Gap year & scholarships

[Homeschoolmom3]

I listened to Susan's talk on high school lessons she had learned...great advice...:)  

 

Anyhow, I am curious as to my oldest is just now getting near the end of HS and we are a bit in a panic mode.  He will have about 50 some college credits when he graduates HS and is close in SAT to getting close to full rides at several schools we are looking at HOWEVER he is not sure as to what he wants to major in and is all over the place and I don't want him going to school without a clear idea of his major and wasting time and money!  SO....the gap year talk sounded very interesting and I know he might be interested so how does that work when you have scholarships lined up?  Will they be there when you get a deferral for the next year coming in?  Hope I am making sense...thanks for all of you veterans chiming in and for those who have crossed the roads before us.. ;)

[Pistachio mom]

I have been wondering the same thing. Are scholarship opportunities different for students who take a year off of school to work/grow up before starting college?

 

I just found this page on Lee Binz'a information:

 

http://www.thehomescholar.com/gap-year.php

Edited January 15, 2017 by Pistachio mom

[Lori D.]

No personal experience here, but my understanding is that you go ahead with the college search and college application process. You will probably be applying to several colleges. As you receive an acceptance letter and a financial aid package offer from each of the colleges, contact them and find out what their policy is regarding the student taking a deferment in order to do a gap year. By that time you should have some fairly specific plans for the gap year, so you can include that in your discussions with each of the colleges. Make your final college choice. Then be sure to follow the exact procedures and paperwork required for a deferment in order to do the gap year.

Without having officially applied, having been accepted, AND going through the official deferment process, there would be no way colleges will "hold" scholarships for the student. And, if the student did not apply to any colleges before the gap year, many colleges may no longer view the student as an incoming freshman, but instead, as a transfer student. And there is FAR less merit aid for transfer student -- small awards and mostly one-time awards, rather than renewable multi-year scholarships.

You may find these past threads of interest:
- "Talk to me about a gap year"
- "Revisiting the gap year concept"
- "Let's chat about gap years"
- "Suggestions for what to do for 2 gap years"
- "Gap year and financial aid"
- "Drafting a letter: gap year"
- "Gap year internships and high school internships"

BEST of luck as you look in to your options for a gap year! Warmest regards, Lori D.

Edited September 17, 2018 by Lori D.

[Homeschoolmom3]

No personal experience here, but my understanding is that you go ahead with the college search and college application process. You will probably be applying to several colleges. As you receive an acceptance letter and a financial aid package offer from each of the colleges, contact them and find out what their policy is regarding the student taking a deferment in order to do a gap year. By that time you should have some fairly specific plans for the gap year, so you can include that in your discussions with each of the colleges. Make your final college choice. Then be sure to follow the exact procedures and paperwork required for a deferment in order to do the gap year.

 

Without having officially applied, having been accepted, AND going through the official deferment process, there would be no way colleges will "hold" scholarships for the student. And, if the student did not apply to any colleges before the gap year, many colleges may no longer view the student as an incoming freshman, but instead, as a transfer student. And there is FAR less merit aid for transfer student -- small awards and mostly one-time awards, rather than renewable multi-year scholarships.

 

You may find these past threads of interest:

- "Revisiting the gap year concept"

- "Let's chat about gap years"

- "Suggestions for what to do for 2 gap years"

- "Gap year internships and high school internships"

 

BEST of luck as you look in to your options for a gap year! Warmest regards, Lori D.

 

Thanks Lori for the threads~  will check out, I always fall short when searching!  :tongue_smilie: You're the best!

 

 

[Harriet Vane]

There is a humongous difference in how financial aid and scholarships are handled at different universities. You MUST ask each and every university specifically.

 

That said, my dd applied to both private and public schools. Every private school was happy to simply roll over her financial awards to after her gap year. Every public school was unwilling to do so, and in fact require the applicant to re-apply if you want to come at a different time than that for which you originally applied. As a result, my dd did lose one scholarship at a major university. She did re-apply to the university of her choice because of her gap year. That university saw her gap year plan as an asset, and she was accepted again.

 

With that in mind, ask BEFORE you apply to the school what their policy is. Then decide which ones to apply to BEFORE the gap year and which ones to apply to AFTER the gap year. In retrospect, for us that would mean dd would have applied at the private schools her senior year in high school, and she would have applied just once (rather than applying and then re-applying due to the gap year) to the public universities. Because the private universities allowed her to defer for a gap year, she was able to accept a spot at a private university, then re-apply at the public university of her choice during her gap year, then withdraw from the private university and accept her slot at the public university. She is now a happy freshman at her first-choice school, and she had a fabulous gap year.

 

I heartily recommend the gap year. It was the best possible thing for dd.

 

My advice:

 

--Have a clear plan for school.

--Understand that the plan for school may change based on lessons learned in the gap year.  SWB's son ended up with a different academic focus after his gap year. I think he may have chosen a different university as well, but I am not sure.

