Gap year: Pros<ul><li>Gives students a well-earned vacation from years of academic stress</li><li>Guarantees a phenomenal increase in self-reliance and self-confidence. Let your kids plan their own years for maximum growth in these areas.</li><li>Allows an escape from a constrained bubble of privilege to an authentic, expansive embrace of cultural humility. Opens minds!</li><li>Provides opportunities for establishing friendships around the globe that will last a lifetime</li><li>Promotes a crazy amount of learning! New foods, new languages, new music, new money, new holidays, new religions, new climates, new insects, new mammals, new possibilities for adventures around every corner….</li><li>Students enter college with a level of maturity and rich experience that pretty much guarantees social and academic success in freshman year</li><li>Sets up your kids with memories of amazing places, remarkable people and rich experiences (even — or especially — the ones where they were sick, or cold, or wet, or lost, or hungry) that they will draw upon for lessons and inspiration again, and again, and again over their long lifetimes.</li><li>Gives them a new respect and gratitude for their home, and for all that they have there that they may have taken for granted before. Never again!</li></ul>Gap year: Cons<ul><li>Parents may get a few grey hairs.</li></ul>

“Students enter college with a level of maturity and rich experience that pretty much guarantees social and academic success in freshman year”

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"Guarantees a phenomenal increase in self-reliance and self-confidence."

It was easy for us to be supportive of Nathan's gap year plan because it focused on skill acquisition and paid employment.He obtained his Wilderness EMT during the first 3rd of the year and spent the remainder gainfully employed as a high school wrestling coach and outdoor educator.We strongly believe the life skills, independence, maturity, and pride in accomplishment, gained during his gap year will translate into better performance in college.&nbsp;

"We strongly believe the life skills, independence, maturity, and pride in accomplishment, gained during his gap year will translate into better performance in College."

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"Focused on skill acquisition and paid employment."

This first time I heard the words “Gap Year” was during a college visit with my daughter during her junior year of HS. At one of the sessions they asked for questions and my daughter inquired about Gap Years. I remember thinking, “What’s a Gap Year, and why is my daughter asking about it?” When I went to college back in the 80s, you didn’t take a year off between HS and college. You just kept plowing straight through to the finish line, graduating college “on time” clearly things had changed. So I had to start reading up on Gap Years to figure out if this would be a good thing or not and what I found is that the evidence is pretty overwhelming that Gap Years can be very productive and worthwhile periods of time and colleges love students who take them!My daughter decided to create her own Gap Year plan rather than use an “off the shelf” program being offered by many companies. I must admit that I was bit worried about this idea at first. No supervision, No one to turn to in the event of problem, etc, etc. In my case I was not really worried about mischief that she might get in to but rather her getting caught up in events beyond her control and who would help her in such a situation.I felt better when I saw my daughter’s itinerary was mostly places (domestic and international) where communications were good and either I could get to her if necessary, or a friend, or friend of friend, in country that could help in emergency situations. I also contracted with a travel insurance company that could provide local assistance and evacuation if necessary.I really can’t speak highly enough about the wonderful real world experiences my daughter had during this year and how they will benefit her moving forward in life. Firstly, working all summer before her gap year, to pay for the gap year. It doesn’t get more real world than that! Researching and booking her travel and lodging. Trouble-shooting on the fly. Meeting all sorts of people from all over the world. Managing her time, making planes trains and buses, etc. These are not the glamorous gap year “takeaways”- although she has the pictures to prove she had those moments as well - but these are the things that really get an 18 year old ready for life .&nbsp;

"My daughter decided to create her own Gap Year plan... I must admit that I was bit worried... I really can’t speak highly enough about the wonderful real world experiences my daughter had during this year and how they will benefit her moving forward in life."

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"These are the things that really get an 18-year-old ready for life."

Lucy worked extremely hard in high school and we felt a pause would be re-energizing. She had a few jobs which taught her some new life lessons and allowed her to make some money. She also got to explore her passions --in her case studying theatre and working at a baboon orphanage in South Africa. She also got some downtime to think and read and relax. I am confident that when she goes to Harvard next year she will enter as a more mature, thoughtful student than would have been the case with no gap year. I was hesitant to have her travel the world, sometimes alone but she needed/needs to learn to do that. While she was concerned about being a year behind her high school friends, I think that won't be an issue and she will make new friends as well as keep the old. I highly recommend the gap year and will encourage my other high school aged children to consider it when the time comes.

"I was hesitant to have her travel the world, sometimes alone but she needed/needs to learn to do that...I highly recommend the gap year"

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"Next year, she will enter as a more mature, thoughtful student."

