Suggest a good gap year for a STEM kid?
March 23, 2024 3:29 PM Subscribe
As question says: can you think of a smart, imaginative idea for a new high school grad who’s interested in pharma research? She has excellent academic credentials but (imo) did not get good advice from her guidance counselor as to where to apply, and did not get max relevance/use from previous summers.
I'm far removed from what admissions is like in 2024, but maybe follow trade-related news/publications and look up people involved to see where they went to school [ETA: I suspect this will be reassuring about undergrad being pretty open], and read enough pharma-related science texts, science journalism, or STS research to have a hook to include in an admissions essay. Like, "I kept an annotated bibliography of 50 pharma-related texts" isn't "I did research / had an internship at ___," but it's achievable and useful for discovering if this is really her thing. If it isn't and it becomes a bibliography for ___ instead, that's a story to tell too.
posted by Wobbuffet at 5:01 PM on March 23 [1 favorite]
posted by Wobbuffet at 5:01 PM on March 23 [1 favorite]
My kid went to a school with not-great chemistry instruction, and wanted to go into engineering. He thought his sub-par chemistry foundation would be a hindrance. He approached a school of pharmacy in my city with a request to be allowed to to take a "chemistry for pharmacists" entry-level class. He was admitted and took the class. It was what he described as "smoking hard" and he got a C-, but he was thrilled and motivated that he could even keep up. He was most impressed with the lab facilities and lab assignments. If your daughter is interested in pharmacy as a career, this could be a good entree, and might help as she looks to her next academic moves.
posted by citygirl at 5:17 PM on March 23 [2 favorites]
posted by citygirl at 5:17 PM on March 23 [2 favorites]
Best answer: Reading between the lines, it sounds like your kiddo did not get into any colleges she wants to go to. I'm so sorry that happened. The college application process in the US is utterly broken.
But I have some questions. Is the plan that she will do another round of applications in the fall of 2024? And are you hoping the gap year activity will add something to help that second round of applications? I don't know if that is likely to happen. Having just gone through the college application process with my kiddo, there was intense emphasis on applying early decision. Colleges are admitting more and more kids via early decision, which leaves fewer and fewer slots for regular decision candidates. And that would mean the fruits of your daughter's gap year would have to be visible by November to have any bearing her next round of college applications.
There are still great things she can do with her gap year, I'm sure. I just wouldn't necessarily think of them in terms of "college" and "admissions", as the tags on this post imply.
One last thought is that, if you can afford it, you could bring in some private college counseling to help your daughter next round. There may also be free options in your community. If she didn't get good guidance the first time through, that's something you might be able to correct.
I apologize that I don't have a direct answer to your question about stem/pharma activities, but it appeared that this college admission stuff is part of your concern and so I wanted to share these thoughts. Best of luck to your daughter.
posted by Winnie the Proust at 8:00 PM on March 23 [9 favorites]
But I have some questions. Is the plan that she will do another round of applications in the fall of 2024? And are you hoping the gap year activity will add something to help that second round of applications? I don't know if that is likely to happen. Having just gone through the college application process with my kiddo, there was intense emphasis on applying early decision. Colleges are admitting more and more kids via early decision, which leaves fewer and fewer slots for regular decision candidates. And that would mean the fruits of your daughter's gap year would have to be visible by November to have any bearing her next round of college applications.
There are still great things she can do with her gap year, I'm sure. I just wouldn't necessarily think of them in terms of "college" and "admissions", as the tags on this post imply.
One last thought is that, if you can afford it, you could bring in some private college counseling to help your daughter next round. There may also be free options in your community. If she didn't get good guidance the first time through, that's something you might be able to correct.
I apologize that I don't have a direct answer to your question about stem/pharma activities, but it appeared that this college admission stuff is part of your concern and so I wanted to share these thoughts. Best of luck to your daughter.
posted by Winnie the Proust at 8:00 PM on March 23 [9 favorites]
did not get max relevance/use from previous summers.
