A different path: post grad or gap year

Sometimes the best path is not the straightest or most obvious.  For many high school students, continuing directly onto college may not be the best choice.  Fortunately, there are many, many options and College Matters can help you sort through them all and choose the best one.

First, we need to discover the ultimate objective of the year, whether it is to shore up academics or testing, to gain another year of physical or academic maturity, to discover a possible career direction or simply because the student needs a year to renew and recharge after the strenuous high school years.  Some students look at a post-graduate or gap year in conjunction with the college application process.  Once we know a direction, together we research and review options, but always with the student's long term goals in mind.

Transfer to another school

The decision to make a change from one college to another is a complicated one.  When we begin to work with a potential transfer student we go all the way back to why they chose their current college in the first place, what they like and what they would like to change.  In this way, we hope to avoid the "knee jerk" transfer, where students choose the complete opposite of where they were, and again end up unhappy.  Much like the college application process of the high school student, we discuss options, set targeted deadlines, brainstorm essays, review applications and assess options.

College Matters offers a variety of service packages for post-grad, gap year and transfer students, ranging from hourly sessions that focus on particular topics to a comprehensive package that coaches students through the entire process. Please contact us for more information.