There are thousands of kids right now patiently waiting for that college acceptance letter. Anxiously checking that mail box twice an hour, scanning every single word on every single letter in hopes to find the keywords, “(insert college name here) Office of Admissions”. That’s how its been and that’s how it will be for so many high school seniors year in and year out. It has become a right of passage, it’s seeing all the years of hard work and dedication finally pay off to get into that dream college. These admission letters represent so much more than acceptance, it’s a document that opens up an infinite amount of opportunities for a student to learn about the world, and more importantly learn about themselves. It’s both a scary and exciting …show more content…
What if going to college right after high school has just become the ultimate conventional path for a teenager, yes that first year of college is scary, but it also seems like teens are just going through life’s step by step checklist. What if the scarier thing was to delay that acceptance letter, and becoming that brave soul who embarks into the unknown world. This scary decision is what’s known as a gap year; a time in which a student steps away from school and journeys into the world by themselves, whether to do humanitarian work, enter into the workforce, or just take time to travel alone and explore self interests. For me, taking a gap year was the most adventurous, enlightening, intimidating, and scariest times of my life, but on the other side it was an extremely powerful experience of adventure and self …show more content…
According to a Times article titled, Why Your High School Senior Should Take a Gap Year, written in 2014, writer Randye Hoder has found that there are a handful of colleges including, “Princeton and the University of North Carolina” as well as Harvard and Tufts University that offer direct scholarships and fellowships to students who take gap years. These top ranked institutions have openly encouraged and supported the idea. Hoder claims that a gap year may not be for everyone, but it could be extremely beneficial to “those who are burnt out from years of piling on honors and AP classes” in order for them to take a break and pursue other interests. Other writers including Margaret Loftus of the US News and World Report, writes in her article titled, How A Gap Year Can Make Your Student Successful, that many students are so geared on getting to college and taking the best high school classes, that they are actually getting “little time to explore their true interests.” By the time they enter a university, their inspirations and goals might not actually be a true passion but rather a result of the system of our current education system. With all this being said, than what is the point of a gap year and why should anyone take one, isn’t that the fundamental question? A gap year is the time when a
Society puts too much pressure on high school students to attend a 4-year college right after graduation. Though this is an attainable goal for some, a great majority of students are not fully prepared for the demands of college. 4-year schools require an incredible amount of maturity and preparation, leaving very little room for mistakes. Schools often overlook this aspect because their main goal is to get as many students into 4-year college as possible. This is a great goal to have however they send students off to college who aren’t ready to be handle the difficult of their courses while being away from home. My senior year of high school, my family and I came to the conclusion that we were not going to be able to afford four-year college tuition. This upset me at first because I felt like all my hard work and good grades went to waste. I dreaded the thought of going to community college because my who...
After graduating from high school many graduated seniors face the difficult challenge of applying to a university or community college to attend to in the fall. With applying to college, students compare their likes and dislikes with each school, determine which school environment suits them best, and where can they receive the best possible education for their potential major. Searching for a school to attend is an important part of a student’s life and applying to one should be performed very carefully. Before students are admitted to a school, Universities must determine whether a student is applicable during an admission process. Admission is a crucial step to being accepted into an elite college or major university. There are a few ways which the admissions process can take place, and the legacy admission is one to name out of the few. Many controversial issues have arisen through out the past few years, stating that this type of selection is not fair to other students who do not qualify under the legacy status. It is unethical to choose a student for superior reasons, because it is not fair to other students who are not of superior status, but deserve to attend a school.
Education has always been a current issue due to the fact that it is seen as an economic cure-all. However, the perception of college is ill-conceived and there are multiple debates on how to improve it. College universities believe that having open admissions will increase the amount of matriculations, but the fact is the amount of students being enrolled into a four-year university has no relationship to the amount of students with academic aspirations. W.J. Reeves, an English professor at Brooklyn College of The City University of New York, gives a few examples of how open admissions has changed education methods and student abilities. Reeves wrote this opinion piece to convince everyone, especially parents, that schools are in need of reform
One of the central struggles among college students today is that they are required to compete against one another to appear exceptional. In frequent cases, students are trying so vigorously to appear favorable on paper in order to be accepted into a prestigious school or to be hired for a higher-paying job. Additionally, students are required
College success has become a most desirable goal. However, many students struggle through college. In fact, according to the Website Ask.com, approximately 15 percent of college students receive a degree. Because I’m willing to earn a degree like many other successful students, I find that college is the stepping stone to my dream goals. I know that college is difficult, but I realize that attaining my dream of a college education will require me to understand the benefits of what I’m learning, to prepare for obstacles, to seek advice, and to create effective and reasonable strategies will help me achieve my goals.