So, I have spent the last nine years in college classrooms as an instructor, and while I don't get to know every student that enters my classroom, I do get to know many of them a bit, and a few of them I get to know a bit more (especially the ones that take multiple classes with me). I have taught at a broad range of institutions (fancy private, big state, lower-tier SLAC), with fairly different student bodies, but one of the things that I've noticed as a commonality is that this generation (broadly speaking) is anxious about their performance and achievement - a lot of them are used to constant evaluation via digital platforms during high school and then they freak out in college when they might go weeks (maybe a whole month!) between graded assignments. And their schedules are all jammed packed with classes, sports, clubs and other organized activities. And they are petrified of mistakes in a way that's unhealthy.
This is a long way of saying, what "kids these days" need from my perspective as a college educator is not a gap year with "max relevance" but a gap year where they get to do whatever they want, within reason of course. Maybe that's getting a job and hanging out with friends, maybe that's working on an organic farm abroad and learning another language (WWOOF'ing), maybe it's an internship. A year where they get to grow as people, confident in their abilities of self-evaluation and understanding.
And look, I've read through college applications when evaluating students for a scholarship award, I appreciate that some of the "competition" have managed to compile eerily impressive resumes by the time they turn 18. But my experience across a range of institutions has also made me pretty convinced that your big state school (or a neighboring big state school) is really your best bet in terms of the breadth, possibility, and quality of education. And most big state schools really don't require a maximized gap year to be admitted, especially if your kid has "excellent academic credentials" - just apply early admission next cycle, and make sure her essay is good.
posted by coffeecat at 9:01 PM on March 23 [11 favorites]
So, I have spent the last nine years in college classrooms as an instructor, and while I don't get to know every student that enters my classroom, I do get to know many of them a bit, and a few of them I get to know a bit more (especially the ones that take multiple classes with me). I have taught at a broad range of institutions (fancy private, big state, lower-tier SLAC), with fairly different student bodies, but one of the things that I've noticed as a commonality is that this generation (broadly speaking) is anxious about their performance and achievement - a lot of them are used to constant evaluation via digital platforms during high school and then they freak out in college when they might go weeks (maybe a whole month!) between graded assignments. And their schedules are all jammed packed with classes, sports, clubs and other organized activities. And they are petrified of mistakes in a way that's unhealthy.
This is a long way of saying, what "kids these days" need from my perspective as a college educator is not a gap year with "max relevance" but a gap year where they get to do whatever they want, within reason of course. Maybe that's getting a job and hanging out with friends, maybe that's working on an organic farm abroad and learning another language (WWOOF'ing), maybe it's an internship. A year where they get to grow as people, confident in their abilities of self-evaluation and understanding.
And look, I've read through college applications when evaluating students for a scholarship award, I appreciate that some of the "competition" have managed to compile eerily impressive resumes by the time they turn 18. But my experience across a range of institutions has also made me pretty convinced that your big state school (or a neighboring big state school) is really your best bet in terms of the breadth, possibility, and quality of education. And most big state schools really don't require a maximized gap year to be admitted, especially if your kid has "excellent academic credentials" - just apply early admission next cycle, and make sure her essay is good.
posted by coffeecat at 9:01 PM on March 23 [11 favorites]
My understanding is that if a student on gap year takes community college classes, entry into university is as a transfer student. Whether that makes it harder to get accepted into a university, I don't know. But if there are universities she is interested in applying to for the following year, she should talk to the them before considering community college classes.
posted by ShooBoo at 10:21 PM on March 23 [1 favorite]
posted by ShooBoo at 10:21 PM on March 23 [1 favorite]
A kid who is interested in pharma research would benefit from spending some time in clinical research. A full time research assistant job might be tough to swing, as there are lots of recent college grads who apply for such positions. Then again, if they time things right (fall/winter application timeframe), there may be jobs available. Even so, many academic medical centers have volunteer and/or intern programs for high school students, and would likely accept a gap year student for such a program.
posted by bluloo at 11:31 PM on March 23 [1 favorite]
posted by bluloo at 11:31 PM on March 23 [1 favorite]
Best answer: I agree with Winnie the Proust that getting a professional college advisor's opinion on what presumably went wrong with the application process is important. Knowing whether she was applying to the wrong schools or just not presenting herself well enough (or some other factor) will affect what type of course correction is needed. They can also get into specifics on what to do in the gap year to increase the odds of success that we can't, as you'll be able to share the full story with them.
