This is a huge decision to make, and so I would really appreciate any help and advice I can get from like-minded people. Thanks   I am 18 years old, and a high school senior in the US. I will be graduating in June. I have done everything right, really high grades, really high standardized test scores, good applications, and have applied to around 18 colleges. I have heard back from around half of them, and have gotten into all of them. Some were more selective, like Reed College and Soka University of America, but most of the elite ones I applied to, like Johns Hopkins and Stanford, don't release admission decisions until late March. I could enroll at a school this upcoming August, 2020, but at most schools, I could easily defer my enrollment and start August 2021.  I've been doing this actualized.org type stuff for around 2 years, meditating, kriya yoga, a 10 day retreat, psychedelics, holotropic breathwork, personal development stuff, reading books, etc. etc. I think this has naturally brought me to hold a more integral view of the modern university system, and I'm sure you have great insights about it too.  For a while I thought I wanted to do psychology, I figured that anything to do with meditation and psychedelics would fit within that department, and so from whenever to a year or so ago, I thought I would maybe become a researcher or professor. As time passed, I became disenchanted with this idea, and have now got to a point where I see no way this could be my life purpose, with the limiting structure of such jobs, and the whole academia thing lol. I have taken the Life Purpose course btw, and I came up with either this psychology idea, or another one, about permaculture, sustainable and healthy agriculture. Ultimately, I decided I need more life experience to determine a life purpose, or at least a small bet. So this permaculture and gap year thing come together. I am almost 100% certain I will take a gap year after high school. After reading books about health and the modern food system, researching these things, etc. I think my life purpose may be to help transition the earth to a higher consciousness food system. I am deeply inspired by ecovillages, permaculture farms, such as Joel Salatin, the ecovillage of Raw Healing Mastery on youtube. I am also inspired by a countless amount of other ecovillages that exist all around the world. I have researched these extensively, when thinking about a gap year. I have also applied or reached out to dozens of places in Latin and South America, such as Rancho Mastatal, the Sat Yoga institute, the Yoga Farm, among many others. So, to explain this gap year thing: I am pretty good at Spanish, I want to travel around Latin and South America, volunteering/ living in 2 to 3 different places, for a few months each. I imagine myself, with my 15 months, spending around 8 learning permaculture and experiencing it, this will be my 'Small Bet'. I will spend 1 to 3 months in meditation retreats, such as those run by Dhamma.org, the Sat Yoga institute in Costa Rica, I could also do some camping, which would save money and be flexible within my schedule. I would spend the rest of the time saving up money, or just chilling and self actualizing, treating the remaining months as a regular student would treat the summer between high school and college. This whole gap year could cost anywhere from $3,000 to $8,000. I have around $4,000 saved up from working, and I plan to work more to save up more. My parents have also said they would be willing to help, which is great, so I think this could be very affordable. I believe this would be well worth the investment, as it would give me great experience and time to decide on whether or not I want to go to college. I hope that this whole broader context will make clear what the benefits and costs of college would be for me, but let me explicate. I got a huge scholarship at Soka University of America, $34,000 a year, and it would cost only $18,000 a year. This would be a little over half the cost of the state schools for Wisconsin and Minnesota, where I reside, and around a third the cost of many elite institutions like Reed College and Johns Hopkins. This is so affordable for my parents, that I would not even go into debt. No debt would eliminate one of the worst potential cons. A pro would be that I might simply have more opportunities, depending on what my life purpose ends up being. The biggest con of college would be that it could stifle my growth. I could learn and grow so much towards my life purpose in a gap year of a big small bet with permaculture, meditation retreats, and reading on my own. I worry that college would take such a great deal of my energy and time, although summers would allow me a few months for meditation retreats and other woke shit. I have noticed that I have put a lot of emphasis on making the 'right decision'. I think it may be a better mindset to emphasize that either way, I can do great things, work towards a great life purpose, and neither decision will ruin my life.   So overall, I don't want an answer to some specific detail, but overall advice given all that I've said. On the other hand, here are some pointers: Should I go to college? A gap year may help me figure this out and buy time, but still, given what we know now, should I go? Is this gap year business a good idea? Cost? Time? Dangers?  Do you have any recommendations for places to go? I have spend a lot of time researching this question, and have realized there are so many options. If anyone could point me to good ecovillages, farms, or places to meditate, I would greatly appreciate it. Latin and South America is the idea, but hey, if you know of a majestic place in Hawaii or India, maybe that's the move.   I think I will start a thread in the High Consciousness resources for a list of ecovillages & of meditation retreats, if they don't already exist. Any kind of help would mean so much to me, and I so deeply appreciate you if you just read this whole thing