Gap Year Post HS

[eat.climb.love]

I have a brilliant younger sister. She is one of those "has all the potential but does not achieve squat" kind of people. (Ugh, I wish I was that smart! What I could do with those brains.) Anyway, so basically it hasn't been a huge issue up until recently. She essentially bombed out of junior year (part of this might be due to some health issues). My mom freaked out - I told her there are a lot of other options besides going to university right away. The thing is, my sister really does not want to go to a local community college because it is seriously right down the street from our house (and it is tiny and she has already taken a lot of the classes there in HS). I have suggested the idea of doing a year of service in between high school and college (whether it be community or 4-year). She is young for her grade so it actually would be in her benefit to take a year off before college.

So do any of you have any suggestions as to "gap year" programs? Honestly, they don't need to pay her anything. If they just house her and have her work for room/board, that would be fine. There seem to be tons where you pay to explore the world, but we aren't exactly in a financial situation where we can do that (or shoot, I would have done that after college =P). She is looking at AmeriCorps but anything similar would be great. It would be preferable to stay on the East Coast or perhaps venture as west as Indiana BUT if there is some sweet service opportunity in like Utah (or anywhere else in the country), then that's okay too. (Or anything in Canada. My sister loves Canada.) My sister is one of those "I'm down for anything kind of people" so the options are wide open.

I've talked with the little sis' and she thinks it would be great to DO something for people for a year, figure her s**t out and then do the college thing (if that ends up being what she wants to do, who knows). If it ends up being near a CC, she might take one class a semester at night.

Any anecdotal stories about not doing well in high school and then finding yourself will also be appreciated. =P

(Also, I did not post this on that College Confidential site because it seems like the majority of those members are just moms of students. I figured you guys are way more chill and would quite frankly offer better advice. =))

Edited June 30, 2011 by eat.climb.love

[neuropsych76]

I have a brilliant younger sister. She is one of those "has all the potential but does not achieve squat" kind of people. (Ugh, I wish I was that smart! What I could do with those brains.) Anyway, so basically it hasn't been a huge issue up until recently. She essentially bombed out of junior year (part of this might be due to some health issues). My mom freaked out - I told her there are a lot of other options besides going to university right away. The thing is, my sister really does not want to go to a local community college because it is seriously right down the street from our house (and it is tiny and she has already taken a lot of the classes there in HS). I have suggested the idea of doing a year of service in between high school and college (whether it be community or 4-year). She is young for her grade so it actually would be in her benefit to take a year off before college.

So do any of you have any suggestions as to "gap year" programs? Honestly, they don't need to pay her anything. If they just house her and have her work for room/board, that would be fine. There seem to be tons where you pay to explore the world, but we aren't exactly in a financial situation where we can do that (or shoot, I would have done that after college =P). She is looking at AmeriCorps but anything similar would be great. It would be preferable to stay on the East Coast or perhaps venture as west as Indiana BUT if there is some sweet service opportunity in like Utah (or anywhere else in the country), then that's okay too. (Or anything in Canada. My sister loves Canada.) My sister is one of those "I'm down for anything kind of people" so the options are wide open.

I've talked with the little sis' and she thinks it would be great to DO something for people for a year, figure her s**t out and then do the college thing (if that ends up being what she wants to do, who knows). If it ends up being near a CC, she might take one class a semester at night.

Any anecdotal stories about not doing well in high school and then finding yourself will also be appreciated. =P

(Also, I did not post this on that College Confidential site because it seems like the majority of those members are just moms of students. I figured you guys are way more chill and would quite frankly offer better advice. =))

I can't think of many gap year programs for high school because I myself was a terrible high school student haha. So I'll leave that to the other posters. However, I definitely did not do well in high school and then found myself later on

My high school story could be similar to your sisters (though i'm probably not as smart haha). I was in many honors classes and recommended for the "gifted" program and all that jazz up until about 8th grade. Then 8th-11th grade I really slacked off academically. Mostly because I was a trouble maker I felt a lot of the high school classes were not challenging/uninteresting so I was pretty much like a class clown in high school. I also spent a lot of time playing sports.

Well the end of my junior year I broke my ankle and couldn't try out for the school's varsity baseball team. I was pretty bummed but this turned out to be a blessing and I actually focused on academics my last year of HS. Somehow, I got into a solid liberal arts school and flourished academically and now I'm heading to a PhD program this fall!

So there's my anecdote Also, I second the college confidential statement. I've been on there and most people are pretty pretentious. The gradcafe is much much better!!

[lyonessrampant]

I took a gap year between HS and college. This was for religious reasons and in retrospect since I unfound god later, it was a bit of a waste in that regard BUT I did work and saved a ton of money for college and also coached my high school speech and debate team. I was and still am really into that However, I don't remember hearing about programs for HS to college gap years. If you're affiliated with a church, you might look into international service type of stuff through that organization. Americorps may have something for younger people, so that could be an option. Otherwise, maybe she can stay home and so lots of volunteer stuff locally. Does she have a GED? It sounds like bombed out of junior year means no diploma. Obviously, if she doesn't have a GED, getting that out of the way will be important.

I mainly posted to suggest that if your sister decides to go to college, she might want to look at liberal arts schools. They're more expensive, but the liberal arts environment can be good for people who really benefit from one-on-one attention. I went to Carroll College in Helena, MT. It's a tiny school and far from the East coast, but I think for bright people with potentially lots of interests who can get bored and might need individual attention to keep them motivated and focused, liberal arts schools are great. They're also great for driven type A people too Can you tell I'm on the SLAC bandwagon Anyway, best of luck to you and your sister!

