Our programming at Semester Off has been designed with two distinct student populations in mind. The first population are those students who have tried but have been unsuccessful at navigating the various stressors and challenges which have come their way in college. The second population are those students who have recently graduated high school, but who know that they lack the tools they need in order to thrive and be happy in college.
With regards to students who have already attempted college or who experienced considerable hardships in high school, we work with the student and family to figure out where the student struggled most. For this reason, we seek students who are motivated to undergo this exploratory process with us.
Some of the most common reasons a student may enroll at Semester Off include the following (note that this is not an exhaustive list):
- Low motivation to pursue school or work opportunities
- Missing class, failure to submit assignments
- High social anxiety
- Difficulty making life transitions and adjustment issues
- Low self-advocacy skills
- ADHD and/or executive functioning deficits
- Excessive avoidant tendencies which may include excessive digital technology use
- Low moods, high anxiety, low self-esteem
- Entitlement
- Substance Use Disorders
- Bipolar Disorder
- Eating Disorders
- Oppositionality or challenges accepting guidance from teachers, tutors, therapists, parents, or others
- Learning differences/challenges
- Negative peer group
- Autism Spectrum Disorder (mild), Nonverbal Learning Disorder, other pragmatic language impairment
- Grief, trauma, loss
Our students tend to be sensitive and kind but at a loss. They yearn to do better but do not know how. They are often intelligent, funny, creative, and sincere. They sometimes feel bankrupt of all motivation and wonder if they will ever find their way and understand what it is they are supposed to do with their lives.
At Semester Off, we actively hand-select a group of students each semester that will ask these important questions with openness, support one another, and challenge one another while forging a lasting bond.
Where Our Students Have Studied
+ Secondary / High School
• Acton-Boxborough Regional High School (Acton, MA)
• Advanced Math and Science Academy Charter School (Marlborough, MA)
• Al Ain English Speaking School (Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates)
• Algonquin Regional High School (Northborough, MA)
• American International School, Dhaka (Dhaka, Bangladesh)
• Andover High School (Andover, MA)
• Archbishop Williams High School (Braintree, MA)
• Arlington High School (Arlington, MA)
• Arlington School at McLean Hospital (Belmont, MA)
• Arundel High School (Gambrills, MD)
• Austin Preparatory School (Reading, MA)
• Bay State Learning Center (Dedham, MA)
• Beacon High School (Watertown, MA)
• Beaver Country Day School (Chestnut Hill, MA)
• Belmont High School (Belmont, MA)
• Blue Hills Regional Technical School (Canton, MA)
• Boston College High School (Boston, MA)
• Boston Latin School (Boston, MA)
• Bourne High School (Bourne, MA)
• Bow High School (Bow, NH)
• The Brearley School (NY, NY)
• Brimmer and May School (Chestnut Hill, MA)
• Brookline High School (Brookline, MA)
• Brooklyn Friends School (Brooklyn, NY)
• Cambridge Rindge and Latin School (Cambridge, MA)
• The Cambridge School of Weston (Weston, MA)
• Canton High School (Canton, MA)
• Cape Elizabeth High School (Cape Elizabeth, ME)
• Catholic Memorial School (West Roxbury, MA)
• Champlain Valley Union High School (Hinesburg, VT)
• Chapel Hill – Chauncy Hall (Waltham, MA)
• Clonlara School (Ann Arbor, MI)
• Commonwealth School (Boston, MA)
• Concord Academy (Concord, MA)
• Concord-Carlisle High School (Concord, MA)
• The Corwin-Russell School at Broccoli Hall (Sudbury, MA)
• The Darrow School (New Lebanon, NY)
• Dover-Sherborn High School (Dover, MA)
• Dublin School (Dublin, NH)
• Forman School (Litchfield, CT)
• Fox Lane High School (Bedford, NY)
• Framingham High School (Framingham, MA)
• Franklin Academy (East Haddam, CT)
• Franklin High School (Franklin, MA)
• Gann Academy (Waltham, MA)
• Granite Academy (Braintree, MA)
• Groton School (Groton, MA)
• Grove School (Madison, CT)
• The Governor’s Academy (Byfield, MA)
• Hingham High School (Hingham, MA)
• Holliston High School (Holliston, MA)
• Hopkinton High School (Hopkinton, MA)
• Horace Mann School (Bronx, NY)
• Kimball Union Academy (Meriden, NH)
• Landmark School (Beverly, MA)
• Lawrence Academy (Groton, MA)
• Lexington High School (Lexington, MA)
• Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School (Sudbury, MA)
• Lowell Catholic High School (Lowell, MA)
• Maimonides School (Brookline, MA)
• Malden Catholic High School (Malden, MA)
• Mamaroneck High School (Mamaroneck, NY)
• Marian High School (Framingham, MA)
• Masconomet Regional High School (Boxford, MA)
• Massachusetts Academy of Math and Science (Worcester, MA)
• Massachusetts Maritime Academy (Buzzards Bay, MA)
• Medfield High School (Medfield, MA)
• Melrose High School (Melrose, MA)
• Milton Academy (Milton, MA)