I would second that the most useful thing to do would be to knock out as many of the English/Math/History 101 type classes as possible at a quality community college near you or online.
If she starts this summer and continues in the fall, it may even be possible to transfer to a 4 year program in the spring of 2025, depending on what school she wants to go to.
Whether that makes it harder to get accepted into a university, I don't know.
Many state systems actually have guaranteed admission to their 4 year colleges if you complete an Associate's in their community college programs with a sufficient GPA. It would be ambitious, but if she has some AP credits, it might be possible to knock out an Associate's in two summer semesters plus one fall and spring.
I agree with hydropsyche that it's going to be challenging for her to find any kind of work that will help her with pharma research as a career. I've seriously dated three people that work in the field and am good friends with several more. All of them had challenges finding work in the field with a BS let alone a high school degree. Of them, one left the field entirely after a few miserable years, one succeeded in having an excellent career with just a BS (but more on the project management side than research), and the rest went on to get an MS or PhD in order to find fulfilling work.
A full time research assistant job might be tough to swing, as there are lots of recent college grads who apply for such positions. Then again, if they time things right (fall/winter application timeframe), there may be jobs available. Even so, many academic medical centers have volunteer and/or intern programs for high school students, and would likely accept a gap year student for such a program.
My college was deeply involved with medical and pharma research and per my dating history I knew a bunch of them (in case the timeline doesn't make sense, I went to school off and on for almost 15 years). I never, ever heard of someone heard of someone who had gotten a full time research assistant position with just a high school diploma. Maybe times have changed, but virtually no high school will give a student enough relevant skills to do that kind of work, and the ones that can would have students that would be a shoo-in to top schools.
In general, you can't legally have someone as an unpaid intern if they're not a student or have a volunteer working for you unless you're a non-profit.
If you're still in a small, rural college town, she's going to have problems finding work other than retail or food service. To be blunt, I'm in a highly successful STEM group of friends, many of whom worked those jobs as young people. Not once has one of them said that those jobs helped them professionally. The best they did was to increase their empathy for workers in those positions but mostly because it also taught them how awful many people treat people they see as their inferiors. Whether that lesson is worth a year of one's life is debatable. If some of your daughter's peers are going to the local college, it's likely to be especially disheartening working a low prestige job while people who were considered her equals this year come in as customers. Or if she's hanging out with friends and they're all bubbly about their classes and the opportunities the school offers and she's spending 40 hours at a fast food restaurant. I can reasonably predict where you live and did a bunch of work for the university back in the day, and frankly a lot of them were snots.
The one thing I can think of that might be possible and relevant if she wants to get into the lab testing part of the industry is getting a job as a vet tech, because pharma research needs people to do animal testing. However, the job is likely to leave her with literal scars (and possibly mental ones as well).
My other thinking outside the box ideas are to see if the local college will let her audit classes for free and if so (and if you can afford it), support her sitting in on classes outside of pharma research. Many 18 year olds think they know what they want to do for the rest of their lives but find that it's not actually for them. Let her see what other things might be a good path without having to pay for the classes.
Or, (again, if you have the money for this), give her a gap year where she experiences things she hasn't. Have her spend some time volunteering at a food bank or homeless shelter. Do you have international relatives that might be willing to host her for a week or two? What about people out west (if she's only ever spent time on the east coast, there's various parts of the west that are very culturally different). Or a big city, if she's never lived in one. Have her join one of the groups that has you spend time on different farms in exchange for working them. (this can give the lesson on what it's like to be treated poorly and be utterly exhausted from physical labor.) Send her to a Buddhist retreat for a week and then a Catholic one for another.
posted by Candleman at 12:48 AM on March 24 [5 favorites]
I would second that the most useful thing to do would be to knock out as many of the English/Math/History 101 type classes as possible at a quality community college near you or online.
If she starts this summer and continues in the fall, it may even be possible to transfer to a 4 year program in the spring of 2025, depending on what school she wants to go to.
Whether that makes it harder to get accepted into a university, I don't know.
Many state systems actually have guaranteed admission to their 4 year colleges if you complete an Associate's in their community college programs with a sufficient GPA. It would be ambitious, but if she has some AP credits, it might be possible to knock out an Associate's in two summer semesters plus one fall and spring.
