Should I take a Year/Time Off ... Between High School and College???

[ms-nietzsche]

Well, to me it seems pretty obvious. As I said earlier, getting into college is a highly competitive system. If they're looking at two students, and one is fresh out of high school and eager to go to college, while the other has already been out of high school for a year and took time off for themselves or another reason, it's safe to say they'll choose the person fresh out of high school.

And as for the job situation, any good employer would want to hire a younger person so that they can invest more of their time in them. It's nice and all to say that they only care about your knowledge when hiring, but sometimes that just isn't the case.

It really depends on what you're studying. If you want to be an engineer, yes employers want younger people, but one year really doesn't make a difference. As a first year student currently in college trying to land a business-related internship, it's extremely difficult to get experience. No one wants to take a first year because they assume they have no experience. I've never even held a average high-school job, but I do have a few case competitions under my belt and that in itself sets me far ahead of my peers. Internships that ask freshman not to apply usually are more than willing to consider me, especially if I get the chance to inquire in person. Taking a year off and working a low level position that has any relevance to the career you might want to look into would be beneficial (such as being a legal assistant). Age really isn't that important, especially if it's only one year. I know people who are currently seniors in high school that are older than me, and I'm not even that young. As for colleges, I know some people who have been able to get into a college and then postpone for a year (the guy I know took a year off to work in the media/film production, and is now a second year in college and interning for pixar which is HUGE). Obviously taking a year off to travel and party is unlikely to do you any favors, but career-wise, it's actually not "obvious" at all what colleges want. Especially for schools out of the US; I had a friend who tried to apply to Cambridge (and he was class valedictorian, accepted by top-tier US schools such as UPenn & MIT) and they advised him to take a year off...

 

[unipine]

But if you attend community college in the meantime, and then finish, isn't there only a certain amount of schools that will accept you? I feel like out of state schools would be a lot harder to get into and the ones that will accept transfers are probably the ones in your city. Just wondering!

i know that in California, an AA (Associate's degree earned after completing two years at a community college) is equivalent to two years in a four year college. at that point students can transfer (though it's becoming VERY difficult) to a California university to complete the last two years. i'm not sure if New York has a system like that, but you should look into it.

 

[ms-nietzsche]

It depends from school to school, usually colleges have a quota for transferring students (i.e. Harvard takes 90 I believe, rarely higher, sometimes lower) and the acceptance rate is lower. On the other hand, people who successfully transfer likely are those who couldn't afford to go to a 4-yr immediately rather than those who did poorly in HS.

I know in CA, the state schools (UCs and CSUs) are very good about transfer students, and that some CCs (De Anza mostly) are known to send a good amount of students to top tier UCs (Berkeley, UCLA, UCSD).

 

[kimair]

thanks for posting the link to that today show piece shirleebee...
i saw it when it aired and thought it was very informative...
if schools like princeton (#1 in the recent u.s. news rankings), harvard (#2) and others like mit and tufts are telling students to consider it, it probably not a bad thing...

as others have said, it is definitely a personal decision, but not doing it because you think you won't get into college later is ridiculous...
it may even help you get into a college that's a bit more competitive that you may not have gotten accepted to right out of high school...
i think the issue comes from the fact that it's called "taking a year off"...
really, you're doing everything but that...
no matter what you do with the time away from traditional academia, you should have a game plan...

 

[Sweetie12]

Fashion Job Or Gap Year

I really need advice because I do not know what to do

MY parents always wanted me to pursue a career in law and ended up influencing me to go against what my heart wanted me to do, and apply for law instead of fashion journalism. Now, I cannot change my mind and apply for fashion. So what do I do. The Fashion journalism course never goes into clearing so I doubt that I can still get on the course.

Luckily I have been offered a job in the industry working on a magazine as an editor, but it is not paid. But they have offered me work on the marketing side which is paid on commission so it won't give me a regular income.

I really don't know what to do
Should I
a. Take the fashion job this year and then apply for fashion journalism for next september and travel and get loads of experience in the job
b. Intern part-time and do the law course

HELP!!!!

 

[laughingdisorder]

I seriously do not recommend you to do law if what you intend to pursue is fashion journalism. With Law, there's really only one way to go...law, finance or an industry equally as demanding. Most of us do not have the luxury of knowing what we want to do thus take the advice of people and rush into choosing courses where the money is which I can tell you would be a mistake. I got pushed into doing something I didn't want to do and thought I could hack it but now after putting 3 years into something, I hate it and now want to go into an entirely different sector.