Although she has given her father and me countless proud moments, I have never been prouder of my daughter than I was when she decided to take a gap year, planned and funded her entire adventure, and then took off and conquered the world. Leaving home for college can be a nerve-wracking experience but it is a shared experience; going against the predictable and expected takes a lot more courage. I am a firm believer in the growth that comes from putting yourself in new and challenging situations and Caroline's growth was beyond impressive. Although she was mature and thoughtful throughout high school (life, really!), there's nothing like planning lodging (usually hostels) and transportation (planes, trains, buses and ferries); budgeting in different currencies; finding jobs; planning, shopping for and cooking meals; meeting people from all walks of life; navigating and negotiating in a different language; proving yourself at countless tasks; winning over "bosses;" finding bedbugs; castrating lambs; saving chickens from hungry dogs; and the list goes on and on. After her gap year, Caroline is ready to take on anything and she has a better sense of herself and what's important in life. Who doesn't want that for their child?

"I am a firm believer in the growth that comes from putting yourself in new and challenging situations and Caroline's growth was beyond impressive. After her gap year, Caroline is ready to take on anything and she has a better sense of herself and what's important in life."

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"She has a better sense of herself and what's important in life."

When Ronen told us he wanted to take a gap year we were skeptical. We struggled with the idea that he would step outside of a safe and familiar educational structure. Yet, we also trust him. And his sister Binah implored, “you have to let him explore his dream.”So we made his needs more important than our own discomfort. He had already decided to walk the Appalachian Trail March – August. But he also needed plans for the fall. With some prodding he decided to work on small-scale family farms in France, Italy and Germany.Ronen earned all the money for his gap year by working in a restaurant as a bus boy and as a delivery person, so we didn’t have to support him financially. We were, however, available to encourage him during the first half of the year with phone calls and occasional advice. Once he hit the AT, we supported him by sending packages, visiting on the trail, and believing in his goal of walking the entire 2200 miles. We didn’t do much but that was partially the point.Our whole family worked on adjusting to his increasing independence without having institutional obligations in the middle of that process. We became a family not of two adults and two kids but a family of three and almost four adults. I’m grateful that the gap year created the space for this.Ronen seems more focused, confident, and authentic. I think every kid has a secret internal landscape. When given the chance to map that landscape onto experiences in the real world that kid becomes much better at articulating what they want from life and figuring out how to get there.If a gap year is right for the kid you love, who can say no really? Just make sure they do something that will move them further along a path that is most true to one of their dreams.&nbsp;

"Ronen earned all the money for his gap year... [He] seems more focused, confident, and authentic"

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"We made his needs more important than our own discomfort."

As a gap year parent, I found the experience to be an excellent transition for both my daughter and myself as a parent into the new chapter of our lives&nbsp;when she headed off to college.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; My daughter received a scholarship to study Mandarin for one year in Beijing. While we did not get to see her for ten months, we were also not responsible for the onerous task we are now facing of paying her tuition.&nbsp;The extra year proved invaluable to us for planning and preparing for this new financial commitment.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; The most important part of the experience, however, is what she learned while on her gap year. She lived apart from us for an entire year without the added pressures of rigorous college classes.&nbsp;As she is heading into her freshman year, being away from home is not a new experience so I think her stress and anxiety are half what it would be if this were her first stint away from home.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Some gap years may not involve travel, but many do. Our daughter's took her to a different culture, immersed her in a different language, and forced her to engage with a different perspective on the world.&nbsp;Students who go straight from high school to college&nbsp;may carry the momentum they have built up as diligent, and conscientious students, but they may be missing the perspective gained by traveling, working, or studying outside of the classroom. Key to this is that they&nbsp;may not develop a sense of value for what they learn in class other than the rewards of grades and accolades. Those that travel and work for a year can see how knowledge and skills (such as writing, speaking, critical thinking) are applied in professional and informal settings. I believe that these students will enter college with the ability to quickly grasp applications of what they are learning, which will foster their abilities to retain that knowledge beyond the confines of a semester.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Perhaps most importantly, I think my daughter developed a sense of humor about herself. She had to. She had to dig deep during weekends cooped in a tiny car with eight family members, dining on pig intestines for three days straight, and being confined to her room for weeks at a time because of pollution levels.&nbsp;She found in self-directed humor a positive source of resilience that is going to save her time and time again. &nbsp;&nbsp;

"I believe that [gap year] students will enter college with the ability to quickly grasp applications of what they are learning, which will foster their abilities to retain that knowledge beyond the confines of a semester. "

Parent Reflections

Advice from parents, to parents–put your mind to rest!

"Guarantees a phenomenal increase in self-reliance and self-confidence."

– Renata, parent of Emily M

"Focused on skill acquisition and paid employment."

– Doug W, parent of Nathan W

"These are the things that really get an 18-year-old ready for life."

– Dave C, parent of Caroline C

"Next year, she will enter as a more mature, thoughtful student."

– Karen F, parent of Lucy G

"She has a better sense of herself and what's important in life."

– Kim S, parent of Caroline C

"We made his needs more important than our own discomfort."

– Dr. Susan B, parent of Ronen S

"Her stress and anxiety are half what it would be."

– Brandon Spars, parent of Clara Spars