gap year-your thoughts and experiences

[brimfull]

would you recommend one?
when ..before or after uni?

I had one before uni - went to work in theatres as stage crew and electrician. It was really good fun - not as glam as the big travel trip, but exciting and eye-opening nonetheless.

A very good idea as long as you have something to show for it at the end of the year - proper work experience with money to prove your worth / acquisition of a new and marketable skill etc.

Lying on a beach in Australia no good.

so before uni
and job

thank
food for thought for dd

DS1 is currently in lower sixth and wants to do medicine next year. DP thinks there is a bit of a brain drain during the year off (he had a year off before going to Bristol to do Maths and says he forgot an awful lot of his Maths and Further Maths A level stuff by the time he started university which was unfortunate as it was necessary. Medicine is such a long course that it will be quite some time before he gets a break. If ever. We are wondering so I will watch this thread with interest.

Working for 12 months followed by a lovely long holiday before going to university is a good idea I think - if you don't travel at all in your gap year, you are missing out I think. You just don't need to travel pennilessly for months on end.

Living and working in another country is a very good idea IMO/IME.

"if you don't travel at all in your gap year, you are missing out I think" - had no money, Anna! But working in theatre was unlike anything I'd ever known, or have really known since, so it was sufficiently exotic from my pov...

dd would love work abroad
what is available though to someone with no experience other than checkout girl

Isn't maths one of those subjects for which it is now recommended students don't take a gap year between A-levels and university?

Medicine is long and arduous but much more practical than maths - I'd have thought that some kind of practical volunteering job in a health-related field overseas would be interesting and relevant.

ggirl - au pair? There are lots of au pairs in Paris studying French and only doing childcare (no housework) where they speak English to the children.

Yes but he might forget his chemistry A level stuff which is absolutely required.

good idea anna

Worth talking to admissions tutors about that, Swedes - it may be that a wee catch-up before starting would get rid of the rust, and I think Anna's idea of healthcare volunteering is really good, so it would be a shame to reject it if it wouldn't be a problem.

At my DD's (bilingual) school lots of families have an au pair to help their children learn English. Well-off families so good living conditions . And she would get to live in a nice area of Paris and meet interesting international families and broaden her horizons. Much, much better than bar work.

do they use an agency?

Some do, but they also go through the internet and some put notices up on the school notice board.

If your DD was really interested, I could ask around (sometimes people ask me and I always have to say I have no leads). When would it be for?

she's only in yr 12 so not until summer 2010

Anyway, the absolute key to having a good time as an au pair is a nice rich family (preferably with other domestic help for cleaning) who look after you well and only want you to teach the children English and play with them and make the odd meal (rather than chores and errands and housework).

yes agree
I'll talk to her about it.
She's keen on doing french at uni so she will def benfefit

am off to work now
thanks

Most au pairs here in Paris are due to read French at university - it's a really great way to get ahead and get more out of university.

I had one between my BA and my PhD. Worked in the UK as an archaeologist. And very good it was too. But freezing cold in February.

If you can afford it, I think a gap year is a good idea. As a university teacher I do sometimes feel that some of our students are too young (on the other hand, it also strikes me that some of our mature students are sometimes ...errr... a little too stuck in their ways).

cory - by what age do you think mature students are at risk of being too stuck in their ways to benefit from higher education?

Interesting thread. I was talking to DS1 who is in year 12. He was saying that he would quite like to take a gap year and apply to uni after his A level results. He says he would have more time to think about where and what to study and could apply in a more relaxed fashion, instead of trying to juggle school work, exams, open days and personal statements etc.

Anyone any experience of applying the year after finishing school. He would apply to be assistant to teachers at his old prep school for the year, he remembers the gap year students from when he was there.

Does applying for uni at this time cause problems. Do they expect you to apply in Year 13 and defer starting?

Ds has been told that he needs to think hard about taking a year off if he does decide to do a Maths degree.

Interesting to see that others think the same.

I took a gap 6months from school to uni, mainly because I finished year 12 (upper 6th) at 16 and my mother didnt want me going from an all girls boarding school to uni 2000km at age 16. I did a nanny course and worked. Best thing I did. Really helped me grow up a bit and save some money. I am doing my gap year(s) now. Glad I am doing it now then at age 18 when all I would do would be drink. A gap year is a good idea if it doesnt conflict with uni studies, the person needs to mature a bit and to find out what life it really like. Dont go bumming around, go volunteer with an organisation.