Getting Ready for College is about More than Finding the Right School

During Dynamy Internship Year "Students receive hands-on experience with everything from internships, outdoor challenges, one-on-one mentoring, community involvement and apartment life while learning to live independently." Students at Dynamy can take college courses at Clark College.

Gap Year at SOAR: "Participants are provided a structured environment in which they may pursue areas of interest and travel for the purpose of improving knowledge, maturity, decision-making, leadership, independence, and self-sufficiency. Participants will alternate between Residential Living  in Dubois, WY and Expeditions throughout the western United States."

Wanderrock offers summer and gap year international travel opportunities for young people who are neurodiverse.

Ingenuity Year is a Gap Year program created by the Forman School in CT.  The 2022 program explores Climate Change in Coastal Maine:  "Our gap year programming is designed to help students learn who they are as learners and as humans. We offer curiosity-based, hands-on experiences which are intellectually stimulating."

Youth can earn stipends and a Segal Education Award.  Many states also have affiliated programs, and there are summer programs too.  For younger adults, look particularly at Americorps NCCC, Fema Corps, and Americorps City Year.

Broadfutures helps connect neurodiverse young people with internships while providing them with tools to succeed.  Each intern is provided with training and paired with a mentor and a coach.

Nols Expeditions Most adventure trips range from 16-70 days in length.  Nols offers classes in Wilderness Medicine and "Leave No Trace Master Educator Classes" for young people.  These fill up, so sign up early!

Landmark TaC Year: Live on campus at Landmark College, work on your executive functioning skills, earn college credit, and develop a plan for the future.

Mitchell Thames Program: "Thames at Mitchell College is a holistic college transition program for students with learning differences or students who would benefit from additional preparation to succeed in college."

Dean Engage Program: "The program is designed to "help students learn effective communication skills, including reading and reacting to social cues and building healthy relationships through peer socialization. The program will also focus on learning self-care and balance, and effective academic planning and organization."

College Internship Program has locations in Lee, MA; Melbourne, FL; Bloomington, IN; Berkeley, CA; and Long Beach, CA

95% + of young people at CIP are in a college or degree program. 

"CIP’s programs uniquely address the needs of young adults with learning differences by focusing on the generalization of skills while living within a community of peers in a supported apartment living environment. Each student’s unique needs are met individually as they transition to independent living, college, and

College Living Experience has locations in Fort Lauderdale, FL; Denver, CO; Austin, TX; Washington, DC; Monterey, CA; Costa Mesa, CA; and Nashville, TN.

90%  of young people at CLE are in a college or degree program. 

"CLE students pursue their academic program or career of interest while also receiving services across the domains of independent living and social skill development." 

CLE provides internal academic support.

Mansfield Hall has locations in Burlington, VT; Madison, WI; and Eugene, OR.  

100%  of young people at Mansfield Hall are in a college or degree program. 

"Mansfield Hall is a living and learning community which provides residential, academic, executive functioning, social, and independent living skill support to students who are going to college."

Students live in the Mansfield residence and receive support from a team as they take classes as a non-matriculated student at a local college.

This is only the tip of the iceberg. If you are interested in locating a summer pre-college program, a gap year that offers college credit, or other summer/gap options, set up a meeting by email: afuturefocusguidance@gmail.com

Big Future is a popular research tool brought to you by the College Board.  It's very easy to use and includes search choices for colleges which offer programs like internships or study abroad and activities like choral groups, ROTC, or student newspapers.

A somewhat old fashioned site from the National Center for Educational Statistics, College Navigator provides data that isn't collated elsewhere  If you're looking for particular data like four year graduation rates, or average amount of aid awarded, or number of degrees awarded in a certain major in the past year, this is the tool for you. Includes links to college NET PRICE calculator.

Princeton Review is an old favorite.  You must sign up, but it is free for use and provides excellent information in a predictable format that makes it easy to gather similar data from a variety of schools.  Check out the Professors Interesting and Professors Accessible ratings under the academics tab and also their "rankings" lists of "LGBTQ Friendly" "Best Classroom Experience," "Best College Supports/Counseling," etc.

Campus Pride is an excellent resource for finding schools that are LGBTQ+ friendly.  Click on campus search to search by region, state, or name.  Make note of the factors that are included in the score.  LGBTQ+ student life and campus safety may be more important to you than LGBTQ academic life (courses or seminars on the topic).