Undecided about College: Create Your Own Path

Webinar Transcription

1-12-26-Undecided about College Create Your Own Path

Anesha: [00:00:00] Hi everyone, and welcome to tonight’s webinar. My name is Anesha Grant. I’m a senior advisor at CollegeAdvisor and I will be your moderator today. Today’s webinar is, “Undecided About College: Create your Own Path,” a special presentation from CIEE. Before we get started, just to orient everyone with the webinar timing, we’ll start with a presentation, and then we’ll open up to answer your questions in a live Q&A. On the sidebar, you can download our slides under the handouts tab and you can start submitting questions whenever you get ready in the Q&A tab.

Anesha: But first, let’s meet our presenters, Jeff Bradley and Skylar Jeffries. Hi Jeff. I think you’re gonna start us.

Jeff: Yes. Hello and thank you Anesha and welcome everybody. Thank you for joining us this evening. Assume it’s evening for, uh, all of you out there, but perhaps not. Uh, my name is Jeff Bradley. Uh, and we will do an introduction, uh, of my colleague Skylar here in just a moment.

Jeff: We welcome you to this session on “Undecided About College, [00:01:00] Create your Own Path.” So what we’re gonna cover tonight in this, uh, hour or so will be, uh, some introductions. Uh, and then we’re gonna go, uh, quick, uh, intro about what we, uh, represent in CIEE. Uh, but we’re really here to talk about you, the students, considering what’s next.

Jeff: And we’re gonna talk a little bit about options other than going immediately to college after you graduate from high school. We’re gonna take a little bit of time to look at some of the different options between, uh, a gap year and a, what we call first year abroad, which is before you enroll in a college, we’ll look at some of the options we have within CIEE and then we’ll talk about what’s next and some options for you to be considering.

Jeff: We’ll [00:02:00] also have some time at the end for questions and answer. Meanwhile, you’ll see on your panel an opportunity to pose questions in the Q&A. We will gather those in the course of the session, maybe answer some of them in the middle of things, and then have some time at the end for some Q&A as well.

Jeff: So feel free to save your questions to the end if you want, or if you’ve got the burning question, put it there and we’ll do our best to try to answer it as we go.

Jeff: So again, my name is Jeff Bradley, uh, at CIEE. I am the Global Head of School. I started in this role in October, so I’m still learning my own way around the organization. We’ll look at the organization in just a minute. It’s a large one, over 900 employees, uh, in centers around the world with headquarters in Portland and in Boston.

Jeff: My own background, uh, which I wanna refer to because it’s significant [00:03:00] to me and relevant, is that when I was 16, I spent three months living with a host family and studying at a school in Italy. I was a junior in high school, and that in some ways set me on a career path, uh, that I’m still on today. My son, uh, our son attended a gap year with CIEE about 10 years ago, a gap semester, uh, in Italy, and that made a huge difference in his own journey as well, which I might find an opportunity to talk a little bit more about.

Jeff: My role with CIEE now is managing and promoting the high school opportunities, let’s say pre-college opportunities because that includes high school summer programs, plus semester long programs that we offer around the world, as well as our post high school graduation options, which we’re gonna talk about tonight, gap year and, uh, first year abroad.

Jeff: So I’ll turn it over to Skylar now.

Skylar: Thank you [00:04:00] Jeff. And hi everyone. My name is Skylar Jeffries. I am, um, one of our associate directors on our high school abroad team. So working with students and families who are interested in short-term programs like summer programming all the way through our college, first year abroad pro programs, um, which you will plan to attend as a high school student going into that first year.

Skylar: Um, so just happy to be here to share a bit more about our post-secondary programming alongside Jeff. Um, I’ve been with CIEE for a few years now and my international education journey started about 15 years ago when I was making similar decisions myself in terms of what to do, um, with my life as high school was coming to an end.

Skylar: Um, whether to choose domestic programming or international programming. I had the opportunity in high school, um, to spend time in Italy as well. Um, was able to study in countries like the Dominican [00:05:00] Republic and China, very different parts of the world, um, that brought me to where I am today and supporting students of all kinds to pursue programming that is meaningful, intentional, um, that develops your academic goals, your personal goals, and professional goals.

Skylar: Um, so that’s a little bit about me. I’m happy to share more as we get into the details, but thank you to everyone for attending.

Jeff: Thanks Skylar. And the QR code that you’ll see here, uh, will appear again later. Uh, this one may not work, but we know the one at the end of the presentation, uh, definitely works, uh, and has a correct link.

Jeff: Uh, and again, the last slide will, we’ll give you an opportunity again to reconnect with us, uh, if you’ve got further questions. So, as you’ve heard, Skylar and I manage a lot of the operations within the high school, uh, and pre-college programs. There are others within our organization, [00:06:00] uh, that you would be able to follow up with too, with some more specific concrete, particular questions if we can’t answer them tonight.

Jeff: So what we’re gonna do to help us prepare ourselves a little bit for this session is launch a poll so that all of you out there listening, uh, participating can let us know what your situation is right now. And this is for students. To complete the poll indicating one answer and you might have some overlap, but we’d ask you to just pick which phrase most accurately captures your current situation.

Jeff: Anesha, you’re able to show that to everybody.

Anesha: Sorry, the poll is live. Sorry. Waiting for some responses to come in.

