Shanna had a secret. I could see it every time my senior composition class talked about college preparation. She looked at her notebook, she looked at her carefully manicured nails, she looked everywhere but at me. This went on for weeks. Finally, Shanna admitted it in her notebook during a journaling exercise. “I don’t know if I want to go to college!” She underlined the “don’t know” twice and drew a frowny face at the end of the line.
“I think I want to take a year off before college,” Shanna wrote. “But I don’t want to tell anyone.” Shanna was feeling the pressure of the constant drumbeat of college admissions preparation. Teachers, principals, counselors, even parents talk constantly about ACTs, admission applications, and campus visits.
Our school district starts the conversation about college and careers in sixth grade. From then on, we push toward college. Students spend hours studying to build their GPAs and ACTs while also accumulating community service hours, chasing leadership roles in their extracurricular activities, and working outside jobs.
It all adds up to a lot of stress that even Harvard University admission counselors describe as a “hysteria” that grips students who are all jockeying to get into the “right” colleges.
All that pressure can make students decide to attend the wrong university for the wrong reasons, and that could be an expensive mistake. A recent survey of college prices by the College Board showed that the average tuition for an in-state univeristy was over $22,000. That’s like buying a brand new car every year for the four years it takes to get a degree. And, just like buying that new car, most are going to have to take out loans to do it. The Project on Student Debt estimates that the average college graduate heads into the workforce with $28,400 in educational loans to pay. All the more reason to put the brakes on a decision you don’t feel is right for you.
But all that pressure isn’t going away just because you want to take some time to consider your options. Your friends will still talk about their college plans continuously, and your parents will still nag you about finishing your applications. You’ll still be standing in front of that hurdle, agonizing over the best way to jump over it.
Give yourself some breathing room by doing some planning toward both options: college or gap year. Universities are starting to recognize the importance of the gap year, and many will defer your admission. NBC News recently reported that universities such as Tufts and Princeton are offering scholarship programs to students who take a year off before starting college. Even Harvard encourages a year to explore the world and offers a one-year admission deferral. So, you won’t be giving up your college dreams by planning to take a year off.
Start your planning process with two steps:
Step 1 – The College Option
College applications are complicated, but most are online and easy to access. They will start by asking for a lot of information about your high school career, so have a list of all of your extracurricular activities, outside jobs, and volunteer hours handy when you begin.
Most schools require at least one letter of recommendation from a teacher, coach, or counselor. These are also useful for gap year programs or job applications, so even if you decide to defer college, you’ll need these letters. Ask for a recommendation from someone who knows you well, and give them a list of the things you are most proud of from high school to help them sing your praises.
Step 2 – The Gap Year Option
Planning this option is more complicated simply because, literally, the world is open to you. You can’t easily follow the established process that you’ve been hearing about your whole life. That’s what makes it exciting, but also difficult, to begin.
Start by focusing on your reasons for wanting a gap year. You’ll need to be able to explain these reasons to yourself before you can explain them to your parents and your friends who are all decked out in their college wear. Nothing focuses reasoning like writing. So, start a journal to capture your thinking on ideas like this:
- What is the most important thing in the world to you?
- What do you love to spend your time doing more than anything else?
- How can you combine the two?
Your final decision to go to college or take a gap year will present itself when it is good and ready. But, you’ll feel better knowing that you have done your homework and are ready for it.