Gap year after Grade XII

If you are a student (or a parent of student) that appeared for Grade XII exam this year, you are probably aware of the concerns surrounding university admissions in Fall 2020. The pandemic has impacted the final exams and has also made university admissions uncertain. This is a stressful situation and raises the prospect of a Gap Year for students. In this article, we explore the situation and look at the options available to navigate through this situation.

Indian students that were applying for foreign admissions usually got their admission decisions by April and spent the next few months planning their finances, loans, travel, and visa applications. Unfortunately, this process is at a complete standstill, and it appears that US universities will have greater clarity about foreign admissions by July. Most universities are suggesting the following options to their foreign freshmen students.

1.      Defer admission to Fall 2021

2.      Enroll now and do classes online till physical classes resume sometime in 2021

3.      Wait and watch

Even during normal times, some students opt for a Gap Year. They use this time for travel, social service, pursuing a business idea or preparing for admission to a higher ranked university. In many cases, the students enrich themselves and expand their minds with new learning and experiences. However, for a student that was not planning for it, the sudden specter of a Gap Year can be quite daunting.

Scholarly is an EdTech company which has a unique and innovative solution to this problem. With a strong expertise in video broadcasting and video content delivery, Scholarly has tied up with an accredited US college to offer their first-year college curriculum to international students. Students can enroll for individual first year courses based on their area of interest. Classes are taught live by full time college professors and lead to college credits and transcripts from the colleges. These courses allow students to earn transferable college credits to any US college or university from the comfort and the safety of their home. The courses enable students that are temporarily unable to travel (health issues, visa issues, family, COVID) to continue their US College education from home.

Scholarly enables the student to continue their first-year college education from home and to earn transferable college credits. Depending on how the COVID situation evolves, the student may apply for admission during Spring or Fall 2021 having already completed several first-year courses online. The student may also demonstrate strong performance in the courses to show their ‘College Readiness’ and ‘focus’, to get admitted to a higher ranked university. Scholarly’s synchronous learning directly from professors, the classroom interaction, the flexibility of studying from home and the savings provide a compelling value proposition to students and their parents.

An Indian student pursues foreign education for several reasons, namely: holistic learning, long term relationships, campus experience and prospects of living and working abroad. All these objectives are important and crucial. We do not expect online education to replace the full college experience. However, the flexibility to use online classes to supplement on campus education, while avoiding any unexpected break, is a meaningful value proposition for Indian students.

Scholarly provides several credit courses on its platform in partnership with an accredited US college. Students in grades XI and XII that are targeting top US Universities can strengthen their applications with strong performance in college level courses, learn directly from eminent college professors and earn college credits. Please visit www.Scholarly.co for additional information.