Jeff: Okay, great. And as we’re waiting, I’m just gonna give a little bit more about CIEE. So CIEE was [00:07:00] founded in 1947 in the wake of World War II when we had experienced as a world two major wars that convulsed the planet in 1947, CIEE was founded and was a nonprofit as it is today with a mission.

Jeff: And you can summarize it briefly by saying the mission is to prevent World War III. The way we do that is we build bridges. We get more Americans at young ages, high school, college to go and live abroad, to study abroad, to learn to make part of their formation toward adulthood in another culture, maybe in another language.

Jeff: Through that increase in inter international understanding, we think we’re setting up ourselves as a, as a planet for success. What we do today is we help [00:08:00] thousands, tens of thousands of students study abroad, and it goes both ways. We also have an inbound program where students are coming from around the world to schools in the US where Skylar and I are focused is on the outbound program.

Jeff: So what we’ll do as we, uh, get the results of these poll, uh, of the poll, thank you for your submissions is try to tailor somewhat what we’re presenting to you, uh, this overview and these slides are. Kind of covering a lot. So bear with us. We’re gonna race through some of this, uh, spend a little more time in some areas than others.

Jeff: Uh, a copy of this will be available I think, as Anesha said, uh, earlier, so don’t worry too much about recording, uh, any of this directly.

Anesha: Do you want the poll results?

Jeff: Uh, sure.

Anesha: Okay.

Jeff: Thank

Anesha: you. Um, so we, I, we didn’t have everyone participate, but I think we had a decent enough sample. About 14% of folks says, say that they have applied to college and or have been accepted to their top choice [00:09:00] college.

Anesha: Great. Another 14% are planning to attend college, but are still deciding where to apply or what to study. Uh, the majority of folks, 43% are considering college, but are seriously exploring alternatives like gap years, studying abroad or, uh, or studying abroad for the first year. Um, no, no, folks said yes to D Um, but then we had 29% of folks say that they are still in the early stages and broadly exploring, uh, post-graduation options.

Anesha: So

Jeff: great. All right, Anesha, thank you so much.

Anesha: Of course. You’re welcome.

Jeff: That does, that does help us. And zero for, for number four, which is good. I mean, I think we are really talking about, ultimately about college preparation. Uh, but I think what Skylar and I would both agree is we’re also talking about life preparation.

Jeff: So actually let me, let me not skip over that too quickly because at this moment in time, Skylar and I have both, uh, been through that and I’ve been through it with my own children and I’ve been through it literally with hundreds of people because [00:10:00] I’ve been ahead of school, um, and, and worked with a lot of seniors and even postgraduate students who are attending the school where I was the head, um, feel the uncertainty of this moment in time, uh, and uh, are looking for some clarity.

Jeff: So one of the messages I hope you take away from this session is that you are at a moment of great opportunity and to see it that way, it’s. A bit dark and uncertain and maybe foggy that path ahead. But you have some opportunities here no matter what you do before college. Most of you, I think, are looking to take a breath, take a break of some sort.

Jeff: It may not be a break from, from school, from academics, and we’ll talk about that in a moment. Uh, but it could be, it could be a break from academics before you go back into that learning mode that college is gonna demand of you. Making that decision is [00:11:00] difficult, and we really want to emphasize to you that you have opportunities, you have options.

Jeff: And part of our goal tonight is to show you some of the options that you do have. Shine some light on them, make them look, uh, clear enough, uh, attractive enough, interesting enough. And of course, uh, goes without saying, but we’ll say it anyway. We work with a group, CIEE, a nonprofit that has been in this business for a long time.

Jeff: There are other providers who offer gap, uh, your kinds of programs, and there are other places where you can take courses for credit before enrolling into college. We’ll talk about some of the CIEE offerings later, uh, tonight, uh, and hope that you would follow up if you remain interested in some of these options again.

Jeff: Give yourselves a break. You’ve got options. You’ve got opportunities. No matter what you’re bringing with you, what kind of a transcript, what kind of grades, what kind of school you’re from. There [00:12:00] are opportunities out there. Now, I know some of you have already picked a college from what you’ve said in the poll, others aren’t quite sure, and what we’re doing tonight is help you, I hope, help you to frame a little bit of the work ahead as you think about what might the next step look like For me, one of the things to be, to be mindful of is the importance as it will be later in life as well, is to stay true to your values and who you are.

Jeff: Some of you may not know yet fully who you are. I mean, we’re all in that journey together. At your age though, try to understand what is it that I feel comfortable doing? And where is it that I feel like I could challenge myself or I could stretch myself? This is a chance between gap year or first year abroad, which we’ll talk about for you to stretch yourself [00:13:00] before committing to that four year college.

Jeff: So here, let’s take a look at the options that we’ve been talking about here. Traditional college where you just enroll in a four year college. Some of you’re ready to do that right away. Others might not quite be ready to go full on to a full four year college and might want to stay in a community college either for the duration or just as a stepping stone to college.

Jeff: That way maybe you earn some credit, maybe you pay a little bit less money and it after which you can transfer, uh, onto a four year college. Those are not the things we’re gonna talk about so much tonight. We’re gonna be talking about that third item there, the gap year or college first year, which is really about taking something of a break before college so that you can experience something a little different abroad before starting college.

