Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion options for 15 year old after high school

It is likely that some additional advocacy, and possibly scaffolding, would be needed to support some of the gap-year options.

One of my siblings did a paid summer internship (so about 2 months) in a research group at a major STEM company at about that age, possible mainly because a member of the extended family worked there and was willing to 1) vouch for suitability, 2) act as host family, and 3) facilitate appropriate professional interactions. So that wasn't a full year, but might serve as proof of concept. String a few of these experiences together, and one could easily fill a year.

For myself, grade skips allowed time for multiple rounds of graduate school (all in different fields), plus a partial gap year at a more typical age.

My DS has skipped twice and will graduate in 4 years at age 15. He loves languages and foreign travel, so my hope is that he will do an exchange program during a gap year, but I am worried that his young age will complicate that as well. I know kids do exchange programs as high-school students, but he will no longer fit in that category. Does anyone here have experience navigating study abroad at 15?

This is old information, and therefore may no longer be current: Groups like AFS once had programs in which students who had just graduated high school in one country could enjoy a cultural exchange by attending senior year of high school in another country. I do not know whether they still offer this type of "foreign exchange" experience.