Independence Days: My Perfect Imperfect Gap Year
nytimes.com
nytimes.com
His evidence that gap years aren't elitist is:
The idea that gap years are inherently elitist may be due to the potentially high cost of travel and of independent programs, which offer a structured experience — typically of adventure, service and more or less education — that can cost upward of $20,000. But that criticism cuts against the realities most students already face — that is, average in-state tuition and fees of $8,940, or $28,308 at private colleges, according to the College Board. When factoring in room, board and other expenses, this would mean spending about $100,000 over five years at public colleges and more than double that at private ones.
"See, college is expensive anyway, what's a little more debt gonna hurt?"
Well, that's easy to say when your parents can shell out $50k to go to college. It's obvious the guy has gained some perspective and its great to see, but he's still talking like a rich person who doesn't know what it's like to not only not have money but to have a family that doesn't have a lot of money. It's bordering on Romney's "just borrow $20k from your parents and start a company!". What about when your parents are borrowing from you?
His end point seems to be that gap years seem to reduce drinking or other goofiness in college. Why not instead of adding a gap year to the already ridiculous nature of today's college, get rid of the bloat which makes it so that you have to spend $50k to go to a 4 year summer camp?
But they certainly would have if he'd asked, and that's the point. He always had a lifeline, so to speak.
> Although I appreciated my parents’ support, I also recognized the extent to which it had become detrimental. Their attempts to eliminate any possibility of real failure had guaranteed its own kind of failure.
So you rejected it after your enlightening "gap year," right? Right?
FTA: Time free from the obligations of schoolwork had enabled me to realize my passion for writing, and to apply this to an English major, where I would discover the most formative classes and professors of my education.
Hmmm.
>More colleges in the United States are encouraging applicants to consider a “bridge” year before enrolling, and many independent programs and some campuses — like Florida State University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Princeton and Tufts — even offer fellowships and financial aid.
This is a huge red flag, is it not? To me this looks like a signal that Universities are becoming quite worried about their graduation rates (overall and "within 5 years", which I guess is difficult nowadays) and are willing to test out whatever it takes to keep enrollment up through all classes.
A gap year between high school AP calculus and the much faster science and engineering track "Calc through Differential Equations" sequence at a rigorous university, on the other hand, could be very risky. Especially in schools like the UC system where many popular STEM majors are "impacted" and you may get bounced from the major if your grades are low (I consider this loathsome, failing out kids who might be bright but struggle a bit in their first year, but it's a reality).
I did read that the "eliteness" of your college doesn't really matter if you study STEM, but it makes a big difference if you major in humanities. That may also account for some of the class difference we see in this gap year issue. People who attend expensive, private schools, especially elite ones, and who major in humanities are probably not harmed by a gap year at all. Lower income people who attend state schools and major in STEM probably don't benefit much, and may watch their math get rusty just before they enter a challenging program with minimum GPA cutoffs.