Jeff: And that’s where we’re gonna be focusing on those items. [00:14:00] So the pathways, when we think about and talk about options and opportunities, here are some of those options that we’re gonna look at with you. Uh, those of you ready to go right away on the left side, apply to colleges, and you can start right away.

Jeff: We’re gonna be focusing on those next three items though. Apply to colleges, get in and defer when you begin college. That is you get your acceptance letter from a college after which. You send the college a note that you wish to defer your enrollment. We’ll look at more on that in a moment. The other is you take a gap year where you don’t go to college, but you also don’t go back to school.

Jeff: You just need a break. You need a break from the grind. And I would imagine many of you are experiencing that grind right now. And we’re right back into school after the holidays, [00:15:00] and we’ve got a big semester, uh, ahead. Some of you’re heading into midterms, I’m sure in the next week or two depending on, uh, when your, um, trimester or semesters are a lot of good reasons to take a break.

Jeff: Personally, professionally, emotionally, academically, relationally, taking a break, a breath before college is a valuable step. That is the one that, uh, our son did. It really set him up to be rested and focused for his freshman year of college. I don’t think he would’ve been quite as focused if he had gone straight to college right after high school.

Jeff: And then that last option is kind of in between because there you are kind of going to school, you’re taking courses in a CIEE center abroad, and those courses are taken for credit that you can then use to get into a college at an advanced standing, whether it’s halfway through the freshman year or at the beginning of your [00:16:00] sophomore year, having taken, uh, a full year of courses abroad.

Jeff: Now you can talk to, and you should talk to, uh, your guidance office about all of this, uh, your go, your college guidance, uh, and your school, assuming that you’ve got some, um, help and a listening ear there. College admissions officers as well in the colleges can answer questions that you may have about the value of international, uh, study abroad or a gap year.

Jeff: Uh, my experience, and it’s both professional and personal from what our son experienced is that college’s value the time that you spend between high school and college, enriching yourself in non-academic ways or in academic ways that are not traditional, that are not just part of that high school grind that you’re all, uh, familiar with.

Jeff: That third [00:17:00] bullet point is one worth, uh, taking a quick look at too, which is that in some cases applying as a transfer student. Your chances of acceptance are greater than they are if you’re compared to applying, um, as a freshman for a first, as a first year student in high school. So applying as a transfer student after a year abroad, midway through a year abroad, that may be a better option, uh, just statistically for some of you.

Jeff: Okay, so what about deferring? Deferring, which we would define as getting into a college, but delaying your enrollment. So that looks like a few different things. But typically you would go through the regular process of applying to college, having your teachers write your recommendations, submitting your SAT scores, whatever else part of your application package, [00:18:00] receiving the acceptance letter.

Jeff: Sometimes the colleges will tell you if you choose to defer, here are the steps to follow. They may not tell you ’cause they may want you there in the fall. You can say to them, I would like to defer. They’re not gonna say, oh, we take away your acceptance. They might push back. Most likely what they’re gonna push back on is what are you gonna do with your time away?

Jeff: And that’s when you want to be able to say, here’s what I’m doing. I wanna show you what I’m planning to do. And that ideally with their blessing, you can then schedule your, your time away

Jeff: and. Guess what? Many colleges not only allow you to do it, they encourage you to do it. And we pick three from different parts geographically, um, and competitive wise and, and what they say about taking [00:19:00] time off after high school and before college. And if you talk with people who work in colleges, they will tell you that they struggle a lot in colleges managing students who probably weren’t quite ready for college yet.

Jeff: I think those same people will say people who have gone abroad, who have faced the challenges of living in another culture, of managing their own finances, of managing the challenge of communicating across cultures, maybe in another language, is excellent preparation for the challenges. Of going to college, living away from home, living with different people, dealing with different expectations, and really immersing yourself in another culture.

Jeff: Study abroad is a great preparation for that.

Jeff: We do this a lot with [00:20:00] students. So, uh, if you are into, uh, the process of applying for a gap year, we have lots of guidance and forms, um, and reminders to help you stay on track with that. And some colleges will expect periodic updates and a full report. Others may not be as concerned to hear from you about, um, what you’re doing with that time away, but you should be ready to explain to them what you’re doing and why you’re doing it.

Jeff: Some questions that you need to be asking yourself have to do with costs. Uh, how are you gonna pay not just for college, uh, but for gap year? And what we can, uh, tell you now is that our gap semester programs, uh, tend to be around 18 to $20,000 per semester. Uh, same with college first year, so comparable to, uh, a lower priced, uh, college for one semester, 18 to 20,000.

Jeff: [00:21:00] And, um, we would encourage you always to keep your college guidance office well informed about what you’re doing. And I know because I know some of these people that they don’t always encourage students to do this. And I also know, and there could be some parents listening in on this tonight too, that parents don’t always want a student, their child to delay college.

Jeff: Why not start. The fear may be that, well, you’ll lose interest in going to college. Or the fear may be that you won’t be as strong a candidate if you apply when you’re not in a traditional school. I don’t think those fears are well-founded. I know a lot of guidance counselors are very challenged with the time and the workload and that a student who does something a little unusual like this might pose extra challenge.

Jeff: I would continue to stick by your own values and your interests and your energy and get to know what [00:22:00] your options are, um, and then stand up for what you believe you want to do.