I also advise on taking a gap year to travel or get some internships because at the end of the day, when people are competing for jobs, connections come in handy. All these graduate applicants seem to have more or less the same grades, degree results and drive. It's hard to differentiate but not that many people have work experience and have built favourable connections through them thus it would be wise for you to take this job you've been offered to gain some insight into the industry before you embark on 3 or however many years of studies and hate it.

 

[eppmaria]

I think that even if you take a year off it may not help you to find what you really want to do. I've heard many say that after they had taken a year off...But at the same time it is a good idea also...and trust me, you will feel lazy and alone. But it really is diffrent for everyone...I'd say that a year is a long time. It does go fast sometimes but if you feel bored and won't see your friends it will go sloooowly...

+ it's always easier to do a lot of things at the same time. like you can do these other things even if you go to collage.. for me, when i feel like i have a lot of time, i'm always thinking yeah i'll do that a little later and it's so hard to really pull yourself together and do something important/hard if you are not use to it anymore.

 

[manner]

I really need advice because I do not know what to do

MY parents always wanted me to pursue a career in law and ended up influencing me to go against what my heart wanted me to do, and apply for law instead of fashion journalism. Now, I cannot change my mind and apply for fashion. So what do I do. The Fashion journalism course never goes into clearing so I doubt that I can still get on the course.

Luckily I have been offered a job in the industry working on a magazine as an editor, but it is not paid. But they have offered me work on the marketing side which is paid on commission so it won't give me a regular income.

I really don't know what to do
Should I
a. Take the fashion job this year and then apply for fashion journalism for next september and travel and get loads of experience in the job
b. Intern part-time and do the law course

HELP!!!!

a a a a a a a !!!!

 

[Cicciolina]

Sweetie12, I think you're much more interested in fashion journalism and that field in general, however there are many different ways to get into that industry. You could do a law degree and take some Liberal Studies units if that allows you (like Art History or English). Are you really adverse against doing law? Because Law is a very good fall back after all and it would give you more options if fashion journalism doesn't pan out. Maybe you could do a more Liberal Studies degree or Journalism or Communications, than a straight Fashion Journalism one?

 

[manner]

^ the girl has a point

 

[BadHairDay]

Gap Years

I'm not sure about other countries, but here in england it's become reasonably common and acceptable to take a year out before going to university. I've always known that i would do this, and thought that i would probably work for 6 months and then travel for 6 months.
However, i have now been asked by my french aunt to go over to live with them (her and my uncle, who is english but has lived in france for 20yrs) for a year to be a live-in au pair/ nanny for their baby-on-the-way!!
I'm soooo excited and can't wait for this time next year as, if all goes well, i will be travelling out next summer i will also defer my uni entry for a year so will begin in 2010.

So, on that note, i was wondering about all you other tFSers!
Does anyone else have plans to take a year out before uni? Or afterwards, if you never had the chance to take some time before?
What sort of thing do you plan to do with your year?
Travelling?..... Working?...... Studying?.......
And how will you finance yourself?
If you decide to travel, will you go alone or with friends?

I'm sure everyone would be curious to hear about other tFSers' gap years, so please share your hopes and ideas for your "year out", or if you've already had your gap year or are currently on a gap year please share your tales of wisdom!

 

[CharmingNicky]

I am def gonna have year off bedore university. I am on second class at high school now. I have been planning to spend the year travelling, because I might not get into Uni right away. Or then i'd just go work to Sweden, so i'd get experience because I am fonna study swedish in uni.

 

[RubyJewelStone]

Oh this is right up my alley as I'm about to leave in 2 days on a cultural exchange type deal in Salvador, Brazil for a year.

Unfortunately, gap years aren't really that popular in the U.S. yet. It has been nothing short of an endlessly tiring hassle telling people that I'm not going to college yet.

And my parents just about died...

In any case, I'm going on a youth exchange program with Rotary International so it means even though I just graduated, I'll be practically going back to high school. But it will be nice to not have to worry about the grades. I'm actually more concerned about the experience and immersion. My main goals are language proficiency and cultural understanding--especially since I know little Portuguese, and even less about Brazil.

