College or Year Out?

flutterflye

My brother will be doing his leaving cert next year, and I was advising him to strongly consider taking at least a year out to travel, try new things, meet new people, and just generally live, rather than go straight to college like he is planning.

I had numerous reasons for advising this.
But I think a lot of my thinking on this subject is overclouded by my own 'ifs', 'would haves', 'could haves'.

I'll support whatever decision he makes as it is completely up to him.
But I'd like to offer food for thought so he can make the right decision 'for him'.

This requires objectivity on my part, which is why I'm looking for other perspectives.

In general, what advise would you give to someone finishing school soon?
Straight to college, or take time out before college?

Based on what you and your friends/family decided to do, and why?
And was the decision later regretted?


(Obviously, any decisions in life are personal ones to make.
And there are a million factors to take into account (eg; maturity, course choice, finances, academic ability etc...). I'm talking more in general terms here.

Orando Broom

College first. Stay in education, mature a bit, meet more diverse people. These things will make his travels more enjoyable.

Jagle

i agree, and he is your brother he isnt you, he might hate it, id rather get through college and travel when 24-26 18 is a bit too young to think you can go off and conquer the world

I-Shot-Jr

Personally I'd say just get college over with. Its only a few years and I think the temptation to not go to college after a year of either travelling and seeing things or working and having a few bob in your back pocket can be far greater than you imagined when you told yourself you were definitely only taking one year out.

Dangerous Man

He should travel. He'll learn a lot more about himself outside of college at that age than he will inside four walls. He'll come back to Ireland and college with new perspectives that can only help him in his studies.

theboss80

Id say get into college asap, places for courses are in decline so at least get in and do first year, then he could defer his course and take a yr out to travel and have his course to come back to.

ScumLord

He may not want to lose touch with friends or just go through the collage experience with friends instead of going it alone on travels.

College can help him lose that fear of going it alone.

Realt11

id say go to college first, he has the momentum of study and he'll meet such great people and make friends for life. he then make plans to go travelling with these mates as they all could be thinking the same thing in a few years time. Then when he finishes his degree in 3/4 years, he'll be at another crossroads - postgraduate study and such, and this will be an ideal time to travel.

JONJO THE MISER

Id say take a year or 2 out, travel and enjoy.

7sr2z3fely84g5

if he can afford to go now,do it before more fee increases and other taxes are introduced.

Pherekydes

Who is going to fund this year out gallivanting?

Tell him to get a job. Go back to college when he's mature. Go gallivanting when he can afford it.

pragmatic1

Take a year out. Loads of people end up in the wrong course.

stovelid

Sell crack for a year and go back to college in a big Hummer to rake in the fanny.

whydoibother?

I'd say college first, because he'll then hopefully get a better job when he's travelling and be able to enjoy it more. At 18 he'll be restricted to pretty much minimum wage jobs. I know in current times there are plenty graduates doing that too, but 4 years from now things should hopefully be better.

Siuin

I kept telling my parents that I wanted a year out before going to college, and they refused to even consider it because they felt that it wasn't "the done thing" among our circles. So I headed straight into college, and realised that the degree I picked was completely unsuited to my interests, and ended up dropping out and travelling on my own for three months. I grew up a lot in that time, and after a year of book learning (or regurgitation, depending on one's view of the leaving cert), I became a lot more mature in practical areas which really matter in life.

Last September I started a new course away from home and absolutely love it. That said, there's no cookie cutter solution, and it really depends on your brother's mindset and maturity level and where he is in life. Personally, I think that unless something is really, really nagging at you and you sincerely feel that this isn't the time for you, it's probably better to take the dive and go to college. I missed out on the experience my friends had of moving on and feel slightly 'left behind' at times.

But whatever you do, commit to it. Don't mess around for a year in Ibiza- learn a language, get practical experience, go volunteering- just make sure it's time (and money) well spent.

G'luck!

HazDanz

I would say he should go by his own gut feeling. If he is jaded after the leaving cert work load I would say take the year out. He will be able to reboot and refocus on what he really wants during the year out.

But if he is not jaded, I would say jump into college and experience it. Going to college in itself is like traveling in my opinion, you learn a lot about yourself and like a previous poster said he can travel after college with a real sense of who he is hopefully from college living.

Ficheall

I took a year out before college. Waste of time.
I'll take another year or two out after college and make more use of it.

Your wish to live vicariously through his adventures shouldn't be allowed to influence him.

While he will "learn more about himself outside of college... than inside four walls" it will make it more difficult for him to apply himself when he gets back. College is largely wank, which is all well and good when one is coming from secondary school, but it can be very difficult to settle back into when one has spent the year travelling. He'll just want to be off again. Taking a year out to work, seeing how crap the world can be without a decent job etc - that might benefit his studies in that he wouldn't just take them for granted, and might actually do something with his time in college, unlike most.