Jeff: So we’re gonna look at the two options that we are focused on this evening that are CIEE offerings. Um. We’re gonna talk first about gap, uh, programs, gap year programs, and then we’re gonna talk about college first year abroad. Now, the gap year, um, programs are, um, uh, many years old. We’ve got my, our son did, uh, 10 years ago or so, did the program, uh, in Italy, whereas college first year is more recent.

Jeff: Um, that’s, um, only a couple of years old and we’ll show you in just a moment some of the colleges that we’re working with, um, to develop this and to make sure that, um, our students will have destinations to go, not just these colleges, but other colleges they can go to. But we certainly know from these colleges that there’s an interest in having [00:23:00] students come in and be part of, um, uh, arriving as sophomores, for example, with a year abroad, um, already, already under their belt.

Jeff: I’ve mentioned a lot of this already. Um, the value that colleges, uh, uh, put on this, um, the, the delay shouldn’t be seen as a delay. It should be seen as you adding another learning experience to what you’re bringing to your college classrooms, dorms, um, and conversations and relationships there. Research shows that a gap year gives students maturity and focus that translates into college success.

Jeff: On average, students have a higher college GPA than would’ve been predicted based on their high school academic credentials, uh, and that from Middlebury College in Vermont. So before we look at, um, our gap year [00:24:00] programs, we will look at where we have programs both gap and college, uh, year abroad are in these various locations.

Jeff: Some are just gaps. Some are just college first year, and these are all locations where we have a center, we have staff, we have relationships with the local health authorities, we have relationships with host families. And most of our programs have a host family component where students would be living with, uh, a family away from their other family.

Jeff: And as any alum of our program would tell you, it’s like now I have another family.

Jeff: So I’m gonna turn it over now for focusing on Gap to my colleague Skylar, uh, to walk you through, uh, the next few minutes about the gap year. And then I will pick it up from there with, uh, the first year abroad slides. Go ahead, Skylar. [00:25:00]

Skylar: Excellent. Thank you so much, Jeff for walking us through what the pathways look like, what it looks like to defer.

Skylar: I know a couple of you shared that you’ve been accepted to college and you’re thinking about your next steps, whether to start right away or to defer, um, or maybe you are a sophomore and junior, thinking ahead to, um, what your pathway might look like, whether it’s the traditional application process or maybe you’d like to take a year off to do something different, such as the gap programs we’re looking at.

Skylar: Um. You can apply to college during one of those experiences. So, um, just finishing up on our map here of our GAP locations, you can see all around the world where we have, um, our gap centers, we have even more cities. We have centers, study centers in about 40 different cities around the world for college programs and our high school summer programs.

Skylar: But these 16 cities are the ones that will offer. [00:26:00] Gap options. Um, and there are three different kinds that we’ll look at in just a second, but as Jeff shared, each city has a CIEE study center. Um, most of the time that is a space that CIEE manages. We have classes there for high school and college students, um, adults doing teach abroad near those centers.

Skylar: Um, we have high school summer, high school semester for college. We have our first year abroad students or our college study students who may be attending college somewhere in the US but go through CIEE to do an abroad experience at one of our sites. So a lot going on at each of these locations, which means that you will truly be part of a great network, um, of both instructors and students who are going through a similar journey.

Skylar: As you, so I’m gonna go to, um, looking at the three different choices you have [00:27:00] if you were to enroll in a Gap program with CIEE. We have three different types of programs. Um, the first is an internship and culture program and that kind of program, the focus is to gain, um, real world work experience through an internship placement where you’ll spend, um, each day of the week, um, working in that placement.

Skylar: The second option is language and culture. In this option, you will be attending a local language school with both CIEE students and other students in that host city. Um, so the goal is really to develop your language skills in that program. And then the third option is travel and culture. So this is kind of the least.

Skylar: Academic or work readiness focused. Um, it’s more of a travel and experiential learning program where you can either [00:28:00] explore a few different cities within one country or jump from country to country to country for a few weeks at a time. Um, it’s still a pretty highly structured program and that we’re moving as a cohort across locations, um, with activities both in English and in the host language.

Skylar: Um, so you can kind of think about those three options and think about yourself, what you feel, um, is most important to you in that next step, whether it’s that work readiness or maybe you really wanna dig in and grow language proficiency, um, in a semester or a year away. Or maybe you just wanna get away and travel and experience a few different places in, um, in a tour like program.

Skylar: So first I will go over, um, some details about the Gap internship program. So this would be a 12 week internship, so a few months long. [00:29:00] Um, you would be placed in a company abroad in either Abu Dhabi, Buenos Aires, Cape Town, or Sydney. And you could expect to intern for up to 20 hours each week. Um, be housing for this program as student housing.

Skylar: Um, and you’ll be with other students either in the internship program or students who are from our college study program at that, um, at that site. So, for example, if you are interning in Buenos Aires, there will likely be other students, um, who are spending their college semester abroad alongside you. So you’ll get to participate in some activities and excursions along with them.

Skylar: And then for all of our Gap programs, I’m looking at that bottom bullet point there. For all of our Gap programs, you have the option to take online courses at Arizona State University, one of our partners, um, for online work and the option to [00:30:00] participate in a professional development course. So that is in a nutshell, uh, what you could expect in the internship program.

