Tips on Screening Gap Organizations

Here are some key questions to ask organizations that provide gap year experiences:

• What is the age range of participants?- Ideally it should be geared to 18-24 year olds.
• What will I gain from actually doing this placement?
• How has the program been chosen and checked out? Has a representative of the sending organization actually seen it firsthand?
• What exactly will I be doing?
• What is expected of me? What will be my responsibilities?
• What is the precise program cost and what does it cover? The actual cost and finances should be discussed openly.
• Why does the organization exist? How long has it been around? Does it have a credible track record?

The Year Out Group is an organization that monitors primarily British gap year companies, and has an even more detailed list of questions to ask at the Year Out Group's web site.