Deferred Enrollment?

I'm hoping to find some advice from this group regarding
deferred enrollment. I've been reading sca for years, but
haven't posted until now...

Son #1 is now a high-school senior and is in the process of applying
to highly selective colleges. His stats are solid: 2nd in his class of
450, at a school where seniors commonly are accepted to the most
selective colleges and with 10-15 National Merit Finalists each year,
1590 SATI in one sitting, mid- to high-700's SATII's, 4's & 5's on seven
AP exams taken as a freshman and sophomore, 13 college classes at the
neighboring Big State U, including a few courses cross-listed at the
graduate level (he's had one A- and the rest A's; next semester,
he's planning to take five more college classes). He's played a
varsity sport for four years, was captain of his team this year,
and now has a job as a research assistant at a marketing company.
He's quite mature and confident, but he will still only be 16 when
he graduates from high school this spring.

Recently, maybe because of all of the soul-searching that he's done while
writing his college essays, he's been thinking that he's not ready
socially for college next year. He actually has good friends in a
large range of ages (including my favorite, the 25-year-old married
female classmate in his grad class , but I think he's just tired of
being the youngest kid in class and would like a change.

He's now floating the idea of deferring college enrollment for one year,
and going on a foreign exchange after graduation instead. He's actually been
on exchange for six months already (the second half of his junior year),
but he felt that wasn't enough time to become fully assimilated
into the culture. He'd like to go to a different country for
a full year this time, be a high-school senior for another year,
and just have fun.

At least half of the schools to which kiddo has applied have a formal
policy allowing deferred enrollment, so that shouldn't be a problem.
One possible gotcha is that son has applied to schools that offer
merit aid, and also for an outside-sponsor scholarship, so
we're not sure if those can be deferred as well.

So, my friends, any ideas? Comments? Problems with this plan?
Has anyone had a child who has taken a year off before college?
I have to say that so far, I think it's a great idea, but it seems
just unconventional enough to make the responsible part of me worry
a bit...

Maggie

Some of the young men and women in my offspring's high school classes took a
year or two years to engage in study, travel, and/or military service. The
ones I have seen in college after deferment definitely seemed to benefit
from their activities.

Is it right for everyone? Probably not. However your child is on the young
side.

Is giving up one or two years of earnings potential in return for personal
growth worth it? It all depends.

Best,

Abe

"Maggie" wrote in message

> I'm hoping to find some advice from this group regarding
> deferred enrollment. I've been reading sca for years, but
> haven't posted until now...
>
> Son #1 is now a high-school senior and is in the process of applying
> to highly selective colleges. His stats are solid: 2nd in his class of
> 450, at a school where seniors commonly are accepted to the most
> selective colleges and with 10-15 National Merit Finalists each year,
> 1590 SATI in one sitting, mid- to high-700's SATII's, 4's & 5's on
seven
> AP exams taken as a freshman and sophomore, 13 college classes at the
> neighboring Big State U, including a few courses cross-listed at the
> graduate level (he's had one A- and the rest A's; next semester,
> he's planning to take five more college classes). He's played a
> varsity sport for four years, was captain of his team this year,
> and now has a job as a research assistant at a marketing company.
> He's quite mature and confident, but he will still only be 16 when
> he graduates from high school this spring.
>
> Recently, maybe because of all of the soul-searching that he's done
while
> writing his college essays, he's been thinking that he's not ready
> socially for college next year. He actually has good friends in a
> large range of ages (including my favorite, the 25-year-old married
> female classmate in his grad class , but I think he's just tired of
> being the youngest kid in class and would like a change.
>
> He's now floating the idea of deferring college enrollment for one
year,
> and going on a foreign exchange after graduation instead. He's
actually been
> on exchange for six months already (the second half of his junior
year),
> but he felt that wasn't enough time to become fully assimilated
> into the culture. He'd like to go to a different country for
> a full year this time, be a high-school senior for another year,
> and just have fun.
>
> At least half of the schools to which kiddo has applied have a formal
> policy allowing deferred enrollment, so that shouldn't be a problem.
> One possible gotcha is that son has applied to schools that offer
> merit aid, and also for an outside-sponsor scholarship, so
> we're not sure if those can be deferred as well.
>
> So, my friends, any ideas? Comments? Problems with this plan?
> Has anyone had a child who has taken a year off before college?
> I have to say that so far, I think it's a great idea, but it seems
> just unconventional enough to make the responsible part of me worry
> a bit...
>
> Maggie