Skylar: Every site has its own webpage where you can learn more about the location itself and what types of internship placements, um, exist at that, um, study center.

Skylar: The next option would be the language and culture program. So in this program, you’re spending roughly the same amount of time, 12 weeks. Um, that length of time does not warrant, uh, a Visa, which makes it a very flexible option. If you did want to spend a full year abroad, we would need to work with you on the visa process or perhaps doing one location, the fall semester, for example, a different location in the spring semester so that we, um, could avoid the Visa requirement if, um.

Skylar: You [00:31:00] choose to go that route to simplify your process. But back to the language program. And this program, really your focus is, um, being immersed in the local language, the local culture. You’re spending 15 hours a week in college level language classes at a local language school. So again, you may be alongside other CIEE students and local adults and students who are also attending that, um, language center.

Skylar: So it’s a way to really meet people from all over the world who are learning this language and growing with you. And your placement, of course, would be based on your proficiency level. So beginners are completely welcome. Or maybe you’re finishing high school, Spanish, um, finishing AP for example, your senior year.

Skylar: And, um, you’re looking to take your skills even further. Um, we will make sure that the placement is appropriate for you. This program involves staying with a local [00:32:00] home stay. So we have a great host family network in most of our study center locations. Um, and that home stay element is extremely important for developing those language skills and cross-cultural communication skills.

Skylar: So that is a great component of this program too. And lastly, the third option with CIEE for GAP is the travel and culture program. So again, same length of time in order, um, not to require a visa for a longer stay, about three months. You can choose from a few different programs to explore three different European cities.

Skylar: You can compare their histories, their languages, their cultures and lifestyles. Uh, we had this option in France, so three different cities across France, three different cities across Italy, um, Spain as well. Or if you’d like to explore a few different countries in your program, you [00:33:00] could choose the option that goes from Madrid to Rome to Paris.

Skylar: You’d be spending about three to four weeks in each city with your cohort. Along the program you would be participating in different lectures and cultural activities, some excursions that might pop away from one of those major cities into a nearby smaller towns. So you get to see a bit of variety in that host country.

Skylar: And then there is a mixed housing. So in at least two of the locations, you would likely be with a host family, um, perhaps with another CIEE student. Um, and then also one of the cities would likely be in a hotel or dorm. So a bit of a mix.

Skylar: I think that concludes the three gap options. So I will pass it back to Jeff and then if you [00:34:00] have any questions, you’re free to jot them down in the Q&A section. Feel free to go ahead and write them out so you don’t forget, and then we’ll hope to get to as many as we can. Or if we don’t know the answer, we’ll direct you to, um, next steps to make sure that we can support you.

Jeff: Thank you, Skylar. Okay. So college first year abroad, as I said, is a relatively new innovation for CIEE. Um, more and more colleges these days have their own internal year abroad programs for the first year, and uh, they do that for a variety of reasons. One of them though, is students who do a year abroad.

Jeff: Tend to do better once they land on campus as second year students because of those things I talked about, the preparation that it, uh, affords, uh, a young person perhaps living away from home for a significant period of time for the first [00:35:00] time and far enough away from home that they can’t just go home on weekends.

Jeff: Uh, so there are some reasons that colleges have started to do this. And it became evident to us with the infrastructure that we have at CIEE, that we could do the same thing, but we’re not gonna do this alone. Let’s partner, let’s find colleges that may not run their own first year abroad programs and we can kind of run it for them.

Jeff: Um, so we do that, but our students don’t necessarily go to one of those colleges and we’ll actually look at where some of our students from this past year, uh, are attending college this year. So again, a variety of sites, uh, around, uh, locations around the world where we have centers, uh, that can manage this and provide the infrastructure for the, uh, coursework that students, uh, uh, take on their first year abroad.

Jeff: And I say first year abroad, and we call it first year abroad, but for some it’s just a semester. Um, and some would do two semesters, but for, [00:36:00] uh, simplicity’s sake, we call it first year abroad. And some of the benefits we’ve already talked about some of these, uh, and I’ll point out that one at the bottom there, which is that, uh, students can earn credits up to 14 credits, uh, in the course of their time on first year abroad.

Jeff: And those are, um, uh, transcripted credited courses from, um, uh, credits from an accredited university, whether it’s Arizona. Uh, state University, uh, which, uh, provides online courses or in-person, uh, courses which are accredited by Tulane University. So the transcript would be, uh, an official transcript and it would appear, um, uh, on a, an official transcript that could be transmitted from, uh, the institution to the institution.

Jeff: They typically, official copies don’t go directly to the, to the student, but as you apply, um, to, uh, a college or you [00:37:00] enroll, you would, you would have that official transcript be part of, um, your record, uh, as you enter, presumably as a second year student.

Jeff: And again, this is different from Gap, right? We’re talking about I want to stay in school, I want to earn credits, but I don’t want to go to college where I’m eventually gonna go to college. I would like to delay that time, but not delay. Taking coursework that allows me to graduate, say four years, uh, from when I left high school.

Jeff: Um, the, getting into some of the details here, the, um, courses are designed as in six week blocks and you would take two of them. So a semester would be 12 weeks in two blocks. Uh, and if you, uh, go to our website, you can see some of those details at some of the particular sites that you might be curious about, and that will show [00:38:00] you more of the specifics of the courses and the length and the timing, uh, of those opportunities within the first year abroad experience.

