GAP year (2 Viewers)

[Courtenay]

SO...anyone going on one?
I had planned to, then chenged career aspirations and didn't apply, but post HSC and UAI i have decided to get one, and actually found one which i will probably get, seeing as the school is still looking for 2 girls, and it starts in 2 weeks, so i will hopefully get a place
its a bit wierd though...2 weeks to prepare myself for not seeing my family for a year, although it will have brilliant aspects.
So big question, if you are going, what school and where!!

IF i go it will be to Sherbourne school for girls, in Dorset

 

[MAD MAXI]

do top deck tour in july next year if u ago and if your hot

 

[Courtenay]

what is that?
i think i's go to germany because i was there on exchange last summer, and i want to visit those people, or maybe meet up with my host family in spain or france

 

[MAD MAXI]

ohh well no trip orund europe for you

 

[Courtenay]

i'll deal...there are a lot of places i want to re-visit and people to see if i go, because i used to live in england, and i have this need to revisit my childhood

 

[MAD MAXI]

yeah that is what all the other holidays are for

 

[Courtenay]

so are you doing the GAP year or just the tour?

 

[MAD MAXI]

bit of both

 

[Courtenay]

alrighty then

 

[eveajac]

hey i am doing GAP!!!
I'm leaving on the 1st of january to go to the Royal Masonic School for Girls, in Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire (just outside london).
I'm really excited!!!

 

[Courtenay]

i organised mine in 2 days, friday and saturday
pretty clever ey!!!
im at sherborne school for girls in dorset
im so unbelievably excited now, but i wont be eaving here until the 21st of january, because i can't get a flight and theres so much to organise

 

[johnson]

gap years can only be done straight after high school can't they?

 

[Courtenay]

nah you can go later. i found a school which only takes uni graduates

but generally its directly out of school

you could do a year of uni then do one

 

[johnson]

yeah that's what i'm thinking, i've done one year of uni but i want to do something different next year.

umm hmm how much does it cost to get over there, and do you live with a host family..?

i wanted to do a working holiday but you need about 6 grand to get started (i have 700..will have about 3.5 by the end of the summer holidays)

 

[Courtenay]

you probably won't be able to organise one for next year, i was lucky because i know people who are going, and people there so i was able to organise one on such short notice.

im working in a boarding school so i live there, but some places you live with a family.

It costs me air fare to get there, plus a couple of other minor things.

i get paid 74 pounds a week, but i can't stay at the school between terms, so i will spend easter probably with friends there, and over summer i will visit my exchange family in germany and friends in france, then spend 2 weeks in glasgow with dad, while he is there for a conferance.

Mine was cheap because it was privately organised, however if you go with an organisation you can pay up to $2000 simply for them to find you a placement

it really depends on what you do

 

[ballerinabarbie]

i applied to some company to go on GAP but i applied too late so i didn't get an interview... but i'm kinda over it now, plus i'm one of those people that misses australia too much - i would get homesick within like a month (not necessarily for my family and friends, just for australia - the people, the culture etc)
so now i'm just taking the year off to work etc..

 

[Bambul]

You guys do realise that if you don't enroll into uni for next year then you'll come in under the new tertiary education system and have to pay more. I would suggest enrolling and maybe doing 6 months, then taking a year off. Otherwise you may have to pay an entra $4,000 or so in HECS for your degree (depending on the band and number of years), plus other stuff.

Just wondering if you'd considered that?

 

[Tenax Propositi]

Originally posted by Bambul
You guys do realise that if you don't enroll into uni for next year then you'll come in under the new tertiary education system and have to pay more. I would suggest enrolling and maybe doing 6 months, then taking a year off. Otherwise you may have to pay an entra $4,000 or so in HECS for your degree (depending on the band and number of years), plus other stuff.

Just wondering if you'd considered that?

Bambul, I'm not doing a GAP year, but does coming under the new system apply for those who transfer into a new degree after a year? eg. if u do a combined degree and transfer from one of the degrees to another, do u have to pay the enw HECS for that particular degree? Or do you pay it for both degrees or neither??

 

[kocean]

You guys do realise that if you don't enroll into uni for next year then you'll come in under the new tertiary education system and have to pay more. I would suggest enrolling and maybe doing 6 months, then taking a year off. Otherwise you may have to pay an entra $4,000 or so in HECS for your degree (depending on the band and number of years), plus other stuff.

im taking a gap year and yes i do realise this. however when i was thinking about whether or not to do it, i took the whole HECS stuff into consideration, but then i thought: this is going to be an AWESOME experience, [im going travelling in euro working in a school in UK all that] that im never ever going to have the chance to do again, and for me im happy to deal with a $5000 extra HECS debt because to me the GAP experience im about to do is worth much much much more than that.

 

[Bambul]

Originally posted by Tenax Propositi
Bambul, I'm not doing a GAP year, but does coming under the new system apply for those who transfer into a new degree after a year? eg. if u do a combined degree and transfer from one of the degrees to another, do u have to pay the enw HECS for that particular degree? Or do you pay it for both degrees or neither??

I'm not sure about the details. I would suggest speaking with the relevant faculty at your university (or the student center or whatever you have) and ask them. I'm not sure 100% about all the details myself since they have changed about 2-3 times over the past year.

And every time it comes up in the newspaper all they are interested in is headlines which means outrageous numbers that apply to a tiny propotion of students and not how it will affect the bulk of us!!!
<end rant>

Hope that helps!