THEN, I'll go to uni. But I need a year of something that I'm actually interested in.

(Is it true that schools Europe make you choose a more specialized track of what you would actually like to learn? If so, I'm jealous, since my school was more "one size fits all" approach in assigning classes.)

 

[Bella_Lass334]

I made this thread around a year ago, and I don't think I ever truly thanked all of you for your advice. I ended up taking a year off and getting some MUCH needed R and R. Like many of you said, I DID end up feeling quite lonely, being in the house by myself and missing my friends. I felt like a loser any time I would hang out with my friends because they would have so much interesting stories from college and my life was pretty much nonexistant. However, it all paid off. I applied to colleges again, and ended up getting into my dream school, New York University, as an acting major in Tisch, something that wouldn't have happened if I didn't take a year off. Thanks once again for all of your wonderful advice. You don't realize how much of a positive affect your advice had on my life.

 

[daniellat]

i think everything happends for a reason, and after taking twoo years off after highschool, so much im grateful for wouldnt have happened if i went just straight to college, but theres a downside too, all my friends are all graduated, well most of them and have jobs and im still two years short to graduate, sometimes i do feel weird thinking i may graduate by the time im 25, specially when kids around here, which is not my home town get out of highschool at 16, not 18 like back in my city so the age gap is huge for me...i think that was the most difficult thing for me, making friends wasnt that easy

 

[frenchpearls]

I made this thread around a year ago, and I don't think I ever truly thanked all of you for your advice. I ended up taking a year off and getting some MUCH needed R and R. Like many of you said, I DID end up feeling quite lonely, being in the house by myself and missing my friends. I felt like a loser any time I would hang out with my friends because they would have so much interesting stories from college and my life was pretty much nonexistant. However, it all paid off. I applied to colleges again, and ended up getting into my dream school, New York University, as an acting major in Tisch, something that wouldn't have happened if I didn't take a year off. Thanks once again for all of your wonderful advice. You don't realize how much of a positive affect your advice had on my life.

I'm so glad to hear your Gap year worked out for the best. I'll be taking one next year and I can never figure out whether its the right thing to do or not. I do have plans though and a sense of direction, so i suppose that helps. But a very good thread to look at.
and Congratulations for NYU!

 

[tgeezyband]

Good to hear your year off paid off, I wish I'd done the same, but I felt pressure from my parents and I was told by friends I would get lazy. I went to a university that is near 15 minutes away from my house, it would be cheaper of course, and now I kind of regret it because I'm tired of living in my small town, I've been to big cities all my life for vacations and I just feel so alive when I'm in places like New York, Boston, Miami, and many other east coast big cities.

So this summer is really my last ditch effort to live in NYC as a younger person as opposed to when I'm older. I'm going to open calls in NY next week, and only the top ten mens divisions so if they say no that means I wouldn't get work, or if they say yes then I may have something, I just want an answer so I could focus on what I need to do, but obviously I hope my look is strong enough to make a living off of, but if not, I'll just be ready for school in Fall.

By the way I have two cousins in the NFL who are living that exciting young life, so that is another factor as to why I think the way I do, and no I'm not comparing the amount of money NFL players make to models, NFL players probably make too much though, I mean the first pick this year got a guaranteed 42 million dollar signing bonus and a total of 76 million for 6 years, that is basically 12 million dollars per year for someone who hasn't even played a game yet lol.

 

[jjbunny79]

i dunno what is college like, but i took university right after high school (geology specialized, LOL) and yea I regret it because i never like what I do (the colours of the minerals is surely attractive, but hey, serves only a tiny part in identifying); I hate labs, I get fussy over papers and in results I got frustrated, angry, and therefore procratinate.

of course the story end as me dropping out two years later, and found my passion in the fashion/makeup field; but now i need to catch up and it is incredibly hard because the application for dimplomas in related filed is started for admission, i need portfolio and i barely recieved any pro training and my high school diploma (which i did awsome on compare to university, had over 80% average most of the time) might not be even recongized. Now i need to compete with younger kids who got an report card that is recongized, more trained and more skillful than I do, which might mean lesser chance for me to get in.

but again if you take an year you can't slack either because it offers an incredible oppourtunity to build up your career (ie making portfolio, doing volunteer or taking lighter credit load if in university).