Gap Year Program Provides Students With Opportunities To Travel
Green River College, along with a couple of other colleges and universities both here and internationally, offer a program called a Gap Year program.
The program is described by the college’s program web page, on the new site, as “The Gap Year at Green River provides an opportunity for you to study abroad in the United States during the “gap year” between secondary education and university.”
In basic terms students can take a nine to ten months to take classes and figure out what they want to do. All this while getting to experience and indulge in the country that you chose to go to.
The program through Green River offers three different places that students can choose to attend after spending a quarter here with the college.
The colleges available include Santa Barbara City College in Santa Barbara California, Kapi’olani Community College in Honolulu, Hawaii, UNITEC University in Auckland New Zealand, and the University of Melbourne in Melbourne, Australia.
Students who sign up for this program will spend nine to ten months during the fall, winter, and spring quarters taking a variety of classes that will assist them in finding out what their plan in their educational career will be.
Although this is a very beneficial program, there are some requirements that applicants must meet.
The student first must complete an application and send along assurances that they are able to pay for this program through a financial statement.
The student must also be a secondary school graduate or be at least 17 years or older to be eligible to participate in the program.
Lastly, they must be proficient in English. This is required “for direct placement into the academic program” according to the programs webpage.
Applying is easy. Go to the website and submit an International Students Application. After this it’s four easy steps. Provide a financial statement and pay a 50 dollar application fee, submit a $300 housing fee, and provide a copy of a passport and the application process is finished. The deadline for applications is August 1 of 2018 and students should know their admission status within seven days of applying.
Cost is important to everyone no matter what country you live in and unfortunately sending your child abroad can be expensive. The average cost for a quarter at Green River, where everyone who applies will be spending their first quarter, would be $7000 and then depending on where the student decides to go the cost may change.
If the student decides to stay domestic (meaning California, Seattle or Hawaii) then next two quarters will be priced the same bringing the total to 21,000 for the full year.
If the student decides to go international then the cost will increase for the winter quarter to $10,300 and then 7000 for the last quarter at GRC bringing the total to $24,300 for the full year. Costs are expected to rise within the next year.
But more important than money is where the student will be living.
While at Green River students will have access to the very accommodating apartments here on campus. Students could also be set up with a host family whom the student will live with while staying in Washington.
Much like the cost, depending where the student goes next has a lot to do with the living arrangement the student will get. If the student decides to go to Australia and New Zealand, then students will be living in the dormitories avilable to them.
If they decide to stay in the States then they will meet with their advising staff to discuss what their housing options are mostly likely they’ll be set up with a host family.
The Gap year is a program that allows students to build friendships from all over the world and make memories that will last a lifetime.
The website offers anecdotes from students that have participated in the program in previous years, two of whom are Maria Johansson and Jelle Draper.
Johansson travelled to Hawaii for her gap year and told the college, “To be able to study at two different places in America was so much fun.”
Draper travelled to the Netherlands, an area of the world that is not currently available to travel to via the Gap Year program but has been in the past.
“If you’re up for a new adventure every day, this is the right program for you. I wish I could do this year over and over again; it’s that much fun,” Draper said on the college’s website.