• Milton High School (Milton, MA)
• Montana Academy (Marion, MT)
• Montrose School (Medfield, MA)
• Mount Saint Charles Academy (Woonsocket, RI)
• Mount Saint Mary Academy (Watchung, NJ)
• Nashoba Regional High School (Bolton, MA)
• Natick High School (Natick, MA)
• Needham High School (Needham, MA)
• New England Academy (Beverly, MA)
• Newman School (Boston, MA)
• Newton North High School (Newton, MA)
• Newton South High School (Newton, MA)
• Norfolk County Agricultural High School (Walpole, MA)
• Oliver Ames High School (North Easton, MA)
• Oliverian School (Pike, NH)
• Phillips Exeter Academy (Exeter, NH)
• Phillips Academy (Andover, MA)
• Pingree School (South Hamilton, MA)
• Poly Prep Country Day School (Brooklyn, NY)
• Ponderosa High School (Parker, CO)
• Principia Upper School (St. Louis, MO)
• Proctor Academy (Andover, NH)
• Ransom Everglades School (Miami, FL)
• Reading Memorial High School (Reading, MA)
• The Rivers School (Weston, MA)
• School One (Providence, RI)
• Sharon High School (Sharon, MA)
• Seattle Academy (Seattle, WA)
• Shortridge Academy (Milton, NH)
• Shrewsbury High School (Shrewsbury, MA)
• Sleepy Hollow High School (Sleepy Hollow, NY)
• Sparhawk School (Amesbury, MA)
• St. John's High School (Shrewsbury, MA)
• St. Sebastian's School (Needham, MA)
• St. Mark’s School (Southborough, MA)
• The Stony Brook School (Stony Brook,NY)
• Thayer Academy (Braintree, MA)
• Vermont Academy (Saxtons River, VT)
• The Victor School (Acton, MA)
• Virginia Allred Stacey Junior/Senior High School (San Antonio, TX)
• Walpole High School (Walpole, MA)
• Waltham High School (Waltham, MA)
• Wayland High School (Wayland, MA)
• Waynflete School (Portland, ME)
• Wellesley High School (Wellesley, MA)
• Weston High School (Weston, MA)
• Westwood High School (Westwood, MA)
• Wilbraham and Monson Academy (Wilbraham, MA)
• Willow Hill School (Sudbury, MA)
• Winchester High School (Winchester, MA)
• The Winsor School (Boston, MA)
• Worcester Academy (Worcester, MA)
• Xaverian Brothers High School (Westwood, MA)
• Yellow Wood Academy (Mercer Island, WA)
+ College / University
• American University – Paris
• American University – Washington, D.C.
• Arapahoe Community College
• Assumption College
• Barnard College of Columbia University
• Bard College
• Bard College at Simon’s Rock
• Bates College
• Becker College
• Bentley University
• Bennington College
• Blinn College
• Boston College
• Boston University
• Brandeis University
• Bridgewater State University
• Brown University
• Case Western Reserve University
• Champlain College
• Clark University
• Clarkson University
• Colby College
• Colgate University
• College of Charleston
• College of DuPage
• Columbia College Chicago
• Community College of Denver
• Community College of Rhode Island
• Cornell University
• Dickinson College
• Duke University
• Emerson College
• Endicott College
• Framingham State University
• George Washington University
• Gordon College
• Governors State University
• Grove City College
• Guilford College
• Hampshire College
• Harvard Extension School
• Hofstra University
• Ithaca College
• Keene State College
• Kenyon College
• Lafayette College
• Landmark College
• Lawrence University
• Lesley University
• Loyola University Maryland
• Massachusetts College of Art and Design
• Massasoit Community College
• MassBay Community College
• Merrimack College
• Messiah College
• Metropolitan State University of Denver
• Middlesex Community College
• Montserrat College of Art
• Mount Ida College
• Mount Wachusett Community College
• Muhlenberg College
• New York University
• Northeastern University
• North Shore Community College
• Oberlin College
• Occidental College
• Pace University
• Post University
• Principia College
• Providence College
• Quinnipiac University
• Regis College
• Rhodes College
• Rochester Institute of Technology
• Roger Williams University
• Salve Regina University
• Sarah Lawrence College
• Scripps College
• Sewanee: The University of the South
• Simmons College
• Skidmore College
• Smith College
• Springfield College
• St. Anselm’s College
• St. Michael's College
• Stonehill College
• State University of New York – Purchase
• Swarthmore College
• Syracuse University
• Tel Aviv University
• Temple University
• Texas A&M University
• Tulane University
• Tufts University
• Union College
• University of California – Irvine
• University of Colorado – Boulder
• University of Denver
• University of Illinois – Chicago
• University of Mary Washington
• University of Maine – Orono
• University of Massachusetts – Amherst
• University of Massachusetts – Boston
• University of Massachusetts – Lowell
• University of Missouri – Columbia
• University of Oxford – United Kingdom
• University of Pittsburgh
• University of Puget Sound
• University of Rochester
• University of Texas – Arlington
• University of Vermont
• University of Washington
• University of Wisconsin – Madison
• Vassar College
• Villanova University
• Wesleyan University
• Westfield State University
• West Virginia University
• Wheaton College (Norton, MA)
• Whitman College
• Worcester Polytechnic Institute