--Have a clear plan for what to do in the gap year. No drifting allowed. We told dd to volunteer somewhere, work somewhere, and go somewhere. She ended up volunteering at a school in South Africa. When she was home, she worked a retail job to fund school and fund her travels. She also worked at camp. So when she graduated, the schedule was all laid out--the dates for camp, the timeline for working retail and how many hours she would work each week, the dates for the South Africa trip, etc.

--Part of the beauty of the gap year can be a total break from academics. Honestly, this was one of the best features for dd. She is very much an academic go-getter, but she was tired. Getting a break from the academic seasons can bring fresh new perspective. The break gave dd new thoughts and new perspective, and she was refreshed to dive back in when it was time to go to university. For this reason I would say to not muddle up a gap year with community college courses. (Also taking community college courses renders the student's status to that of a transfer student, NOT an incoming freshman.)

[Homeschoolmom3]

There is a humongous difference in how financial aid and scholarships are handled at different universities. You MUST ask each and every university specifically.

 

That said, my dd applied to both private and public schools. Every private school was happy to simply roll over her financial awards to after her gap year. Every public school was unwilling to do so, and in fact require the applicant to re-apply if you want to come at a different time than that for which you originally applied. As a result, my dd did lose one scholarship at a major university. She did re-apply to the university of her choice because of her gap year. That university saw her gap year plan as an asset, and she was accepted again.

 

With that in mind, ask BEFORE you apply to the school what their policy is. Then decide which ones to apply to BEFORE the gap year and which ones to apply to AFTER the gap year. In retrospect, for us that would mean dd would have applied at the private schools her senior year in high school, and she would have applied just once (rather than applying and then re-applying due to the gap year) to the public universities. Because the private universities allowed her to defer for a gap year, she was able to accept a spot at a private university, then re-apply at the public university of her choice during her gap year, then withdraw from the private university and accept her slot at the public university. She is now a happy freshman at her first-choice school, and she had a fabulous gap year.

 

I heartily recommend the gap year. It was the best possible thing for dd.

 

My advice:

 

--Have a clear plan for school.

--Understand that the plan for school may change based on lessons learned in the gap year.  SWB's son ended up with a different academic focus after his gap year. I think he may have chosen a different university as well, but I am not sure.

--Have a clear plan for what to do in the gap year. No drifting allowed. We told dd to volunteer somewhere, work somewhere, and go somewhere. She ended up volunteering at a school in South Africa. When she was home, she worked a retail job to fund school and fund her travels. She also worked at camp. So when she graduated, the schedule was all laid out--the dates for camp, the timeline for working retail and how many hours she would work each week, the dates for the South Africa trip, etc.

--Part of the beauty of the gap year can be a total break from academics. Honestly, this was one of the best features for dd. She is very much an academic go-getter, but she was tired. Getting a break from the academic seasons can bring fresh new perspective. The break gave dd new thoughts and new perspective, and she was refreshed to dive back in when it was time to go to university. For this reason I would say to not muddle up a gap year with community college courses. (Also taking community college courses renders the student's status to that of a transfer student, NOT an incoming freshman.)

 

Thanks for sharing!  I do think it would benefit many to get a clearer picture with a gap year and yes they do need a plan!  :)  It will be interesting what he decides but want to be very well knowledgeable in all areas so we can see all that is out there.  Thanks again!

 

[obsidian]

Private universities were extremely accommodating of my gap year. I sent one email to each of them after being admitted, and they all immediately emailed back and agreed to defer my scholarships. The one public university was rather difficult to deal with, but I did succeed in deferring my NMSF scholarship for a year. I suspect I only managed that by being persistent to the point of annoying...it sounded like admissions people even had a special meeting to make a decision about it.  :lol: Originally, they told me they only allowed gap years for medical or military reasons. FWIW, National Merit did not at all care about deferring. It was a matter of routine for them.

Edited January 16, 2017 by STEM

[dereksurfs]

Thanks for posting this Homeschoolmom3. That was a very interesting talk on the subject by SWB.

[Luckymama]

D will probably be taking a gap year to study abroad (Rotary). We'll know for sure which country in the next few weeks.

 

She applied to college this year. She only applied to schools that defer admissions and merit scholarships for gap years. This information was found on the schools' websites, sometimes buried and sometimes not.

 

Gap years for language and culture acquisition are looked at very favorably for students like my D who intend to study International Relations and critical languages at universities designated as Language Flagships.

 

There are multiple inexpensive programs for gap year study abroad. These programs are sponsored by the government and are essentially free (but for passport and a few other fees, maybe insurance): NSLI (language focus), Kennedy-Luger YES (culture based; countries w significant Muslim populations), CBYX (Germany), and one for Lithuania whose name escapes me right now. Rotary Exchanges pay for all but airfare, passport and visa fees, and insurance. Rotary and NSLI students (not sure if the others) receive small monthly stipends of ~$60-100 US in the host country currency.