[eat.climb.love]

I took a gap year between HS and college. This was for religious reasons and in retrospect since I unfound god later, it was a bit of a waste in that regard BUT I did work and saved a ton of money for college and also coached my high school speech and debate team. I was and still am really into that However, I don't remember hearing about programs for HS to college gap years. If you're affiliated with a church, you might look into international service type of stuff through that organization. Americorps may have something for younger people, so that could be an option. Otherwise, maybe she can stay home and so lots of volunteer stuff locally. Does she have a GED? It sounds like bombed out of junior year means no diploma. Obviously, if she doesn't have a GED, getting that out of the way will be important.

I mainly posted to suggest that if your sister decides to go to college, she might want to look at liberal arts schools. They're more expensive, but the liberal arts environment can be good for people who really benefit from one-on-one attention. I went to Carroll College in Helena, MT. It's a tiny school and far from the East coast, but I think for bright people with potentially lots of interests who can get bored and might need individual attention to keep them motivated and focused, liberal arts schools are great. They're also great for driven type A people too Can you tell I'm on the SLAC bandwagon Anyway, best of luck to you and your sister!

Ah, sorry by "bombing out" she might have bombed a few classes but luckily did well enough her first two years that credit-wise, I think she is fine. (Accelerated math and science tracks worked to her advantage, I guess.) I think she is not getting credit for science (but she is taking a science class senior year and you tech only need 3 to graduate at my old HS) and maybe her foreign language (again, I think she can either retake this or take a first year of another language). It just eliminates her from her original top choice (SLAC in Massachusetts).

We aren't really super-religious but there is a Unitarian church in town so I will have her check that out. She is definitely looking at SLACs eventually - probably somewhere up in New England. I was the big-university (and even BIGGER grad school - 3x size of undergrad and I went to a big undergrad =P) kid and it worked for me but she definitely would benefit from a school where you aren't a tiny fish in an ocean.

[Bobbi]

I think your sister should not try to over-extend herself if she's struggling in HS. If that's the case, she might not fare well living away from home for a year without getting some work experience while living at home first. Reason being is that working at a job makes you thick-skinned enough to be able fend for yourself enough to handle living elsewhere. Just tell her to get a part-time tutoring job. If she's super brilliant, she can figure out how to start her own SAT tutoring business. Just post a flyer in your local supermarkets. Then with her other time, she can volunteer and waitress. The whole point of this year off is to make her grow up, right? Well an hourly job will be a huge wake-up call, especially if she has to work at it longer than the three months in summer.

[Mal83]

I agree that getting a part-time job would be a productive way to spend the time off, she's at the age where it's definitely time to start earning some money. And in a small way it could really be a motivator to do something bigger and better. The jobs that I had from high school up until recently are not the jobs I'd want to do for the rest of my life so I felt an extra push and sense of urgency to do well so I could at least know that I'd have much better options. I had no idea what I wanted to do for a while, but I always knew that I wanted a challenging career. I hated every second of the few menial jobs that I had for obvious reasons. So to me, college was a necessity, not an option.

And I second that volunteering locally might be a good option. What about volunteering at a preschool or a summer camp? I've worked at preschools, they always appreciate volunteers. How about at the library or a hospital? Or even a Big Sister program? Locally might be better to start with because if she bombed a whole year of high school that really might look bad on the applications to the bigger programs like Americorps. I don't know for sure and the cc classes she took might help to balance that out, but maybe she should contact someone and explain what her transcript will look like and see if that will be an automatic deal breaker. I'm also not sure what kind of GPA or grade requirements there are but I would imagine they'll play a part in the application process. Just a thought.

If she wants to shoot for a bigger than local setting you guys might want to look into City Year Corps http://www.cityyear....owelookfor.aspx there are locations all over the east coast and not sure how old your sister is but the minimum age requirement is 17, I believe Americorps is 18.

Edited July 3, 2011 by Mal83

[Safferz]

I was also a lot like your sister, and bombed junior year of HS as well, just barely passing my courses. I just didn't find the material engaging and I was bored and frustrated by my teachers, so I didn't go to class a whole lot and often couldn't be bothered to submit assignments or even show up for tests. Senior year of high school I freaked out, knowing that (in Canada) university acceptance comes down to your final year grades and I was so terrified I wouldn't get in that I turned into an overachiever. Got into a top school, cleaned up the awards on graduation night and continued to perform well and win awards in university. I'm now planning to apply for Ph.D programs in the fall, when it looked like I wouldn't even be headed to university when I was your sister's age.

My point is to not write off university for your sister after high school, because she can get it together and surprise you. I also think that gap years can sometimes have the opposite effect than what is intended, further pushing a person away from academics and making it difficult to jump back in. The two friends I have who took a year off and decided not go to university or college immediately after HS never went back to school. There are much better opportunities for young people with degrees, so a year off after high school may not be as meaningful or well spent as one would hope.

Edited July 3, 2011 by Safferz

[psycholinguist]

I have a younger sister in exactly the same situation: not all that academically motivated, a few past health-issues that didn't help, just finished high-school and has no immediate plans. Heh. Anyway, some ideas:

1. Youth Challenge International: Run by the Canadian International Development Agency. Volunteering opportunities across Canada and the world.

2. Does your sister have Canadian citizenship? If so, she's probably eligible for Katamavik.

3. There are also leads to be found at Volunteer Canada and the Cultural Careers Council of Ontario.