Is it better to take a gap year before or after college for an international program?

Abso-effing-lutely.

That's it. Don't even hesitate, Just Do It(TM).

If you're wondering about going, that means you're going to love it. This is the only time of your life when you're going to be able to get out for adventures like this because you're not strapped with "adult" responsibilities. An international experience is one of the most important things for students today to have, and ever increasingly so with the maturity of globalization.

The skills and lessons you learn while you're out will be so much more important than the year lost from sleeping in, not going to lectures, and getting drunk (let's face it, you know that's what you'll be doing next year in college). Getting to really know people outside of your immediate borders will let you see their unique approach to living life and allow you to really reflect on what living really means.

It sounds cheesey, and it is. I can't describe it without making it sound ridiculous. But as someone who's been fortunate enough to travel and meet people who have changed the way I live my life, I can promise you that you won't regret it.

This is a classic "it depends" question. I've heard both arguments (gap year good and gap year bad) from a number of people, including my own parents, who disagreed on whether I should do a gap year before college. I'll say that if you do a gap year before college, it is unlikely that you will face many downsides. I have difficulty seeing you needing Undergraduate knowledge in order to derive great value from a program like Global Citizen. In fact, I would suggest that you'll get just as much value from such a program before college as you would get after college. Nothing is set in stone with gap years, but I would suggest two reasons you might want to do it before college: (1) if you already know you want the experience you shouldn't have to wait 4 years to have it, and (2) there's a chance that your job search at the end of college will be interrupted if you try to do a gap year then. It's somewhat easier to get a job while you're in school than it is if you've been out of school for a year. That said, I'm sure there will be many exceptions. If you can afford the trip, and it excites you, I don't think you can go wrong with getting more international experience.

I recommend that you take a gap year before college. From my personal experience, I studied abroad in Sydney, Australia during the spring semester of my junior year of college. Some of my friends and I wanted to return to Australia to work after graduating. However, we wanted to work for a bit to save money before going, and our deadline for going kept getting pushed back. Long story short, we never ended up going, and now we are too far into our career paths to just quit and go.

Before college, you have much less going for you than after college. Once you have a bachelor's degree, your options are enormous. The year before college is a better time, especially if you are already accepted to a school, because you have something lined up for when you return. If you go after college, it will be a lot harder to search for and interview for a job if you are abroad.

Rather than before or after college, I would actually vote for the middle! Find a college program where you can take a semester off to pursue this, similar to what your peers will do with study abroad programs to learn languages. That way you won't potentially feel as "behind" from the folks your age by taking an entire year off before or after college.

Just make sure you look at your degree program requirements and when certain required classes are offered. You wouldn't want to spend the fall abroad in your second year of college if that is the only time a class if offered that you need to have completed in order to enroll in other classes for the following years of your program. :-)

Go for the gap year! The personal growth, cultural knowledge, the people you will meet, the language(s) you will learn - all those experiences are priceless and right after High School is the best time for this. You worked so hard during the High School years and once you enter the work force you will work very hard again with relatively little time for traveling the world. I (having grown up in Europe) spent a year in France after High School, and did an internship in the US right after college plus numerous shorter stays in different countries. What I learned during those stays I could not have learned anywhere else.

In addition to the comments I made, I think' it's a great idea, especially in a developing nation. You will come to appreciate what we have in the US, while getting on the job training and experience, Go for it!