Jeff: Uh, and again, you can also, uh, mix locations and not stay in the same place, uh, the whole time that you’re abroad. Uh, and notice too that, uh, I mentioned the values of home stay, uh, and, um, they are significant, the value of home stay. But not all of our programs have homes stay, and not all of them have homestay for the full duration.

Jeff: So often you’re living in a dorm and, um, and living more like a college student would be living, um, on a, on a college campus, uh, in the US

Jeff: Now, um, the benefits besides the personal ones are academic, uh, and they are also, um, uh, career oriented. And I, I wanna [00:39:00] mention something about that as well to say when you do a study abroad experience, you are gaining. Know how about yourself, about the world, about how people work, about how you work, about your own strengths.

Jeff: That when you are applying for jobs in the future, you’re gonna draw on, you will, uh, ’cause you can’t help yourself because that experience put you in situations that you would not have had, uh, had you stayed on the normal, the normal track, the normal course. So there’s an intangible set of, um, values that you’re gonna be able to draw from your experience abroad.

Jeff: Um, and I would say that’s especially true with a, a college first year abroad because of the academic, uh, component, um, that’s added to this academic that’s valuable because it has currency that translates right back onto your transcript. Uh, back in, in the us. So I mentioned the college first year abroad partners.

Jeff: Here [00:40:00] they are. And it’s a growing list. It started small and it’s, it’s getting bigger, um, every year. And these are colleges that, uh, support what we’re doing that are, uh, not guaranteeing admission to students who do first year abroad with us. Um, but are saying if they do first year abroad and they are admitted, we will accept that credit and they can, um, do so knowing that we will accept the credit in all cases.

Jeff: Again, emphasizing Keep your go, your college guidance office informed about this. They may not even know about this particular program. Obviously there’s a lot of information on our website and they can also reach out and contact us for more information, but also contact these individual colleges and universities.

Jeff: If you’re interested in any of them, you can say, here’s what I’m thinking about doing. What do you think about my doing this? Um, and ideally you’d be talking to the right person, probably the appropriate admissions office, uh, officer at [00:41:00] that university or college for your region, wherever you are, um, in high school.

Jeff: And they can give you some guidance on thinking through all of your options, but particularly this one because it is a little bit tricky regarding the credits. Um, and do you start midway through the first year or do you do a full year abroad and then come in as a, as a sophomore, second year student?

Jeff: We’ve raced through this. Uh, we realize, um, and what we wanna do now is, is sort of talk about, okay, what is that next step after this, um, experience of, of gap year or, or college, first year abroad? Um, and we’ve already, I think, suggested some of this to you, um, that your preparation. For college is enhanced, no matter which of these you choose, that your, um, first year abroad experience gives you, [00:42:00] um, a readiness to manage the life of a college student in a way that high school may not.

Jeff: Uh, and by the way, this, this is the list of, uh, colleges, um, that recent students both GAP and college first year, um, have, have enrolled that. And I think that’s this year’s, um, uh, tally or a selection of this year’s, um, colleges and universities that our students from last year who attended our Gap or first year abroad programs last year, um, that’s where they’re going now.

Jeff: And then as, as, um, we’ve said as well, Skylar and I, that gap year abroad is gonna give you, um, a whole new array of, of skills, uh, and awareness. And I can tell you that, uh, again, from personal experience, our son, uh, did a gap year that involved a little bit of, um, academic study and a little bit of, uh, an internship where he had to get up and work and go to the office with a jacket and tie every morning, um, and learn [00:43:00] how to manage a budget, um, and manage on his own far from home.

Jeff: And that gave us confidence when he went to college that he would be, um, getting more out of it, uh, which he did, which he did. Um, and you can see a nice quote there from, uh, one of our GAP students from, uh, from a year and a half ago.

Jeff: All right, so I’m gonna let Skylar talk a little bit about next steps that you should be thinking about. Uh, when it comes to college year abroad, first year abroad, or gap. So, go ahead Skylar.

Skylar: Yeah. So these deadlines that you see are relevant if you were looking to start a program this fall or this spring program applications typically open about 18 months before they begin.

Skylar: So if you are currently a junior, for example, it’s the start of your spring semester, [00:44:00] junior year. Our applications for fall 2027 would be available now. Um, but these deadlines reflect if you’re a current senior in thinking about your next steps. Um. This is what the fall and spring deadlines look like.

Skylar: We usually have an early deadline that comes with, um, tuition discounts as well. So it’s great to benefit from that if you know that this is something that you want to do. And then a final deadline. So for fall programs, our final college first year abroad deadline would be June 1st. The gap deadline would be July 1st, and then for spring, that final deadline is November 1st for both programs.

Skylar: Um, so the spring program could be perhaps you have, um, a commitment, um, to maybe be working this fall or [00:45:00] supporting your family this fall, whatever your responsibilities are, and you’re looking to have this experience in the spring. That’s also an option and, um, what a lot of our spring cohort members are involved in before they join us.

Skylar: And then next we wanted to share a couple quick links for you to use. Of course, you’ll have these slides after the presentation, but if you are curious to have a look now, you can go ahead and use a phone to scan and see what the application looks like. Or if you’d like to schedule a call with someone in your area that’s a part of my and Jeff’s team, you can do that through that second QR code.

