take this detour.
Please see the following links to learn more about gap year programs and international humanitarian service opportunities:
Studies conclusively show that students who take a year out before college are more focused and motivated when they arrive on campus than those who don't take this detour.
- Explore learning in different modes and different environments
- Experience other cultures, and see the world
- Try out possible college major and career choices in real time
- Find and explore your passion
- Discover new talents and skills
- Take risks
Please see the following links to learn more about gap year programs and international humanitarian service opportunities:
What the Experts are Saying
"As someone once reminded me, and as I now remind each incoming class at Princeton, 'the person each of you will spend most of the rest of your life with is yourself, and therefore you owe it to yourself to use your college years to become as interesting a companion as possible.' But I am also convinced that one's college education is greatly enhanced by the more maturity, experience, and perspective a student can bring to it. Alas, it strikes me that these three traits are the very ones that are most difficult for most young people to come by given the lock-step nature that currently characterizes such a large part of the school-to-college process. Indeed, of all the enthusiastic letters I send to students in one year, none are more enthusiastic than those I send in response to students requesting to defer their entrance to college."
- Fred A. Hargadon (former Dean of Admissions,
- Fred A. Hargadon (former Dean of Admissions,
"Many speak of their year away as a 'life-altering' experience or a 'turning point.' Most feel that its full value can never be measured and will pay dividends the rest of their lives."
|
“There’s the hope that this will be an opportunity for students to come to [college] with a new sense of maturity and mission... It will change the texture of campus life...”
|