Being accepted to college can be the most exciting time of a person’ life while also being the most disappointing. According to an article from Forbes, titled “Too Poor For College, Too Rich For Financial Aid,” author Robert Farrington wrote a story about his daughter’s college application experience. She patiently awaited to hear back from her top choice school, the prestigious John’s Hopkins University. After months of pure anxiety, a giant envelope arrived in the mail. The colorful exterior gave away the seemingly great news that the envelope enclosed. After opening the envelope, her acceptance letter revealed itself. According to Farrington, at first, the family was over joyed. Their kid got into her top choice college! But after moving
Before understanding the consequences of a gap year, it is important to understand why people take a Gap Year. Senior year can be tense and come with several unanswered questions. Seniors are given four options when leaving High School. Those choices are either joining the army, going straight to work, applying to college, or taking a Gap Year. In a journal by Sunny Niu and Marta Tienda, “Delayed Enrollment and College Plans: Is There a Postponement Penalty?” explains some of the reasons why high school graduates tend to not go directly to a four year university. One of the main reasons high school graduates are hesitant to attend co...
A gap year is a time for teens to take off between high school and college. A gap year is used to travel, work, volunteer or study. In general, a gap year has many advantages. This year out of a school is a good time for students to explore the world and gain valuable life skills and experience while learning to be independent. Teens in the U.S. should adopt the British custom of taking a gap year between high school and college in order to gain perspective on personal values and career goals as well as gaining needed life experiences without the pressure and expectations of a school environment. A gap year is a time for students to become independent and learn a sense of responsibility before entering into university life.
Graduation is two weeks away, which for most of us does not seem possible. As we look back at these past four long but fulfilling years, there are some things that we shall never forget. It’s hard to believe that at one point we were little freshmen entering into these doors, with no idea what was in store for us. Four years have passed since that first day, and we have made decisions that will frame our futures. After years of studying, filling out applications, scholarships, and taking tests, we are now thrown into the real world, where there are seldom retakes, second chances are only a memory of yesteryear, and honor codes are the way of life.
Thus according to me looking at all these options, GAP year is indeed a really good option for students. It thus gives them an option to do things, experience it, which they probably won’t do again in their lives. Also different venues get open, choice of their majors, minors, their future becomes clear. The students realise what they what to do, how they are and what is their motto in life. GAP year indeed makes a student educated not only in one way but touches upon several different things.
A gap year is a period, typically one academic year, taken by a student as a break between secondary school and higher education. Many students consider taking a gap year because they are longing to get work experience and be sure of a career path before they make the decision to head off to college. During those one or two years off before heading to college, students have the opportunity to travel the world, work, experience different jobs, or simply take a break from school. Some parents do not agree with their young adults taking a break from school because they worry that their child will not do something productive with their free time. Although students taking a gap year run the risk of becoming inattentive or accustomed to making some quick cash, and not returning to school, there are numerous benefits for a young adults. young adults to take a gap year off before heading to college; for instance, many colleges want students that are mature and have some work experience.
According to “Facts About A Gap Year,” the definition of a gap year is “a break typically taken between high school and college that might include travel, work, study, volunteering, or research.” Several colleges encourage their admitted students to take a gap year before starting their freshman year. Done the right way, a gap year can help students excel, while if a student completely puts aside their responsibilities, it can plummet their success in college. Students who take a gap year after high school not only mature, but also are prepared for college and the rest of their lives.
Katz, Gillian. "Gap Year Advice: 3 Great Reasons And 3 Terrible Reasons to Take Time Off Before College." Huffington Post Teen. Huffington Post. Web.
A common drawback of taking a year off from school is the lost friendships, being absent from friends. Contact can still be kept through e-mail and phone, but that may prove ineffective after a year off, as friends will have made new friends and have been adjusted to the college life. This makes it challenging to talk on the similar level or about interests and sometimes friends don’t fully reconnect after a year. This can affect a students’ social life and can show in their work when asked to work with others, especially when they are not adjusted to the new social level they are in. And don’t wait till senior year in high school to have a gap year. Start planning as early as sophomore year, because some colleges won’t allowed an accepted student to delay starting their freshman year, until they have a detailed plan on what that wants to do during their gap year (O'Shaughnessy).
And they develop a fuller sense of themselves, undefined by their friends, family, or culture.Gap year is, basically, a half-step out into the world and offers students an opportunity to understand that they can handle it just fine. It makes the later post college change from one thing to another less scarring. The gap year gives a student the opportunity to find out what they want to do do in life and gives them time to think about the major of their choices some students leave high school with one major and then take a gap year and come back with a different major. Gap Year graduates report that through the summary of their new experiences they were better able to identify universities that fit their personalities and career desires to do great things. Finally, while we don 't suggest this as a first or more important, many students do report that taking a Gap Year enabled them to get into better