Loads of people do end up in the wrong course - but there's no guarantee that taking a year out will help to make a better choice when he does decide to start.

starlit

I would let him think about it and weigh all his options. If he is quiet young 17 say it would be a good opportunity to go travel and mature a bit meet knew people try new things and so on. It might help him grow as a person by taking a year out but then again it might be wise to wait until he has finished college or has done some college and got a qualification before head in first with taking a year out. He has to think what does he want to do with his life, what career would he like, what would he like to do and interests him. Its a big decision for any 17/18/19 year old doing the leaving cert.

Say he went straight into leaving cert and didn't do TY then I might consider he take a year out before going back into study again, give his mind a break and a rest before studying again. He be better able to take on college then.
If he already has an idea what career he would like then there is no stopping him from doing what he really wants if he has made up his mind already.

I suppose in this economic climate it be best to go straight on to college get a good third level education and qualification(s) and then take a year out cause chances are that is more likely to happen once he finishes college.
I would say not for him to rush into anything what ever he decides once everyone supports what he wants to do you should be happy for him to do that OP. He can always take a year out later on down the line before he starts working. That's probably the best time to take a year out as he would have grown up and matured a bit by then and get a handle on things better in life and after being in college.

I would suggest if he plans to travel or take a year out to maybe find work too the year out wouldn't be worth doing too soon if he didn't at least have some work experience behind him there is a lot to be said for that now a days even its just part time work.

It be his decision in the end of the day and what ever his instinct tells him more than likely its close to a 100% might not be a 100% but close and I think instinct rarely lets you down it may or may not be the right thing but its a risk he is willing to take. If he has the drive and ambition to go to college why wait he should go for it. It could be the making of him!

Some people don't know what career they want so its something he has a clear insight for then making a decision to go to college is probably the right one for him. No one can make the decision for him, he has to make it! If he is ready to start college, he should go for it!

Good luck to him and hope you support him what ever he decides OP!
Best wishes

imitation

I think it depends on the type of person he is too (and the money he has too), if hes outgoing he might happily take off and go around the world and have a ball on his own. If he's not, he might just end up staying on the dole at home and being miserable.

Time out after college makes more sense to me, especially if its likely that there isn't going to be much work on, not to mention the fact he'll be a bit older and more confident.

Don't forget hes only 18 and is pretty easily influenced, you want him to make his own call, not make him feel like he was forced into something he didnt want or ended up not enjoying.

Nulty

VERY IMPORTANT!

I did an undergrad degree after leaving school and by year 3 I knew it wasn't what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. Unless your brother knows for sure exactly what he wants to do in his professional life I recommend taking a year out and give it time. I wish I had done that now. On the bright side I finished my degree and have it which has allowed me to do other things but I'm way behind now in the field I actually want to work in.

emeraldstar

College. He can do all the travelling he wants afterwards. It would be harder to come back and settle back into the study routine. I think anyway.

Wolfe Tone

College man, get in before the fees!

Catari Jaguar

Yea, go to college - he'll have 3 months off every summer anyways if he wants to do a J1 in the States, pick strawberries in Oz, full moon party in Thailand, teach orphans in India or save elephants in Kenya. No need to squish it all into one year where you don't know your arse from your elbow. Doing those activities during college will give him skills, maturity and insight to help along the way.

zeds alive

Take a year out , I see so many feck their first year of college because they joined straight after the leaving cert. They move away from home for the first time , have freedom and the grant and just go on a bender for the first year and spend year 2/3/4 catching up , I even fell into that trap when I first went to college and it took me 14 years to go back and start the whole thing over again.

Go travel or just piss around for a year, get it out of your system , I don't see much point spending for the age of 4-18 in school and then going right back to school for another 4+ years , better off going to south america for a few months and ride cheap hookers and do cheap coke.

MadameGascar

Its just depends on your brother really. How sure or interested is he in what he is studying? If he is passionate about his course & if it will be at all useful to him then I'd suggest getting on with it. That way he is closer to getting a job he likes and possibly travel with it.

I took a gap year where I traveled and worked in Ireland. I only had an idea of what I might like to study, and when I found myself with the same idea at the end of the gap year I knew it would be right for me. If he is like this even a little then he should travel rather than discover too late that his course isn't suited to him.

Leaving secondary school and going out into the real world, I quickly lost any sense of entitlement and immaturity (the bad kind:p) that people entering college straight away often seem to suffer. I got to see what job hunting and resulting slavery is like without any qualifications, and this was just before the resesch! I don't take being in 3rd level education for granted, so it may have saved me!:D

My brother took a gap year the same year and spent inconsistent periods working with my uncle doing odd jobs. Although he learned the same lessons as myself he didn't enjoy it because he just let the year happen itself.
Doing a gap year he's not overly enthusiastic about could turn out worse than a college course...