Skylar: Um, with the application, um, we have two steps that you complete. In order to open a program application. The first step is to [00:46:00] create an account with your information, and then once your account, your CIEE account is created, you then open program specific applications. So that means that. I could open one account for Skylar Jeffries and then I can open up a gap application and a college first year abroad application.

Skylar: Or maybe I also want to open a summer application. There’s so many programs to choose from, but you can do them all from the same account and we can always cancel or switch if you change your mind. And then that schedule a call function, that would be with our high school team. Um, and they support students with all programs.

Skylar: So from our summer programs to high school semester, all the way up to post-secondary programs, gap and first year abroad.[00:47:00]

Skylar: Okay,

Jeff: great.

Skylar: We’re at 8 47, so we have a little shy of 15 minutes left, um, to take some questions. Yeah, I’ll leave this up on this screen.

Jeff: Go ahead. I can, um, I see one good question there, and I just a reminder too that you can download the presentation under the handouts link that’s on your screen. And, um, the, one of the questions that came through that I wanna,

Anesha: can I do a, sorry, quick transition, sorry for folks, for the sake of the recording, just to let folks know that the presentation is now over, uh, with Q&A.

Anesha: Uh, if you were having any challenges with submitting a question, know that you might have to log out, log back in through the link via your email to ensure that your question, uh, can be sent. Uh, but otherwise I will hand it over to you, Jeff, to start with the questions.

Jeff: Thank you. Okay. No, thanks for clarifying.

Jeff: So yeah, one question came in, uh, about, um, the. Student who starts as a [00:48:00] sophomore, having done a year, uh, college, first year abroad, comes onto campus as a sophomore, misses out on those experiences that, that, uh, mark what first year at college is like the freshman dorm experience, the freshman onboarding orientation experience, and the bonding that happens, um, in the course of that freshman year.

Jeff: That’s true. But what’s also true is that instead of that set of friends, instead of that set of emotional experiences that feel foundational, um, and relevant and are a whole new set of opportunities and relationships and intense experiences happen when you study abroad and that family that you form abroad.

Jeff: Also your host family, but those friends that you make, whether they’re other students that, uh, like you are doing a first year abroad program or some of the other [00:49:00] students that you meet in the course of your living abroad, um, are another part of who you are and who you will become foundational, uh, in, in their own way In college.

Jeff: The second year, students often applying as, or enrolling as transfer students, um, find themselves in a mix with many other students in a very similar situation as transfer students who themselves live through a unique experience together. So it’s a different set of unique experiences that become priceless and become foundational for a young person.

Jeff: So I would see again, the opportunity that comes with the study abroad experience, even when it’s missing the traditional first year. Um, of college on campus.

Skylar: Thank you, Jeff. I can, um, I can take the second question. I also wanted to [00:50:00] speak briefly from my own experience, and of course this is just my experience and can’t speak for, for all college students, but, um, when I think back on the closest relationships that I developed and really the, the foundational relationships that kind of shaped me and my circle and my next steps, I think back to my international experiences when I was able to study abroad in college, because those are the experiences where I was, um, really doing something that kind of made me nervous and I felt less confident.

Skylar: When you’re abroad, kind of on your own, quote unquote, you really have to lean on each other, your friends, your network, and I think it’s so. Foundational for young people, whether that’s the first year of college or the third year, to have that experience where they can build that foundation. Um, so for me, my first year [00:51:00] of college was not the time where I built those long lasting relationships.

Skylar: It was later on in my trajectory when I had an international experience when I built that. And as Jeff said, I think that, um, it just goes to show that, um, wherever our students are, when they have that experience, um, what they do experience while they’re away and the relationships that they build, um.

Skylar: Will kind of become, um, they’ll shape what those next steps look like. So if they are abroad for their first year, um, their network grows perhaps even more than they could have imagined it growing if they had stayed at home, um, in a traditional college campus setting. Um, and then that network will kind of shape what they want to do next, the kinds of coursework they want to take, maybe their career path or maybe where they hope to, um, work in the future.

Skylar: So, um, the experience that they have abroad can, can shape in so many ways that perhaps staying [00:52:00] home, um, might not afford for them, but of course they have to choose the best, um, the best timing for them. It might not always be the first year, but we have that option in case they’re interested in it. And in terms of deferring, um, if a student were to defer, let’s say they are accepted into their college currently and they defer for a year, they could participate in, um, gap year, um, and then enter their college as a freshman.

Skylar: Or if they do first year abroad, that would depend on their college’s, um, requirements for what that deferral entails. So if the college does not allow for students to earn credit during their deferral, so there might be a caveat. Where the college says you can enter fall 2027, but in the interim you’re not able to attend college [00:53:00] classes.

Skylar: You would just need to make sure that you understand the terms of that deferment, um, because it’s not always allowed. Whereas for Gap are pretty flexible with what you do, um, with your time. If you’re not earning credit in terms of spending one part of the year in one location or doing two different programs, perhaps one during one semester, one during the second semester, yes, that is an option.

Skylar: Um, but for immigration, uh, purposes, we would just have to look at which country combinations we could do. So perhaps you might be able to do an internship in Buenos Aires for one semester and then do, um, the Europe travel program for the second semester. Um, because. You would not be overstaying over 90 days in Europe, for example, for that program.

