Q: Our son is due to graduate in June of 2000, yet he does not seem particularly motivated to apply or even think about colleges. His grades are good but his apathy is remarkable. He doesn’t seem to have a passion about anything he’s studied so far. I should add that he has many friends, is very social, and devotes a fair amount of time to outside activities, including volunteer work, Boy Scouts and baseball. My husband and I are wondering what to do, short of breathing down his neck, to get him to explore college options and to get excited about the possibilities. What can be done to motivate him? He has such potential!

A: It may be that your son’s interest will pick up this summer and in early fall, as his peers start sending out applications. Have you considered that he may not be ready to attend college? There is often an assumption that the logical next step for a high school student is to head off for yet another 4 years of school just as they have completed the first twelve. Few parents consider alternatives, fearing that a year off is a year lost. What, after all, will dear, aimless Bradley do for 12 months? Traipse around Europe with a backpack and a Eurail pass? Work busing tables or ushering at a cinema until he finds a reason to attend college? And what will he put on his college application for that year off? "2000-2001: Bummed around with no apparent motivation or purpose." Are there alternatives to an immediate entry into college after high school graduation? Absolutely. Sometimes you won’t know what your teen needs unless you ask.

Dan Randolph had applied to UC Davis for the fall and had been accepted. His brother was at MIT and Dan’s parents, both of whom were in the computer industry, expected him to go the math/science "way." It was clear to them that Dan was exceedingly bright; his grades were excellent and his SAT’s were quite high. When Dan’s father called me 6 weeks before graduation, he was desperate. Dan was in danger of failing an independent study class in English. He’d not read either of the two required books for which he was to write a paper. He worked diligently with me to get back on track, following a schedule we’d set up and for the most part, he made progress. "If I don’t complete this class, I can’t go to Davis next fall," he shared with me. I asked him how he felt about that possibility. "Really, I don’t even know if I want to go right now. I’m sick of school, to tell the truth. My parents would kill me if I bailed out now, especially my dad; he’s set on my going and he won’t take no." When I asked if he’d thought of other options, he seemed surprised. "What else can I do?" It turned out he loved working in the outdoors, especially on Boy Scout projects and that he had also really enjoyed his experiences as a counselor for younger kids. I proposed that he finish this course on time to leave all of his options open, but that he explore taking a year off to work and pursue experiences in the areas of his interests. It became clear that Dan had unconsciously tried to sabotage his admission to Davis by avoiding the completion of the one last course required. He felt trapped. The first line of business was to introduce him to viable and appealing alternatives. The second was to approach his parents with a clear proposal.

In order to narrow down Dan’s options, we made a list of what he was interested in and what work experience he had. He worried briefly that Davis, or any other college to which he applied, would look unfavorably upon a year’s sabbatical from school. In fact universities often find that a candidate with a year’s life experience under his belt, outside of high school, has a more well-rounded profile and greater focus and maturity. The Center For Interim Programs is one organization that firmly believes in the value of "stepping away from formal education for a period of time." Based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, CIP helps people design time-off experiences; its clients include not only high-school graduates taking a year off, but college students wanting a break, recent graduates and even mid-life career changers seeking a focus and direction. For a flat fee of $1500.00, the agency provides applicants, after an initial no-cost interview which includes program suggestions, with access to over two thousand program options and complete assistance with designing an interim experience. Even teachers, at a reduced cost, can take advantage of the service. The opportunities for unpaid internships, training and specialized education are seemingly limitless. One high school graduate spent one month teaching English on the island of Hokkaido, while he learned Japanese, and another building solar-powered homes for a community in Arizona. A mid-career financial analyst suffering from burn-out, took a sabbatical to go to Italy to study Italian and painting restoration. She returned to the U.S., quit her job and went to work for the Guggenheim Museum. For students wanting to explore their interests before settling on a college or a course of study, CIP offers a fantastic opportunity to structure learning and channel talents outside of the classroom.

Students like Dan are afforded, through programs like CIP, the chance to build confidence and self-esteem, to take risks, to confront new value systems, to develop independence and self-reliance and finally, to discover a renewed interest in formal academics. The following, direct from the CIP web site, are some examples of the options Dan had to choose from:

Another terrific source for a ‘time off" experience is a publication called Transitions Abroad. Appearing every two months, Transitions Abroad aims to provide the adventurous with information about education, work and volunteer opportunities abroad. The publication is filled with resources and writers offer practical suggestions on everything from finding short term work abroad (with a detailed country by country list) to finding training programs to become certified as a teacher of English as a foreign language. A recent issue included a story about studying abroad in an Asian country as well as a first hand account of student life in China. In the same issue, a student could locate information on studying French and art in the south of France, student exchange programs in Britain and hotel work in France and Austria.

There are numerous publications, updated annually, that provide lists of opportunities to work and study abroad as well as suggestions for internships in the U.S. Any search should optimally begin no less than 6 months before the anticipated start date; researching options, preparation and submission of resumes and applications and interviews, if needed, all take time.

In deciding whether your son or daughter is a candidate for time off before college, you should consider the following questions in the context of a family meeting:

Dan finished his independent English project and phoned me with great relief. He not only passed the class, but he gained insight into why he had procrastinated for so long. After long talks with his parents carefully explaining the situation, he asked for their help in tailoring an alternative program for the following year; Davis allowed him to defer for another year. After ascertaining that Dan was not planning on simply bumming around Europe with a backpack for a year and that he had several definite plans which he could implement, Dan’s parents relented.

Most parents who ultimately agree that a sabbatical is a worthwhile experience realize, as CIP’s founder Cornelius Bull did, that "most of the education process is schooling and not the true learning process that is real education."

For more information on Center For Interim Programs, see their web site atwww.interimprograms.comor call them at 617-547-0980.