Actually, I don't know! He will just have to find out himself

Columbia

Get him into college first. He'll be more mature and is more likely, if he does go travelling, to do things that will be more important to him in future.

If I had gone travelling at 18 I would have gone interrailing around France, Switzerland and Italy, now after five years of college I have completely different plans.

Tar.Aldarion

Usually I would say take a break and think more about he wants to do, people have to decide so fast and are clueless a lot of the time. Although if something like more fees are introduced or less grants etc, I'd say go for the college first.

Cookie_Monster

go to college abroad

two birds, one stone

Siuin

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

go to college abroad

two birds, one stone

if you're rich :P

whydoibother?

I'm not convinced that taking a year out does help you decide what you want to do, as with no qualifications the kind of work you will get will be very low-paid and unskilled. You may get a few days work experience here and there in relation to a career you might pursue with a college degree but you can do that during summer holidays anyway. It is unlikely to be paid and you are unlikely to get much quality work experience. I just think that working in a supermarket etc., while there's nothing wrong with it, is highly unlikely to help you decide that you want to be a geologist rather than a physicist.

However, it might help you decide that you want to go to college in general, take it seriously and have a career of some sort. I do believe there is a lot of maturity to be gained from moving away from home and paying rent, bills etc. on close to minimum wage - being responsible for yourself and having to have a good work ethic to keep a job. I say "might" because this can work both ways. Perhaps less so now, but back in the Celtic Tiger days, people would sometimes earn well during gap years and like their lifestyle too much to go back to college. Things are picking up a bit in certain locations around the world. This isn't beyond the bounds of possibility - but of course in this case it depends on the personality of an individual who I don't know so I can't really say how likely it is.

Mickeroo

I'd say college first, if you go travelling its better to have the option to keep at it, if he has his degree out of the way he could go travelling for a few years and see a lot more, plus he'll be more mature when he does it and will get more out of it. IMHO anyway

--LOS--

I'm not sure what the story is with fees etc so that could change my decision...

but I would advise anyone in leaving cert to take a year out first! I don't think college is something to 'get over with'. It's a unique experience that should be enjoyed and mightnt be due to rushed decision making, lack of maturity etc.

I wanted to take a year out first, I wasn't allowed, I was only 17, being 17 in college sucks. I know some people that took a year out during college too and they really seemed to benefit from it. It's just good to get some things out of your system as it were and then focus on your studies. I think things could have been very different for me if I had a year out first. Different good!

CHealy

Worse thing i ever did was take a year out after the leaving cert. I just turned 17 when I finished the leaving in 2006 and thought I was too young to go to college.

Im 22 now and am only going into second year next September.I should have a degree under my belt at this stage and working to save up to take those years out to travel. I'll still get it done but it'll be 25/26 now at this stage.

Tell your brother go straight to collegeand get his degree. He has the rest of his life to do whatever the fcuk he wants then.

Mickeroo

--LOS-- wrote: »

I'm not sure what the story is with fees etc so that could change my decision...

That's a good point to take into account too, I'm in college at the mo and the way it seems to be going for the last few years is grants going down and fees going up (makes no sense I know), I can't see that trend changing either just yet.

--LOS--

CHealy wrote: »

Worse thing i ever did was take a year out after the leaving cert. I just turned 17 when I finished the leaving in 2006 and thought I was too young to go to college.

Im 22 now and am only going into second year next September.I should have a degree under my belt at this stage and working to save up to take those years out to travel. I'll still get it done but it'll be 25/26 now at this stage.

Tell your brother go straight to collegeand get his degree. He has the rest of his life to do whatever the fcuk he wants then.

your post is a bit confusing, you took a year out at 17 and are going into second year at 22? You lost years at college somehow, do you blame taking a year out for that?

CHealy

--LOS-- wrote: »

your post is a bit confusing, you took a year out at 17 and are going into second year at 22? You lost years at college somehow, do you blame taking a year out for that?

Bit confusing there alri

Absolutely blame it on the initial year out, got a bit fond of having a few quid in my pocket, then went back to college and missed that so dropped out. Its only when I hit 20 I realised I need to cop on.

orourkeda

College. Just get it out of the way.

--LOS--

CHealy wrote: »

Bit confusing there alri

Absolutely blame it on the initial year out, got a bit fond of having a few quid in my pocket, then went back to college and missed that so dropped out. Its only when I hit 20 I realised I need to cop on.

ah right

but still you could probably compare it to people starting college straight away, having too much of a good time, drinking too much etc and doing badly because of that.

