Here are a few of the useful resources we discovered while researching gap year options. If you know of others–or have an opinion about any of these–please post!
BOOKS
The Gap-Year Advantage: Helping Your Child Benefit from Time Off Before or During College, by Karl Haigler and Rae Nelson
The Complete Guide to the Gap Year: The Best Things to Do Between High School and College, by Kristin White
Volunteer Vacations: Short-Term Adventures That Will Benefit You and Others, by Bill McMillon et al. (make sure you find the latest edition)
Volunteer Vacations Across America: Immersion Travel USA, by Sheryl Kane
How to Live Your Dream of Volunteering Overseas, by Joseph Collins et al.
GENERAL INFORMATION ONLINE
The Center for Interim Programs
The Lonely Planet Gap Year Travel Forum
ORGANIZATIONS OFFERING GAP-YEAR PROGRAMS.
(This is not an endorsement–just sharing my research)
Council on International Educational Exchange
National Outdoor Leadership School
Real Gap (this is the organization we ended up choosing, since the trips offered were closest to what my son was searching for)
Year Out Group is an association of leading gap year organisations. It was formed in 2000 to promote the concepts and benefits of structured gap year programs, to promote good practice amongst gap year organisations ( still the only organisation in the world taking on this role) and to provide impartial advice to help those planning a gap year and their advisers to select suitable and worthwhile projects.
There are currently 37 member organisations that between them in 2008 arranged over 50,000 placements in more than 90 countries. Members include three organisations mentioned above namely Greenforce, Projects Abroad and Real Gap. The first two are private companies. Real Gap is a public company having been bought by by Tui, the largest tour operator in Europe, last year. We have one US based member, Cross-Cultural Solutions.
I think those using your list as a source would find the Year Out Group website a useful place to aid their research and planning. There is also a very good book titled “Your gap year” by Susan Griffith published by Vacation Work (ISBN 1-85458-372-70) and numerous other more personal publications the latest of which is Gap Years – The Essential Guide by Emma Jayne Jones published by Need-2-Know (ISBN 978-1-86144-079-2).
Hope this is helpful.
While I didn’t take a gap year after high school, I did take a semi gap year after college. I always knew I wanted to be a doctor and go to medical school. I took the necessary classes in college and enjoyed my time there. But I didn’t feel a big rush to go straight into graduate school, for a variety of reasons. My older brother (also going to med school) had taken a year off, so if I went straight in, we’d have been in the same class. We get along great, but I think that would have been tough for both of us. Instead, I did some mission work over the summer, then went to seminary for a year. I studied greek, church history, counseling, theology, and sat in chapel and soaked up a year’s worth of good sermons. It was wonderful. When I started medical school, I was ready to really sit down and learn. So many of my classmates seemed burned out already from all their undergraduate science classes. I had a great four years of med school and am now about to finish residency. I still think of that year as one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.
Of course, it didn’t hurt that I managed to meet my now husband during that year at seminary. It turns out that seminary is not a bad place to meet a Godly young man. I say all that to say that sometimes the detours we go on end up being very formative. I strongly believe that going to seminary has made me a much better doctor. I’m about to have my first baby – due in two weeks – and although it’s a long way away, I’d love for him or her to take time and get some good life experiences before jumping straight into college.
My husband and I run a Christian version of a gap year in Baja California, Mexico. A friend sent me your link, and I was so excited to know that there are so many Americans who feel the same way we do! The name of our ministry is VENTANA MINISTRIES, and we offer a language and discipleship school for recent high school graduates. The purpose is to help them get their feet firmly planted underneath them, to help them to be able to define what they believe and why, and to solidify their faith before they head off to the scariest place on earth–college. Of course our ministry is open to students from other countries besides the U.S., so if anyone out there knows of a current senior in high school who’s looking to experience a gap year in another culture, click on over to http://www.ventanaministries.com and check us out! Gracias!