Not Sure About College? Go to a Gap Year Fair

For a number of years, Gap Year fairs have been popular in the UK, and are now catching on in the U.S. A gap year fair is actually a place where students and parents come to meet the representatives of organizations that provide productive time out options to students. Time spent at a gap year fair is an ideal way to get started on planning your own gap year, and getting a handle on what you want to do, and how much it will cost. You can meet face to face with program providers, consultants and other gap year experts.

It is becoming increasingly popular and more widely accepted for U.S. students to take a semester or year out before or during college. One reason is the soaring cost of a college education. Opting to take some time to pursue special interests and passions, clarify career interests, and gain a global perspective is often a better decision than rushing straight from high school to college. Many students are either burned out from high school and the pressure to get into college, while others have not developed the maturity and responsibility necessary to succeed in a college environment.

Gap year programs offer experiences that help young people to develop themselves and clarify their academic and career direction through travel, internships, work, and study. Some choose to discover new cultures and learn a new language, develop outdoor leadership skills, volunteer with kids in an African village or in a U.S. city, intern in a political campaign, or work to save money for college. This is just the tip of the iceberg of the opportunities you will discover at a gap year fair! Below are the dates and times for the three remaining Gap Year Opportunities Fairs being held in Greenwich, CT, Washington DC, and Boston MA. Get out there and discover your options before committing yourself, and your money to college!

Sunday, March 30

1-4 PM
Greenwich, CT
Greenwich Academy
www.greenwichacademy.org

Saturday, April 5

12-3 PM
Washington, DC
Sidwell Friends School
www.sidwell.edu

Sunday, April 6

1-4 PM
Boston, MA
Noble and Greenough School- Dedham, MA
www.nobles.edu

Additional Gap Year Fair Details (updated 3-11-2008)

Here's a roster of the keynote speakers who will present 1/2 hour after the start of each fair:

LA & SF - David Denman
Greenwich - Holly Bull
DC - Holly Bull and Rae Nelson (co-author of The Gap-Year Advantage)
Boston - Robert Henderson (Head of School at Noble and Greenough School)

David Denman, Sojourns Abroad, Sausalito, CA: Author, Educational Consultant, Former Headmaster, Director of Time Out Adventures and Sojourns Abroad. David Denman is a nationally known author on young adult development who promotes taking “time out” from “the frantic race to the college degree”.

Holly Bull, President, Center for Interim Programs, LLC, Princeton, NJ: Holly Bull is a nationally known authority on the gap year experience. For twenty years she has assisted more than 1,000 individuals in making effective transitions to college by broadening their life experiences.