For many students, the end of senior year brings stress and anxiety. The pressure of going through the application process for colleges takes people on different paths––some that they never thought they would take. The team of college counselors at Parker work so that each of around 80 students in a Senior class is aware of all of their options.

Susan Weingartner––The Joan Feitler ’49 Director of College Counseling––works directly with students while they are going through the college application process, and she has guided many students who have taken gap years. “In terms of my personal opinion,” Weingartner said, “I’m certainly not at all against a gap year. In fact, I’ve said over and over again to many people that the people that I know that have taken a gap year have really enjoyed and benefited from it.”

In the application process, the option of a gap year is not neglected. It is presented to students as a valid option that should be considered. “In the junior questionnaire, we actually ask the question about taking gap years,” Weingartner said, “just so that the idea is at least considered by kids and their parents, and we want to know how people feel about it going in.”                        

Many colleges provide their own gap year options. The application for Middlebury College in Middlebury, VT, for example, asks if a student is interested in applying to delay their start of school to the second semester.  This allows for the college to accept more students into their class, but at a later point in time. Colleges defer students many times when there is not enough room in their class, leaving students to take a gap year if they choose to attend a year or semester late.

Grace Buono ‘18 found herself in the situation of being deferred a year. Buono was accepted into one of her top choice of colleges, Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., but for the 2019-20 school year.

Buono, who wanted to attend Georgetown University, decided to attend a year later, allowing her a year to travel, explore, and grow before attending college. “If someone had asked me right after I submitted my college apps if I was going to take a gap year, I would have automatically said no,” Buono said, “but it’s been really, really great, and I think being exposed to a lot of stuff I would not see in college has been really beneficial.”

There is a multitude of options available to those who choose to take a gap year. There are many companies that work with students in order to help them plan their gap years, such as Gapforce, City Year, and the Center for Interim Programs.  These programs all offer various travel opportunities that range from week- to semester-long trips, allowing students taking gap years to travel to new places and experience new cultures. Each offers assistance to students when planning their gap years and provide some sort of financial aid for students who qualify.

“I started to look around, and through my mom’s friend I found the Center for Interim Programs that works with kids who are taking gap years,” Buono said, “and they helped me plan my trip to Nepal and to Tanzania.”

For many, the opportunities that gap years offer are hard to experience while students are in high school because they do not want to miss school by taking a year abroad.

Junior Ava Sato has been faced with the issue of wanting to travel abroad and experience things in new ways that cannot be found at Parker, but feels constrained having to balance her school work and attendance.

“Having the chance and opportunity to take a gap year is amazing because it’s such a great way to learn from and experience other cultures and parts of the world,” Sato said. “It’s also great because on a gap year I wouldn’t have to worry about catching up on my schoolwork once I got back, so I would have a chance to relax and enjoy it.”

Sato, currently two years removed from a potential gap year, sees the option as a distinct possibility for her future. “I would definitely consider taking one,” she said, “because it would be a fun way to expand my horizons and spend some time learning things we aren’t taught at Parker.”

Taking gap years can allow for many new experiences for students in the time between high school and college.  These experiences can provide students with valuable life experience that they can take with them for the rest of their lives.  Many times, taking a gap year can come at an extra cost for students. “It is not always easy for people who do not have the money to take a gap year,” Weingartner said, “but it can be done by working with the many different resources available… Students often will choose to get a job or an internship during their gap year that will provide them with valuable work experience going forward.”

Taking a gap year is something that varies from person to person, and is incredibly individualized based on a student’s individual needs.

Sophomore Grace Conrad has always considered taking a gap year after she graduates.  Conrad says, “Taking a gap year sounds fun to me. It would allow me to travel, and see new parts of the world.  Something I have always wanted to do for a long time.”