I agree with hydropsyche that it's going to be challenging for her to find any kind of work that will help her with pharma research as a career. I've seriously dated three people that work in the field and am good friends with several more. All of them had challenges finding work in the field with a BS let alone a high school degree. Of them, one left the field entirely after a few miserable years, one succeeded in having an excellent career with just a BS (but more on the project management side than research), and the rest went on to get an MS or PhD in order to find fulfilling work.
A full time research assistant job might be tough to swing, as there are lots of recent college grads who apply for such positions. Then again, if they time things right (fall/winter application timeframe), there may be jobs available. Even so, many academic medical centers have volunteer and/or intern programs for high school students, and would likely accept a gap year student for such a program.
My college was deeply involved with medical and pharma research and per my dating history I knew a bunch of them (in case the timeline doesn't make sense, I went to school off and on for almost 15 years). I never, ever heard of someone heard of someone who had gotten a full time research assistant position with just a high school diploma. Maybe times have changed, but virtually no high school will give a student enough relevant skills to do that kind of work, and the ones that can would have students that would be a shoo-in to top schools.
In general, you can't legally have someone as an unpaid intern if they're not a student or have a volunteer working for you unless you're a non-profit.
If you're still in a small, rural college town, she's going to have problems finding work other than retail or food service. To be blunt, I'm in a highly successful STEM group of friends, many of whom worked those jobs as young people. Not once has one of them said that those jobs helped them professionally. The best they did was to increase their empathy for workers in those positions but mostly because it also taught them how awful many people treat people they see as their inferiors. Whether that lesson is worth a year of one's life is debatable. If some of your daughter's peers are going to the local college, it's likely to be especially disheartening working a low prestige job while people who were considered her equals this year come in as customers. Or if she's hanging out with friends and they're all bubbly about their classes and the opportunities the school offers and she's spending 40 hours at a fast food restaurant. I can reasonably predict where you live and did a bunch of work for the university back in the day, and frankly a lot of them were snots.
The one thing I can think of that might be possible and relevant if she wants to get into the lab testing part of the industry is getting a job as a vet tech, because pharma research needs people to do animal testing. However, the job is likely to leave her with literal scars (and possibly mental ones as well).
My other thinking outside the box ideas are to see if the local college will let her audit classes for free and if so (and if you can afford it), support her sitting in on classes outside of pharma research. Many 18 year olds think they know what they want to do for the rest of their lives but find that it's not actually for them. Let her see what other things might be a good path without having to pay for the classes.
Or, (again, if you have the money for this), give her a gap year where she experiences things she hasn't. Have her spend some time volunteering at a food bank or homeless shelter. Do you have international relatives that might be willing to host her for a week or two? What about people out west (if she's only ever spent time on the east coast, there's various parts of the west that are very culturally different). Or a big city, if she's never lived in one. Have her join one of the groups that has you spend time on different farms in exchange for working them. (this can give the lesson on what it's like to be treated poorly and be utterly exhausted from physical labor.) Send her to a Buddhist retreat for a week and then a Catholic one for another.
posted by Candleman at 12:48 AM on March 24 [5 favorites]
As an AmeriCorps alum myself, I can't believe I didn't mention this earlier, but AmeriCorps is a wonderful gap year option. Many programs aimed specifically at 18-25 year olds offer housing. All programs offer skills training and an education award at the end. No direct pharma work, obviously, but maybe she'd be interested in a public health program.
posted by hydropsyche at 3:38 AM on March 24 [9 favorites]
posted by hydropsyche at 3:38 AM on March 24 [9 favorites]
Vet tech is a credentialed career, not a summer job. Like telling someone with no qualifications to go be a paramedic.
posted by Ardnamurchan at 6:21 AM on March 24 [3 favorites]
posted by Ardnamurchan at 6:21 AM on March 24 [3 favorites]
Ardnamurchan, you're correct. Veterinary Assistant is the term I should have used.
posted by Candleman at 7:43 AM on March 24
posted by Candleman at 7:43 AM on March 24
Okay, this may feel like it's out of left field, but your daughter could train to become a phlebotomist.
