Creating a Gap Between High School, College

By NORAH KOLBERG

The room is crowded with students in matching caps and gowns, listening intently to the final words of the commencement ceremony. When the speech ends and the applause begins, mortarboards fly into the air.

This is a time for new beginnings – for leaving high school behind and moving on to the next thing. For many students, the next thing will be college, but for a few, a year will pass before they continue their education.

Gap years are becoming increasingly popular in the United States. Common in the United Kingdom, a gap year is a time for students to get out and travel or get work experience before pursuing a higher education. Many students feel that it gives them time to decide what they want out of their education and their careers.

“I think (gap years) can work if a student is disciplined and has a definite plan,” Century High School guidance counselor Dan Trottier said.

Gap years became a new concept after World War II, when young people were encouraged to travel and build a better global understanding. In the ’60s, students traveled to India on “hippie trails,” and in 1967, Nicolas Maclean-Bristol founded Project Trust and sent three of his students to Ethiopia.

Since then, taking a year off to travel, work, or volunteer has become more common with each decade. Taking the benefits of gap years into consideration, students in North Dakota are joining the trend.

“We do see a lot of students who take a year off before enrolling,” Bismarck State College admissions office assistant Darcy Roberts said.

Top universities like Harvard often send letters to applicants actively encouraging taking time off to explore possibilities. Princeton University even has a placement program for their freshman class devoted to sending them abroad on service trips.

Harvard states in an admissions article written by William Fitzsimmons, dean of admissions, that taking a year off can help prevent “burn-out.”

“It gives (students) time off to think about what they want to do,” Roberts said.

Nearly every university in the United States will allow deferred admission, or postponing enrollment for a semester or year. Some schools prefer for students to apply out of high school and state in the application if they plan to take a year off.

Others, like BSC, say to wait until the student plans on attending the school. Depending on the school, scholarships may or may not be jeopardized by gap years.

North Dakota State University’s freshman scholarships are for students who apply right out of high school, but BSC’s Foundation scholarship is available to everyone who applies regardless of time off – all that is required is a high school transcript.

“(Taking a year off) isn’t a problem at all,” Roberts said. “It wouldn’t hurt the admissions process.”

With so many advantages to taking a year off, it may seem strange that gap years aren’t more popular in the United States. Cambridge University, an elite school in the Britain, estimates that one in five of its students takes a year off, where as Yale University has 20 to 40 delayed applicants per year.

It could be that gap years haven’t caught on yet, but for many students, money is the issue. College is already expensive, and adding a year of travel to the cost can add up.

Some students also may feel pressure to go the more conventional route and go straight to college after high school. Others may worry that taking a year off will make them less likely to come back to school and continue their education.

“For whatever reason, some students who take a year off don’t feel like coming back,” Trottier said. “But I think it really depends on the student.”

Century High School students have varying opinions on gap years.

“I think it’s a bad idea,” said Megan Bosch, who graduated from Century this spring. “You’d have so much fun, you wouldn’t want to come back.”

Other students, however, see a different side.

“It can be a good idea if you want to save up money,” said Kristen Stromstad, who also graduated from Century this spring. “It works for some people, as long as you stay on track.”

The area of study that a student goes into can affect their choice as well. Colleges often prefer students going into a math field to apply immediately, but students who plan to study engineering may benefit from taking a year off to gain experience in the industry.

In the end, it’s the choice of a student and their families whether or not a gap year is right for them.

(c) 2008 Bismarck Tribune. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.