Want to bring up a gap year with parents

Hello everyone,

I have been really toying with the idea of a gap year after my physics teacher was saying how she thinks its one of those rare opportunities to grow as a person and live life a little before re-joining the system. And she's normally the one to be strict with work too!

Anyway if I did do a gap year, I would spend the first few months with my Grandparents and do a mixture of fixing my Jaaaaaag, get a job, and study to apply to Cambridge (#yolo )

And then for the second half of the year I could go to my mum's home country, Colombia, and get a job shadowing someone or something ... just live life in a totally different country. A country I probably won't go back to for a long time.

Even though I genuinely love physics, I can see how just a year of no physics (or less physics) would allow me to grow as a person so when I get back, I can re-join life with some new experiences ready to hit the physics treadmill.

Does this sound like a rational / good / bad idea to bring up with my parents?

(they're assuming I go to Uni come September so ...)

Just focus on the reapplying for Cambridge and strengthening your application aspect. They might find that angle easier to go for rather than bumming around. Remind them its a lot of money and you think its worth having another go for entry to your dream uni.

It wouldn't hurt bringing up this conversation with your parents. A gap year is a great way for you to grow personally, engage in self-reflection, and can help you have more clarity in your major and life in general prior to going to uni. There are many programs that specialize in gap years if you wanted to go that route, where you essentially travel abroad to a foreign country and return and do a curriculum with the program that is targeted towards building your skills. However, these can be extremely costly. If you were to do a gap year sans program, be prepared to discuss with your parents what you intend to do in your gap year and the benefits of going to uni a year later. It's all about how you frame it and the story you tell!

Given I'd want to be starting around Jan / Feb next year, I'm not too late am I considering this now?

I would love to do something in Colombia where my mother is from (so I can get to know the country a bit better). I had a quick look about possible work placements there, and yeah they're costly but if I was working for a few months after school ends I can see that cost being reduced, certainly.

I mean technically I bring these things up with my Grandparents whom I'm seeing on Monday (they play a bigger part in my life than my parents) but I need to present this idea to them.

I was thinking in terms of CVs and whatnot, being able to say I worked abroad I think would be quite good. Especially if I ended up loving Colombia and wanting to work there anyway!

Hi
A gap year can give you a great opportunity to travel and try new things.

However, I think it would be worth contacting the universities you want to apply to and ask how they view a gap year. Oxford, for example seems to view it negatively unless it is for physics related work experience:


"Can I take a year out/gap year?

This depends on your plans. Sponsorship schemes offering a year’s work experience in a physics-related field may be excellent, but some activities are less useful. An athlete who does not train for a year will be pretty rusty. Likewise a physics (or maths) student who does not use his or her brain for a year will also be pretty rusty and this is the danger of a gap year!"

https://www2.physics.ox.ac.uk/study-here/undergraduates/faqs/faq-admissions

You could perhaps consider using the 3 months or so after A levels to do some travelling if the gap year doesn't work out.

Given I'd want to be starting around Jan / Feb next year, I'm not too late am I considering this now?

I would love to do something in Colombia where my mother is from (so I can get to know the country a bit better). I had a quick look about possible work placements there, and yeah they're costly but if I was working for a few months after school ends I can see that cost being reduced, certainly.

I mean technically I bring these things up with my Grandparents whom I'm seeing on Monday (they play a bigger part in my life than my parents) but I need to present this idea to them.

I was thinking in terms of CVs and whatnot, being able to say I worked abroad I think would be quite good. Especially if I ended up loving Colombia and wanting to work there anyway!