Gap Year Programs Abroad

Welcome Gap Year Students & Parents!

For the most part, we treat our gap candidates just like everyone else and, by design, there is no separate category for a “gap year program” here at Adelante Abroad. So, simply choose a program from the Intern Abroad, or Study Abroad or Summer Programs tabs above to see “Program Overview”, “What’s Included” in each, and “Reviews” as well.

Per the American Gap Association: “A Gap Year is a structured period of time when students take a break from formal education to increase self-awareness, challenge comfort zones, and experiment with possible careers. Typically these are achieved by a combination of traveling, volunteering, interning, or working. A gap year experience can last from two months up to two years and is taken between high school graduation and the Junior year of their higher degree.”

Gap Year Pricing

To cover the additional counseling, pre-departure, and the extra meetings with our staff once abroad, Adelante Abroad has come up with an extra fee or surcharge for our gap year candidates that we think is fair: $350 USD on top of the published program pricing. This holds regardless of the length of program or the city chosen. The concept of continuing to mainstream our gap candidates into our long standing successful Intern Abroad programs holds firm, and at the same time we do recognize that some extras are needed.

Program Pricing Info

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Here is how our Gap Year candidates differ from our older candidates:

Gap Year candidates are recent high school graduates who usually require more support before and during their internship placement.
Adelante offers the parents of Gap Year candidates pre- departure guidance as needed.
Gap Year candidates receive additional support during the first few weeks of their internship abroad to help them adjust.
Gap Year candidates usually live with host families rather than in independent apartments. Read more in our FAQ.
Gap Year candidates often have a unique set of needs and concerns, which Adelante is happy to address.

Have Questions About the Program? Ask Us!

For Parents

If you have gotten this far, it means that you have an exceptional son or daughter. They were probably the ones who completed most of the international program research and found us by themselves. Maybe they spoke with a gap year counselor or advisor and were introduced to Adelante Abroad. The fact that they go above and beyond is what makes them a great fit for independent programs like ours. But, We are also here to tell you that NOT EVERY STUDENT IS A MATCH WITH OUR PROGRAMS, and that is okay. For this program, your child has to be independent, furiously curious, outside the status quo, and smarter than average. If this description fits your child, we welcome your student to apply!

We encourage you, as the parent, to be present during the initial phone or video call so you can ask any questions your child may not have thought of. From there, we won’t speak to the parents much because we strive to create and build independent individuals who find themselves while traveling and that starts with only communicating with the child after the initial interview.

Program FAQs

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Why Should You Choose Adelante Abroad?

Internship programs offered in eight International Locations

Over 30 career fields available – Guaranteed Placements

1 to 6 Month programs available year-round

Gap Year opportunities for high school graduates, freshmen & sophomores

Accommodations included with your own private room

Affordable programs for students, recent grads & more

Application Process

The application deadline is 60-90 days prior to your chosen start date.

Late applications are accepted on a case by case basis and are subject to a $250 late fee.

Apply For An Internship Abroad

Resources

Gap Year Program FAQs

What is the housing for Gap Year students like?

Your own room living with a local family is what we try and steer you towards. If you have already done that and once we get to know you, via our phone or video call that happens after you apply, and includes checking your references, and you don’t want that option we can discuss.

Like in the US, the picture of families abroad varies from nuclear couple with a dog and two kids to a single mom to an older couple whose kids are out of the house to a recently married couple with no kids. The gig is that they will provide meals for you and do your laundry once a week, things you would do on your own if you choose to live in an apartment with other students. Your language level will soar living with a family and you will learn to eat things that you won’t see on any restaurant menu. They will look out for you and will follow your lead: if you want to come to a family BBQ and have dessert Fridays, so be it; it you come out of your room only to shower or to head out the door, so be it. As long as you are respectful always, you call the shots in terms of how involved or not you will be with your host family.

Are there some suggested internship fields or sectors that are better for gap year students?

This is a tough question. So much of the experiential learning that will happen in this program takes place outside of the actual 4 hour per day internship. So, what the internship is really is only a top priority if you have such an overriding passion for it that it is the only reason you are going abroad. We have not found that to be true in the majority of our gap student’s communications with us.

For example, we had one gap candidate who was deferring enrollment into Middlebury College to work very specifically on an Ecology placement that had to do with a specific seed and spice and its origins! In this case, we will work hard to place in that passion.

Typically however gap candidates don’t have a lot of work experience, they just know what they like and what they don’t. We place them in small to mid sized companies, like everyone else, but with a focus on a youthful corporate culture: think Travel Agencies and Tourism, Teaching English, Social Media & Marketing, working with kids.

What do Gap year students do with the rest of their time?

Get out and about!! Successful candidates get busy: they will sign up for weekly groups that interest them (think extreme Frisbee, or cooking or flamenco or more language classes); they will join a gym or find a bike / running / skating path to take regularly; they will meet a boyfriend/ girlfriend (!); they will ask a lot of questions to their Adelante Directors and Intern Advisers in-country. Most of our cities are capital cities with long and storied histories, including a generous nightlife and daily options for culture grazing and absorbing.

What if I choose to live in a shared apartment and don’t get along with my roommates, and/or are roommates guaranteed?

So, this really goes to the heart of a big part of this program: it is not a group program. Rather a customized internship placement program. Further, unlike say a study abroad program, where everyone starts and ends on the same date, with Adelante we have not only rolling start dates but also different length programs. So, you might start in February and do a 4 month program, and your roommate might have started in January and is only participating for 3 months.

This is a valid thing to really think about: are you going to do fine regardless of if you have a roommate the entire time and for your exact dates, or if you have a roommate you might not get along with? These are things that Adelante can in no way control, nor do we want to. Is it really wonderful when you have a perfectly soul-mated roommate for the duration? Yes, no denying it. But what you are paying for with the housing component is your own room in safe, centrally located, clean housing that is under a 40 minute commute to your work assignment.