As COVID-19 ramps up this summer, colleges are struggling to justify opening up their campuses to students this fall. They need to offer on-campus courses and bring students back to the dorms in order to justify charging full tuition, room and board, yet they don’t want faculty and students to succumb to the coronavirus on their watch. This indecision about opening up campuses and the unknown about the second wave of the coronavirus this fall is now causing a new trend of students taking a gap year.
Normally, just a few students take a gap year between high school and college. These students either aren’t quite ready to make the big jump into a 4-year program or they have sports or projects that need to be completed before transitioning to college. Others take this opportunity to travel abroad or immerse themselves in research or work. They know college will be there for them when they’re ready.
But this year, students are choosing to take a gap year because they don’t want to miss their “college experience.” Living at home in their old bedrooms under family rules – and now “shelter-in-place” rules – stuck behind their laptops is not quite how they want to spend the next school year. They only get 4 years of living the college dream and they don’t want to waste one (or more) of those years living and studying from home. Parents are also on board for gap years because forking out $30,000 to $70,000 just doesn’t make sense when their kids are living and eating at home and taking classes online.
Taking a gap year while sheltering in place will be a completely different experience for these students. Most will not be able to travel abroad, do internships, or get jobs. The big difference this year is that many students are opting to take gap years because they want to live on campus, whereas previously, students took gap years to do something special.
Not all colleges allow gap years so check with your college to lay out a plan. Some colleges require that you reapply the following year. Others don’t allow students to take classes at other institutions during the gap year.
If taking a gap year makes financial sense, make good use of this year. Volunteer and support programs that help people struggling while sheltering in place. Work with your political party to get out the vote. Learn a foreign language. Build technical computer skills. Read, read, read! Consider your options and lay out a plan to ensure that you’ll be happy and satisfied with your decision to take a gap year.
As COVID-19 ramps up this summer, colleges are struggling to justify opening up their campuses to students this fall. They need to offer on-campus courses and bring students back to the dorms in order to justify charging full tuition, room and board, yet they don’t want faculty and students to succumb to the coronavirus on their watch. This indecision about opening up campuses and the unknown about the second wave of the coronavirus this fall is now causing a new trend of students taking a gap year.
Normally, just a few students take a gap year between high school and college. These students either aren’t quite ready to make the big jump into a 4-year program or they have sports or projects that need to be completed before transitioning to college. Others take this opportunity to travel abroad or immerse themselves in research or work. They know college will be there for them when they’re ready.
But this year, students are choosing to take a gap year because they don’t want to miss their “college experience.” Living at home in their old bedrooms under family rules – and now “shelter-in-place” rules – stuck behind their laptops is not quite how they want to spend the next school year. They only get 4 years of living the college dream and they don’t want to waste one (or more) of those years living and studying from home. Parents are also on board for gap years because forking out $30,000 to $70,000 just doesn’t make sense when their kids are living and eating at home and taking classes online.
Taking a gap year while sheltering in place will be a completely different experience for these students. Most will not be able to travel abroad, do internships, or get jobs. The big difference this year is that many students are opting to take gap years because they want to live on campus, whereas previously, students took gap years to do something special.
Not all colleges allow gap years so check with your college to lay out a plan. Some colleges require that you reapply the following year. Others don’t allow students to take classes at other institutions during the gap year.
If taking a gap year makes financial sense, make good use of this year. Volunteer and support programs that help people struggling while sheltering in place. Work with your political party to get out the vote. Learn a foreign language. Build technical computer skills. Read, read, read! Consider your options and lay out a plan to ensure that you’ll be happy and satisfied with your decision to take a gap year.
Students born in 2002 are facing TWO WHAMMIES this year. First, they’re graduating high school without the pomp and circumstance that every senior class since WWII has celebrated. You know the senior prom, graduation day, and grad parties. Second, they may miss out on the freshman experience this fall. Colleges don’t know if they’ll open their campuses or if they’ll conduct online classes like they did this spring semester. So what’s a high school grad to do? GAP YEAR!
Taking a traditional gap year may be the only option that grads can take if they want to have some sort of control over their future. Many colleges offer gap years to allow students to postpone their start date by one or two semesters and start the following year without having to reapply.
By delaying their matriculation to college, they won’t be at the mercy of the college or university’s decision to offer online, on campus, or some sort of hybrid instruction this fall. It takes the uncertainty away and puts the student in the driver’s seat. Parents love this because they won’t have to pay tuition or room/board during this turbulent time.
Other gap year options include doing independent research or projects, taking community college classes or doing structured programs that the college/university offers. Unfortunately with the coronavirus, students won’t be spending time travelling abroad as they have in previous years. Taking any kind of gap year will require working with your college’s advisors to navigate the newly emerging programs that every college is frantically organizing.
Talk to your advisor at your college to discuss options that work for you. Taking a gap year can be a double win: You get to choose what you’ll do this year and you get to have your freshman experience next year — presuming we get the coronavirus under control by then.
What’s the Rush to Go to College?
After 12 years of elementary, middle, and high school, why are kids so anxious to go straight to a 4-year college, and then possibly grad school? With the pressures they face to get top grades, study for SATs/ACTs, volunteer, and do extracurricular activities, kids burn out and lose focus on what and why they’re doing everything. I believe that when kids take a GAP YEAR to find what it is students are interested in and get involved, they’ll make smarter decisions about their future careers and where they want to live. They’ll also BE HAPPIER!
This one or two-year period gives students time to pursue a project – something they’ve always wanted to do but never had the time to do it. They can build a tiny house, they can lead others on an expedition, they can offer relief to victims of climate disasters, and more. Kids need to feel useful – either as part of a team to help others or as an individual doing a project to start something on their own. They can also start a business!
College will always be there and they’ll probably get into a better college if they take a gap year to show their interests and passions. Many other countries require that kids give a year or two to support their military so they build patriotism and camaraderie. Some religions require students to do missionary work before starting college or moving on to the adult world.
While I have concerns about pushing kids into the military or missionary work, I do strongly believe that all kids can benefit from taking a breather from the stress of getting into top colleges and doing a project to benefit society or help them figure out what they really want to do when they grow up.
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