Gonzaga - Gonzaga College High School

"Gap Year" is the terminology schools use for a student who either elects to defer their enrollment at a college for a year, and uses the year between high school and college for something else. The "something else" can be any number of things from a post-grad year at a boarding school to a sevice project abroad. "While there is significant peer pressure, parental pressure and school pressure to go right on to college, the adventurous few who take time off are richly rewarded," states the executive director of Dynamy Internship Year (MA). "Taking time off before college gives you the gift of time to learn about two essential things: yourself and the world around you." Of course, if your time off consists of nothing but watching soap operas and eating potato chips, all you'll have at the end is a wasted year. But with research and planning, you can design a semester or year that is both a great learning experience and a lot of fun.

Travel: Many organizations offer programs with an emphasis on traveling or living abroad. Or, you may wish to plan your own adventure.

Internships: Spend some time working in a career field that interests you. If you enjoy it, you'll have even more incentive to succeed in your chosen college major. If it's not the field for you, you'll still have plenty of time to explore other career opportunities.

Volunteer work: You can find volunteer programs both in the US and all over the world. You could build houses, work with children, work on environmental projects, or a host of other activities.

Academics: Students who are not pleased with their high school records might consider a postgraduate (PG) year. The goal for a PG year is to strengthen your academic record in the hope of gaining entry to a better college.

Work: Whether you find a job at home or away, a year of work can give you extra funds to pay for college, plus valuable, real-life experience.

What About College?
Once you've decided to take time off, it's tempting to chuck the whole college search until next year. But that's not a good idea, for a number of reasons. First, the college search and application process is much easier while you're still in high school. "All of the resources are there, the guidance counselors are there," the CEO says. "All of the people you want to get letters of recommendation from are there.” You don't want to be filling out applications and trying to get counselor recommendations while you're working in the rainforests of South America. Second, having your college plans in place can go a long way toward convincing your parents that you will go back to school after your time off. "My parents were scared that I would never go to college, but by applying I demonstrated my seriousness," remembers an international college counselor who took a year off between high school and college.

Web Sites & Resources

GapYear.com: A large site about time-off options, including students' diaries about their year off. This is from the perspective of the United Kingdom, where gap years are very popular. Americans may need to "translate" a few things, such as references to money in British pounds.
USAGapYearFairs.org: This site from Thinking Beyond Borders and Dynamy Internship Year provides a directory of gap year programs and a list of 30 national gap year fairs.
Teenlife: Free access to a lists nearly 300 gap year programs.
Americorps NCC is a residential national service program for men and women between the ages of 18 and 24. For 10 months, members serve on teams to meet urgent community needs in disaster relief, the environment, education, public safety and unmet human needs.

Source- NACAC