How does a gap year from highschool to college work?
To take a "gap year," instead of applying this fall (2017) for admissions for the fall semester 2018 (begining in August 2018), you would apply next fall (2018) for admissions for the fall semester 2019 (beginning in Augut 2019). It's not complicated. The only issue is that once you graduate high school, you may NOT take any classes (at community college, etc.), or you will no longer be eligible to apply as a freshman, and will have to apply as a transfer (with 60 semester/90 quarter transferable credits). Make sure you have a full-time job to make it worth your while; sitting at home playing video games does not impress the admissions committee. A gap year will not affect your financial aid. That said, you still have plenty of time to take the SAT; both the August 26 and October 7 test dates will get you your scores in time to meet CSU's deadline. So spend the summer studying, and also retaking World History if possible; if it's an a-g requirement you'll never be admitted as a freshman if you have a D regardless of your overall GPA (but even if it isn't, a D is never attractive on a transcript). Then after you take the SAT, you can tell if your index meets the requirements. http://fresnostate.edu/catalog/academic-...
Should I take a leap year in between high school and college?
Forgive me, it's actually called a 'gap' year, but you have the right idea :) . Gap years are actually fairly common in other countries. It helps students really firm up what they want to do with their lives and gives them a chance to see new things and grow as a person. Unfortunately, it isn't free. Do I personally think it's a good idea? Absolutely yes. Should you do it? That is a decision you should make with your family and other advisers. Only you and they will know you well enough to know if it's a good thing for you. Good luck to you!!
How long should a gap year between high school and college take?
“A gap year” generally means “one year.”But taking two, three, five, ten, or even twenty or more years between ending high school and starting college is totally doable. You can just call those your “gap years” instead. It's also called having a “life.”The point of taking a gap year (or several) is to leave the education system and do something else. Anything else. Working, traveling, self-study, language immersion, family, spiritual exploration, volunteering, inventing, interning… anything at all. Some people take gap years with no plan at all, although from my experience I would suggest having at least a skeleton of a plan in mind. Be willing to change course part way though if your plan isn't working.When (or if) you return to get a college degree, hopefully your period of exploration has helped you to learn about what you want in life.
Does a gap year between high school and undergrad college matter during graduate school admissions?
As long as you did well in undergrad, I can't see why grad schools would care about a gap year, especially if you use the time to accumulate some useful life experience. I wouldn't advocate laying around on the couch for a year if you want to get into a good undergrad school. Doing volunteer work or traveling would be a good thing though. I took a gap decade between high school and undergrad and got into medical school. I had another career as a paramedic, and then life took an unusual turn for me and I ended up going back to school. When I applied to med school, my intervening years were actually seen as a positive thing at my interviews. I had more life experience to bring to the table than the people who were traditional students, so I stood out.Personally, I think that gaining some real life experience is a great thing. Just make sure you go back and finish your schooling! Don't wait a decade either. ;-)
Instead of a gap year of travel (between high school and college), should I start school for a year and then take a year off in between?
I like the idea of going directly to college and getting some experience of what it's like to be way more independent relative to when you were living at home in high school. It sets yo up nicely for having to make extremely independent decisions when you are traveling abroad. And like you said, there are benefits to being a student abroad. I believe you get great discounts at European hostels. It does make a huge difference to be a university student traveling abroad, as opposed to a highschool graduate traveling abroad. You'll be able to connect more with the other kids you meet and talk about your individual university experiences. So I vote for school first, then take a gap semester or two. The benefit here is also sometimes when you go into university you take a whole bunch of classes unsure of what you want to do. or maybe you are sure you know what you want to do, but then quickly realize you absolutely do not. By dipping your toe in for a year, you can then take time to ponder that experience and see how you look back on it in a year. I actually have no experience taking gap years, but what I did was I spent 2 summers in a row doing semester abroad programs, which I loved. If I were you I'd even consider doing a summer semester abroad and then using that as a jumping off point for traveling for the next semester. That would set you up really nicely with making European connections.
Taking a gap year after high school?
Think about the cons and pros. What do you want a break from? School? Besides, you do not choose what you want to be the first year of college. You still have plenty of time. I say try to go if you can. Find a way somehow. Do not waste your time. Sure you can take a year off, and go back and still do good. But most people end up just the opposite. I've seen too many people do that, they just screw up their lives. They get jobs, full time, then just cannot decide what to do. They look the easy way and just screw up. Go now, and you will enjoy that later, when you won't have to go when you're done, with a degree, and hopefully a good job. "If you think education is expensive, try ignorance" Derek Bok, Howard University. You decide what that quote means. It can be interpreted several ways.
What do you think about a year or two gap between high school and college?
I would say that a one year gap between high school and college is reasonable, and probably a good idea, if you personally feel that you need time off from school. College is a significant investment in time and money, and you should best go into it with a calm, collected, and motivated state of mind.However, I would not take a gap year for the sole purpose of not knowing what you really want to do in life (assuming you’re already planning to go to college). The reason is that it’s very common to go into college with a fixed goal in mind, and then discover that what you originally had wanted to study was not at all what it was like after actually taking a class in that subject.For example, I know many people that went into college who had wanted to become doctors their whole lives, but took chemistry, hated it, and switched out of pre-med the following semester. It’s hard to fully commit to something until you absolutely know what you’re going into.I would take a gap year if you really feel that you need a break from school, not because you’re simply unsure as to what you want to study. One of the huge benefits of college is that it is very accessible to dabble in different subjects and then make a decision.Lastly, if you end up taking a gap year, you should definitely keep yourself busy. Take MOOCs, tackle some projects that you never got the chance to start, or get some work experience—anything that will allow you to keep learning during your time off. I also wouldn’t plan on taking 2 gap years from the get go, as knowingly having too much extra time can be very distracting and may cause you to deviate from reaching your goals.