Gap year in America?

[Hopeandglorry]

My son is interested in doing a gap year in America, ideally working somewhere for at least 6 months. The only thing we’ve seen so far is being an au pair which he doesn’t want to do but he would love to work in a school or something like that. Camp America isn’t right because of the dates. Does anyone know of any organisations that do this kind of thing?

I worked in a school in Chicago for my gap year, through GAP (the organisation, not the clothing store...).

Not sure if it still exists but I've seen various programs for kids wanting to help with sport in school (the one I saw was in Aus/NZ and they supposedly put all the gappies up in apartments together).

These types of visas are EXTREMELY hard to obtain these days thanks to Trump. It’s part of a plan to protect jobs for US citizens. At one point even the visas to work at summer camps were under threat.

The J-1 visa for summer camp work has also been tightened up. You can only apply for a maximum of three summers unless there are unique circumstances, and there are requirements that you are a full time student.

When I was younger programs like BUNAC used to offer work abroad programmes, but now it seems like it’s just summer camp and au pair work. I have also seen a one year programme working in hospitality but it’s just for NZ and Australian citizens.

To work anywhere in the USA you need to have a visa sponsor and they have to prove that they cannot fill that spot with a US citizen. Summer work is easy as not many people can just take three months off from their regular job. It’s very hard to argue that a one year job couldn’t be filled by a US citizen.

@Hopeandglorry

Which subject is he going to be reading at Uni, OP? Does he already have a place at Uni or is he applying later this year for a place in the autumn of 2025?

@TheSquareMile this isn’t for a few years yet but he’s a planner! @march2 I also did my gap year with GAP in North America but sadly they don’t exist any more!
Looks like he might have to look at other countries rather than America in order to do a lengthy stint somewhere. Thanks all.

@Hopeandglorry

What I was wondering was whether he might be interested in pursuing a subject which would incorporate (or could incorporate) a year in the USA as an actual part of the course.

Two examples which spring to mind are courses at Nottingham and Imperial but there are bound to be others.

https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/currentstudents/study-abroad/international-exchange/study-abroad-by-country/americas.aspx

https://www.imperial.ac.uk/placements/student-exchanges/undergraduate-year-abroad/

BUNAC's Work America programme is brilliant, but it's just for seasonal work and that's generally June-Sept. I did it in the 90s and had a brilliant time and would totally recommend it to anyone who is keen. I'm not sure you could ever go there for a year and work as a British person, but maybe I'm wrong. https://bunac.org/working-holidays/work-usa/jobs

GAP doesn't exist any more, but Gap360 does. Is this the same organisation rebranded? I don't know, but they seem to do much the same thing: https://www.gap360.com/

@TheSquareMile my friend actually did the course at Nottingham and spent the year at Berkeley! I appreciate the suggestion. Not sure on degree choice yet but he’s leaning towards something with a language so may get his year abroad somewhere else instead.

Know nothing about this but it came up when I was searching for DD. https://www.gooverseas.com/program-search/gap?f[0]=location:385

@LipstickLil the only work in the US is au pair work with Gap360 I think. We spent some time researching before I posted and it does look like a great company though.

He may need to rethink the US and look elsewhere!

@Dorsetlover oh that looks promising - will forward it to him. Thanks x

In case he can’t get it in a gap year but still wants a year, the Mountbatten program is good. For the year after graduation.

https://www.mountbatten.org/new-york-programs/

@Hopeandglorry

I read Modern Languages myself and spent my third year abroad.

I spent the first six months studying Translation and Interpreting in Heidelberg and the second six months studying Translation and Interpreting in Brussels.

Which languages does he enjoy doing at school?

@Dorsetlover These programmes are for US students looking to take a gap year, not internationals.

Canada is a great alternative

I imagine he can get a two year working holiday visa

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/work-canada/iec/eligibility.html

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/work-canada/iec/eligibility.html?selection=gb-wh#selection

More info above

He can have two years, additional year is also available