The daughter of a friend of mine did this and it worked out really well for her. The training wasn't difficult. She has many opportunities for well-paying part-time employment during college. It demonstrates her interest in the field of medicine and her ability to work with people.
posted by Winnie the Proust at 9:00 AM on March 24 [2 favorites]
The daughter of a friend of mine did this and it worked out really well for her. The training wasn't difficult. She has many opportunities for well-paying part-time employment during college. It demonstrates her interest in the field of medicine and her ability to work with people.
posted by Winnie the Proust at 9:00 AM on March 24 [2 favorites]
Best answer: She will very likely need to pass Organic Chemistry to go into any part of pharma research and it's notoriously used as a washout class in many undergrad programs (the first of my SOs in the field was quite smart and studious and still flunked it the first attempt). Spending time prepping for it would be a good use of time.
Big data and AI are having big effects on the field and that's only going to increase. Getting some basic proficiency with Python, statistics, and other forms of data analysis now might also give her a leg up.
posted by Candleman at 1:39 PM on March 24 [2 favorites]
Big data and AI are having big effects on the field and that's only going to increase. Getting some basic proficiency with Python, statistics, and other forms of data analysis now might also give her a leg up.
posted by Candleman at 1:39 PM on March 24 [2 favorites]
Organic Chemistry always has a pre-req of two semesters of General Chemistry. Assuming she doesn't have any AP credit in Chem, starting with Gen Chem is the first step.
posted by hydropsyche at 5:15 PM on March 24 [1 favorite]
posted by hydropsyche at 5:15 PM on March 24 [1 favorite]
Best answer: If she ends up taking community college classes, be careful that this doesn't impact on her eligibility for institutional financial aid at any of the colleges she is applying to. It may well not matter for a public college, but at many private colleges your best bet for financial aid is a as a first-time freshman and the money on offer really drops off for anyone else.
Gap years are more common in the UK, Australia and NZ than they are in North America. A typical year might involve working in a job until at least Christmas/New Year, and saving up enough money to travel to India, SE Asia, S America, or an English speaking country. If they went somewhere on the backpackers circuit they would meet plenty of other Anglo and European travellers. Alternatively, working holidaymaker visas exist, for example to Australia, and with some savings, they could spend most of a year doing something completely different. There are organisations that will support individuals with finding jobs and getting started for a fee. Aside from Australia; Japan, NZ, UK and Ireland may also have appropriate visas for young Americans.
posted by plonkee at 4:22 AM on March 25 [2 favorites]
Gap years are more common in the UK, Australia and NZ than they are in North America. A typical year might involve working in a job until at least Christmas/New Year, and saving up enough money to travel to India, SE Asia, S America, or an English speaking country. If they went somewhere on the backpackers circuit they would meet plenty of other Anglo and European travellers. Alternatively, working holidaymaker visas exist, for example to Australia, and with some savings, they could spend most of a year doing something completely different. There are organisations that will support individuals with finding jobs and getting started for a fee. Aside from Australia; Japan, NZ, UK and Ireland may also have appropriate visas for young Americans.
posted by plonkee at 4:22 AM on March 25 [2 favorites]
I work at a medical school and Sit on the admissions committee along with sitting on a pre-health committee in an undergrad university. Many kids are taking a gap year. One very common thing is to work as a scribe in a doctors office or hospital. You get paid but become familiar with healthcare jargon and the atmosphere. Another area could be a "tech" in a hospital which is another area many undergrads pick up experience. Another is volunteering at a hospice center or an after school program. All help greatly when applyng for another higher ed program!
posted by sunnypup at 5:44 PM on March 25 [3 favorites]
posted by sunnypup at 5:44 PM on March 25 [3 favorites]
Just to clarify, I was referring to clinical research, not lab research. The clinical research assistant positions I’m thinking of are mostly filing, assembling blood draw kits, and running errands. I think the right high schooler could definitely do those positions. And I have worked on teams with volunteer roles, so they are available.
posted by bluloo at 10:53 PM on March 26
posted by bluloo at 10:53 PM on March 26
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posted by hydropsyche at 5:00 PM on March 23 [16 favorites]