Best way to go about planning a Gap Year?
I’ll start by giving my stats: 17 (almost 18) y/o AA female, homeschooled high schooler, applied to a few colleges yet only down to one state school (my gpa was not so nice). I was very unmotivated throughout high school which led me to do home schooling which I loved and learned better with and matured through. So like I said I’m down to one school (ASU) and I’m starting to fancy the idea of a gap year.
Note: ASU isn’t the school I really want to go to and if I get in I’ll only attend a year and hopefully transfer.
Now to my question: I needed a back up plan since I’m only down to one school. This whole college admissions, even high school experience, has been hell for me and every time I try redeeming myself my grades come back to haunt me. So I’m looking into taking a gap year to hopefully do something beneficial and exciting for myself mainly. I am telling myself that I want to treat it as my last year on earth and do what I’ve always wanted to do. I also liked the idea of working 6 months and traveling 6 months as it’s something I wanted to do when I’m older and have completed x amount of years in my career. I’m rambling so to get to my point, I want to know the best way to go about planning a productive gap year. I’m very skeptical about those gap year programs where you pay thousands of dollars yet it’s a mediocre experience. I was thinking more along the lines of moving to a major city and being a bank teller and after earning money to travel, go places I’ve always wanted to go to and meet new people and get involved in some community work.
However, I feel like it’s not enough for my finance career interest. I would love to intern but it’s sort of impossible to land one at my age, especially when I’m not in college. I started thinking about contacting IB seniors or other personnels to ask questions and gain their opinions on gap year and what they thought would be impressive if they saw one on a resume or at least how they think I should spend the time while still relating to finance. But i don’t know if it would be worth it or sounds silly. I feel like I need to do something to keep my mind focused on career goals even if I’m not in school. Do you guys have any opinions or advice? I know it’s a lot to take in but I need to figure out what my next step is and how much of an impact it will be.
Thanks in advance.
.
On the topic of learning a new language during a gap year, perhaps you might want to consider traveling to Hong Kong for a year. It is quite a unique experience and, if you learn Chinese, has potential to further your finance career as well. There are a lot of good firms there and, as far as I'm aware, the recruiting process there is a bit more chill. Even if you don't do finance there Hong Kong will still be a fun city and learning Chinese is definitely a skill that will help you later on in life :)
I’ve heard about China’s urban cities becoming business hubs and was actually looking into traveling to Shanghai though I’m very nervous about the cultural differences and trying to fit it. I’d at least like to know I have some sort of job security before I go out there but I’ll definitely do my best to research more. It’s definitely a lot to take in
Thanks for the reply. This mindset is exactly what I have. I want to do something I genuinely enjoy and makes me happy so no matter what I’ll never say that I regretted that time off. I think I just needed to hear someone tell me this because otherwise I would have felt like I was in over my head. Although, I went to Reddit about it and some guy kept mentioning that’d i be behind my peers by a year and it’s a year I would spend not becoming a step closer to IB or whatever career path I choose. I told him my life wasn’t a race but rather a marathon, and he continued to shit on me and my idea.
But anywho, I think I’ll just list everything I’ve always wanted to accomplish and maybe speak with an admissions officer about the idea and how to go about planning so I can get into a top school next year.
A few thoughts:
1) You are not completely sold on ASU and, if you do attend, you will transfer after one year. Why not just go to community college for a year, save quite a bit on debt, study hard, and transfer to a school you do want to go to? In the long term, I think going to CC would go a ways to showing you have grown up a bit and have taken school more seriously from the admissions perspective.
2) As for your gap year, look at Australia. They have a working holiday program that lets you work in the country for up to 12 months as long as you are between 18 and 30 (both ages inclusive). I believe the minimum wage is ~18.25 AUD per hour. Now, you do have a higher cost of living across the board on the continent, but you can build up some travel money. Don't expect any cushy job, but it's worth considering. This won't cover your wish list item of learning a new language though.
Other places to consider are East Asia and South America. Both have lower costs of living and give you the opportunity to learn new languages. Europe is an option as well though some parts will be more expensive. Plus, you may have to jump through a few hoops in terms of how long you can stay there (90 days at a time in 6 month period in the Schengen Area).
3) Regardless of when you go to college or if you take the gap year, also consider study abroad at your chosen university. Pick a place you didn't go in your gap year or a place you really want to learn more about.
I hope others chime in to give their thoughts, especially those who may have taken a gap year.
I think I’ve mentioned it before but I looked a bit into gap year programs and was skeptical about them. Most had mixed reviews and people said they spent thousands of dollars and weren’t satisfied or it was mediocre. Or that the volunteer work wasn’t all it was cut out to be. Either way I’d prefer going solo, just to be on the safe side financially.
As far a school goes, where I live, the state school bought out local community colleges and basically anyone who enrolled in those colleges and graduates will automatically be enrolled into the state school itself. It sounds great and you can’t beat that offer. Which is why I’ve come to find that those CCs are full -_- and the other CCs are too far for me to travel back and forth to so it’s a bit of a pickle:/
Iusto quos odio ab eum. Et voluptates ad non velit sed laboriosam. Aut voluptatem aperiam et vel veritatis inventore explicabo sit. Doloribus at illo atque neque.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...