
Independence Days: My Perfect Imperfect Gap Year - wallflower
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/06/education/edlife/my-perfect-imperfect-gap-year.html
======
aaron-lebo
Flaunting wealth isn't cool. This essay is mostly him discussing jobs that
middle and lower class kids accept as part of life. They don't get a NYTimes
article about it.

His evidence that gap years aren't elitist is:

 _The idea that gap years are inherently elitist may be due to the potentially
high cost of travel and of independent programs, which offer a structured
experience — typically of adventure, service and more or less education — that
can cost upward of $20,000. But that criticism cuts against the realities most
students already face — that is, average in-state tuition and fees of $8,940,
or $28,308 at private colleges, according to the College Board. When factoring
in room, board and other expenses, this would mean spending about $100,000
over five years at public colleges and more than double that at private ones._

"See, college is expensive anyway, what's a little more debt gonna hurt?"

Well, that's easy to say when your parents can shell out $50k to go to
college. It's obvious the guy has gained some perspective and its great to
see, but he's still talking like a rich person who doesn't know what it's like
to not only not have money but to have a family that doesn't have a lot of
money. It's bordering on Romney's "just borrow $20k from your parents and
start a company!". What about when your parents are borrowing from you?

His end point seems to be that gap years seem to reduce drinking or other
goofiness in college. Why not instead of adding a gap year to the already
ridiculous nature of today's college, get rid of the bloat which makes it so
that you have to spend $50k to go to a 4 year summer camp?

~~~
jcrben
The author said he worked through the gap year as his parents provided no
support.

~~~
remarkEon
Yeah, sure, they provided no material "support."

But they certainly would have if he'd asked, and that's the point. He always
had a lifeline, so to speak.

------
thesmallestcat
So this is what it's like to come from money... whole 'nother world. The
paragraphs about how a "gap year" is not a privilege mostly enjoyed by the
elite, and mental contortions therein, are so painful to read.

> Although I appreciated my parents’ support, I also recognized the extent to
> which it had become detrimental. Their attempts to eliminate any possibility
> of real failure had guaranteed its own kind of failure.

So you rejected it after your enlightening "gap year," right? Right?

~~~
jcrben
Don't see the reason for negativity around "privilege". The point of the essay
seems to be to explain how taking a year to live and work in the "real world"
changes the perspective of a young adult, particularly with regard to
finances.

~~~
remarkEon
>...changes the perspective of a young adult, particularly with regard to
finances.

FTA: Time free from the obligations of schoolwork had enabled me to realize my
passion for writing, and to apply this to an English major, where I would
discover the most formative classes and professors of my education.

Hmmm.

~~~
asdfwhatever
Time scrubbing dishes enabled me to realize how lucky I was and that I should
work harder in college.

------
remarkEon
I think that we're even having this discussion about whether or not a "Gap
Year" is appropriate is more evidence that the entire University system as it
is today needs to be blown up.

>More colleges in the United States are encouraging applicants to consider a
“bridge” year before enrolling, and many independent programs and some
campuses — like Florida State University, the University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill, Princeton and Tufts — even offer fellowships and financial aid.

This is a huge red flag, is it not? To me this looks like a signal that
Universities are becoming quite worried about their graduation rates (overall
and "within 5 years", which I guess is difficult nowadays) and are willing to
test out whatever it takes to keep enrollment up through all classes.

~~~
gumby
FWIW MIT tracks 6-year graduation rate and takes action (good or not TBD)
based on what they find out.

------
bshimmin
It's interesting from a UK perspective to see this described as a "growing
trend" \- the "gap yah" [1] has been a tradition amongst wealthy students for,
oh, decades over here.

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gap_Yah](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gap_Yah)

------
geebee
I think the equation is very different if you major in STEM rather than
humanities or social sciences. An internship at Surfer would probably help you
if you're an English major hoping to break into publishing or magazines, and I
don't think a year off really harms your writing or reading skills the same
way your math skills can atrophy if left unused. My only basis for this
assertion is that I was a double math and English major, and I'd definitely
say this is the case in my life, but I don't have any study to back it up.

A gap year between high school AP calculus and the much faster science and
engineering track "Calc through Differential Equations" sequence at a rigorous
university, on the other hand, could be very risky. Especially in schools like
the UC system where many popular STEM majors are "impacted" and you may get
bounced from the major if your grades are low (I consider this loathsome,
failing out kids who might be bright but struggle a bit in their first year,
but it's a reality).

I did read that the "eliteness" of your college doesn't really matter if you
study STEM, but it makes a big difference if you major in humanities. That may
also account for some of the class difference we see in this gap year issue.
People who attend expensive, private schools, especially elite ones, and who
major in humanities are probably not harmed by a gap year at all. Lower income
people who attend state schools and major in STEM probably don't benefit much,
and may watch their math get rusty just before they enter a challenging
program with minimum GPA cutoffs.

------
dougmwne
What should have been his correct response to growing up with some privilege?
Something other than what he did?

~~~
kneel
He questioned his place in the world and did a little soul seeking. It's
unfortunate that most people don't have this option but there's nothing wrong
with what he did, probably gave him a good perspective that a classroom could
never teach.

