the eldest of President Obama's
daughters and one of the nation's most
famous 2016 college applicants has made
her decision about where she'll attend
college Malia Obama was accepted at
Harvard but says she's not actually
going to start until the fall of 2017
she's opting instead to take a gap year
after graduating from high school her
choice is one that's becoming
increasingly popular among high school
grads the idea used that time to maybe
explore the world and then arrive at
campus a little more mature a little
more focused Laura hosted is an expert
on gap years the Vinick educational
placement services in Bethesda Maryland
nice to have you with us can you put
something for us off just off the top
here there's a gap year which you've
heard about a lot I think mainly
overseas for some time where you know
kids go and they may travel or maybe
they do some sort of rather pricey
educational experience is there a
difference between that and someone
who's simply taking a break for a year
and maybe he's gonna work a little bit
at home and make some money for college
no I don't think so I would call them
both a gap year I think that there is
somewhat of a misconception that a gap
year has to be one of these pricey
programs but it really just means taking
a year off and you know whether that is
traveling abroad or staying home and you
know working at a coffee shop and
working on a political campaign they're
both considered a gap here what's the
benefit to a gap here I think I mean it
depends on what the student is doing but
there's a number of benefits I mean for
some it is to make some money before
college for others it is to gain the
maturity that they need because they're
not quite ready to start school for
others it's really just to explore
something that they think they're
interested in you know it's a good
opportunity if you think you want to be
pre-med to shadow a doctor do some
volunteer work in a hospital and get
some things on your resume or figure out
that maybe that's not something you
actually want to do and you know for
some students they also just need a
break they've been so focused for the
past few years academically and before
they jump in to another academic
experience they want to take some time
off sorry they are they burnt out I mean
we hear a lot about that about kids in
high school just being completely fried
by the time they graduate yeah
absolutely that is that is the case for
some people
I think that that's not the most common
reason for a gap year though usually
it's students who need a little more
maturity or who actively have something
that they want to do they want a bike
across the country and they don't think
they'll ever have another chance to do
it if they're a concern at all that this
could actually mean that kids stay in
school longer that it ends up being more
expensive either for them if they're
taking out the loans are paying for it
themselves or the parents that it may
put them on you know a five six seven
year plan I think the opposite is
typically true actually because students
tend to come in a little bit more
focused you know like I said if they
have identified an interest that they
want to pursue that may keep them from
changing majors which could delay their
graduation or they're just a little bit
more mature and able to handle the
workload better so I don't really see it
extending their time in college well now
that we know where Malia Obama is going
to college I guess the next question
will be what does she do for her gap
year so we may be talking to you about
that specifically in the near future
education expert Laura hosted thanks for
your time - hey there I'm Chris Hayes
from MSNBC thanks for watching MSNBC on
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