NTMK

If he knows what he wants to do in college then he should go straight in.You can always travel after getting your degree

if he doesnt then take the year out but make sure its a constructive year out

strokemyclover

Full time college is 4 years off in fairness. Even if you put in the required amount of work to pass the course and get qualified that still leaves you a tonne of time to do all the things you want your brother to do - with 3 months off in the year too

candy-gal1

College first imho, its one of the best experiences of your life so you may as well have all your education years together and then after that your free to do/travel to wherever/whatever for as long as you want (longer than a year if you really want to)

Turkana

TAKE A YEAR OUT

In that year he will hopefully realize what direction he wants to take in life, and he will be able to make an informed choice on what course to take in college.

I think it's stupid that kids are expected to go straight into college like they're on some sort of conveyor belt. I went direct from school to uni and I ended up hating my course.

mental07

I was quite young doing my Leaving Cert...so rather than going straight to college I deferred my place and did a computer course & worked for a year. It was a good decision for me personally and I think I grew up a lot that year.

For those suggesting that the OP's brother "travels" for a year....I don't know many 18 year olds who have the dosh to go cruising around the world

whydoibother?

mental07 wrote: »

For those suggesting that the OP's brother "travels" for a year....I don't know many 18 year olds who have the dosh to go cruising around the world

Well, I presume most people mean he would work as he travels, like get a working holiday visa for example. If he worked here for two or three months, lived at home and saved hard, it wouldn't take too long to save up enough to get started travelling. All you really need is a couple of months rent and living expenses till you find your feet, plus the price of a ticket (return - in case it doesn't work out) or if there's a minimum savings requirement for entering that particular country, whatever is the higher.

--LOS--

mental07 wrote: »

For those suggesting that the OP's brother "travels" for a year....I don't know many 18 year olds who have the dosh to go cruising around the world

well at the time I was looking into a volunteer program where you raise a certain amount beforehand, then after that you dont have to worry about accommodation, food etc.

whydoibother?

--LOS-- wrote: »

well at the time I was looking into a volunteer program where you raise a certain amount beforehand, then after that you dont have to worry about accommodation, food etc.

That could be a worthwhile thing to do, but I doubt you'd fill a year with that. I think (and I could be wrong), you're usually talking a couple of weeks to a couple of months.

--LOS--

whydoibother? wrote: »

That could be a worthwhile thing to do, but I doubt you'd fill a year with that. I think (and I could be wrong), you're usually talking a couple of weeks to a couple of months.

No this was a year thing, you can choose your area of work and you get time off every so often.

whydoibother?

--LOS-- wrote: »

No this was a year thing, you can choose your area of work and you get time off every so often.

How much would you have to raise in advance to fund a year?

--LOS--

whydoibother? wrote: »

How much would you have to raise in advance to fund a year?

just looked up the particular thing I was looking into and target for 2012/2013 is £5,100, I did my LC 6 years ago so it was probably less then, I don't remember. That does sound extortionate but you are doing volunteer work so most people have no bother raising the cash.

miss no stars

It depends on your brother tbh. oh and if he takes a year out and it goes wrong you will be blamed

will he be 17 or 18+ for most of first year? if 17 it might be a good idea to grow up for a year.

Did he do transition year? If he did and it suited him down to the ground, it might suit him well to take a year out. If he did and it didn't suit him he'd be best going on to college.

Does he know what he wants to do? Even a vauge idea?


My own instinct is to go to college first. Aside from all other things like fees, if he does want to travel he'll have 3 months summer holidays each year and can take a year out afterwards. Travelling during and after college is easier, not to mention safer. An 18 year old simply doesn't have the cop on (or earning potential) that a 22/23 year old with a degree does.

If he does want to take a year out, it'd be best to do something productive in the year - certification in areas that employers like to see, leadership training etc.

I'm also not convinced that taking a year out helps people figure out what they want to do, either. I know one guy just took a year out and he's got no more direction now than he had a year ago. I liken it to getting up unsure of what I'm gong to wear and thiking "ah feck it, i'l think about it in the shower". I never think about it in the shower. It's just procrastination, and I say that having taken a de-facto year out after my LC (picked a crappy course, didn't really attend, partied and had fun. Dropped out and went back to college in quite a similar course - same field!)

It has to be his choice though. All the advice in the world won't change a thing, no matter how similar to him you are. My dad warned me about coasting through my LC, how he almost failed it and didn't achieve his potential. All the warnings in the world and I did the exact same thing he did. So I'd be hesitant to push him because a) he has to make his own mistakes and b) if it all goes wrong no matter what he does, you'll be blamed either for pushing him and changing his mind or not pushing hard enough.

blogga

Taking a year out From what? He has done LC and he needs a year out? My advice is that you stop advising your brother. About anything.