Skylar: So you would work with one of our advisors to understand which locations you would like to go to, if there are any, [00:54:00] um, conflicts with, um, the dates there in terms of, um, warranting meeting a Visa or not.

Anesha: I did get a question, um, from the registration that I thought it would be helpful to share. Um, someone asked, is it better to take a gap year than to attend a college that you’re not excited about?

Jeff: Oh gosh, that’s an easy one. I would say much better to take a gap year. And I would say this from all perspectives, including a parent who is gonna invest a lot of money, presumably, uh, to help their child through college. Um, that the investment in a gap year is a time for a student, a young person, to clarify what it is that they want to do, uh, what it is that they’re good at, what it is that they, um, aspire to be perhaps.

Jeff: And that’s hard to do when you’re [00:55:00] in the grind of high school. And I can understand a student saying, I’m not really excited about college. It may be about that college, but it may also be, I’m just not excited about getting right back into this very busy grind. And gap is a wonderful way to maintain momentum toward growth and adulthood, uh, without throwing yourself off track on the way to college.

Jeff: And, um, yeah, I hope that answers that question. It’s a good one. Um, also the, um, the question about the Tulane courses. I don’t know if I can put this in the chat. Can I do that? Will that work? Um, so yes, we do show, uh, courses, um, that are offered in our centers. Um, you have to scroll down and click through some of the links, but you will find, um, on our college first year pages for the various sites, um, just about all the information that [00:56:00] we have.

Jeff: And, and if you click, you can get right into the course syllabi.

Skylar: And each location has a, um, course section where you can read through the classes that are offered at that site. And all of those linked courses are in person courses that would be delivered at the study center. Um, and then we also work with a SU Arizona State, um, for optional online courses so that students in either the Gap or first year abroad program can add online courses to their course load.

Skylar: Um, but if your student were doing college first year abroad, they would be required to take at least half of their courses in person. And the site specific ones are listed, um, on each program’s webpage.

Jeff: And la last thing I wanna say is that studying abroad or living [00:57:00] abroad in a gap year is a way for young people to develop a superpower.

Jeff: And the superpower is perhaps speaking another language more fluently, but it is definitely understanding another culture better, including my own culture, because I now have to explain America to someone who’s never been to America. I need to be in a different bubble. Looking back into the American bubble, there are things you learn in that experience that you just cannot learn.

Jeff: Staying in your own context. And when you emerge, you realize, wow, this feels like a superpower. So that is one reason why I hope people out there will consider doing something other than stepping directly into college right after high school.

Anesha: We did have, um, a few questions. Folks were, I guess, thinking about leveraging the program as a way to clarify interests.

Anesha: They were feeling undecided. Um, and so I’m just curious, um, if you have [00:58:00] thoughts about that Someone asked explicitly, like, how can you help students determine their future goals if they’re feeling undecided? I know that there are a lot of different pathways for the program, but wanted to give an opportunity to address that.

Jeff: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, a quick answer I would offer and Skylar go ahead, is the gap and do an internship. Get out into the working world, which is sort of the working world through an internship and see what it’s like. What do you want to do that will bring value that you can, uh, uh, offer to others?

Skylar: I think too, back to the question about is this alternative experience better for me than jumping into a college that I’m not excited about? I think that’s similar to the question of maybe not understanding what your. Personal or professional goals are yet, and that’s completely normal. Most freshmen and sophomores in college or juniors even are not sure either.

Skylar: So I think it’s really great that you [00:59:00] know that already about yourself and are kind of. Starting to confront that and seeing what else is out there so you can get more real life experience. If you did a language immersion program in Tous, France, for example, for three months, um, you know, just. Just imagine how much you will grow from that experience with your proficiency, with meeting people from all over the world who are studying with you to navigating a new city on your own.

Skylar: Um, these are all experiences that build your confidence and you learn so much about yourself, as Jeff was saying, about yourself as a person, but also as an American or wherever you come from, um, so that you feel more confident about your next steps. You have more of an understanding of who you are, what you like, what you don’t like.

Skylar: You get to meet people where you learn about their trajectories and, um, you can let that influence how, um, you see your next years going and [01:00:00] on where you wanna put your energy. So I really don’t think you can go wrong with, um, doing a program like this. It’s just kind of understanding, um, which one could you get the most out of and how could they contribute to.

Skylar: Understanding yourself better and where to go next. So I think that that’s a perfectly fine place to be in, is not being sure

Anesha: the word that’s been ringing through my head throughout the presentation has been like the sense of developing your own agency, um, in a lot of different ways. Um, but, so yeah, thank you both for the, the presentation.

Anesha: I think that agency is like a core part of the college admissions process and obviously the process in transitioning to college. Um, but we are gonna end it there. Thank you so much, Jeff. Thank you so much, Skylar, for sharing your perspective and opinions and sharing your experience at CIEE. Um, again, this session will be recorded and available at some point tomorrow.

Anesha: You can still download the slides under the handouts tab. We hope you gain insights into alternative pathways for starting your college career, and we hope that you’ll join us for our [01:01:00] future webinars. But until next time, take care and have a great evening everybody.

Skylar: Thank you, Anesha. Thank you everyone.

Jeff: Thank you Anesha. Thanks everyone. Thanks.