College Admissions Counseling Blog

Princeton has announced the creation of a working group to study the idea of having some freshman take an "international bridge year program". Basically they are examining the possibility of about 10% of incoming freshman, about 100 students, take a gap year and engage in public service in a country outside their native country. Costs of such a program would be treated as costs of the college with financial aid available for students with need.

I have written about gap year programs on several occasions and am generally a fan of such programs for the right student. I think Princeton's approach is admirable, particularly their approach that financial aid would apply to needy students. The also make it clear that if a student wishes to take a traditional gap year that option would still be available although without the financial support of Princeton.

I wrote last summer about "Gap Year" programs where high school students take a year off before their freshman year of college. Such programs are fairly common in Europe but not well known in the United States. There is a good article about such programs and a college fair for gap year programs recently held in the Chicago area.

Gap year programs are not for everyone but for the student that feels that they are not quite ready to head to college or for the stressed out student, they can make a good option.

Taking a year off before starting college, known as a gap year, has been fairly popular in Europe but not as common in the United States. However, a recent article describes how it is becoming more common in the US to take that first year off before starting college.

I have always encouraged students who are not sure about whether to attend college or who need a little maturing to consider a gap year. Most colleges are more than willing to allow a student to defer admission for a year as long as you plan on doing something productive with the year. The key to a successful gap year is that "something productive". Not all students need to travel the world or engage in humanitarian efforts during their gap year. If that is what you wish to do then enjoy yourself. But for many students, they just need time to explore their interests in more depth or maybe just better determine who they are and what they want from a college education. That does not mean lying around the house watching TV all day. But it might mean working at a job or an internship that you might have some interest in to see if it would be a good fit for you after attending college. Your options for a gap year are limited only by your imagination and your need to do something productive.