The College Student Gap Year
Is it Smart to Take a Year Off for Adventures After High School?
Jul 18, 2008
For high school graduates in the U.S. and around the world, one of the hottest trends is to take a "gap year" in between high school and college. The gap year is exactly as it sounds -- it's postponing college for a year and spending that time doing something else. Some students simply live at home and work during the year, but others use the time for all kinds of adventures at home and abroad -- teaching, volunteer work, outdoor adventures, ecotravel, missionary work, and you name it. In fact, a whole cottage industry of organizations have sprouted up to help students plan elaborate adventures during their year off.
Is the gap year the right choice for you? Here are some advantages and disadvantages to postponing college and taking a year off.
Advantages to the Gap Year
A change to mature before college. In high school, you probably learned quite a bit about how to be a good student -- but you didn't learn all that much about life experiences. Gap years give students the chance to learn responsibility. Whether you're planning a trip around the world or working as a store manager, you're going to be fending for yourself as an adult for the first time. When it comes time to live in a dorm and handle the stresses of colleges, these hurdles may seem far less challenging to you than they do to other students.
A chance to regroup. High school can be a very stressful time for students. Between preparing for college academically and searching for the right school, many students are pretty beat by the time they graduate. Changing course and doing something besides school for awhile can be a much needed break psychologically.
A chance to see the world outside of high school and college. You've never done anything before besides be a student -- and if you go to right to college, that won't change. Spending a year doing something else will help you gain new perspective on everything in your life, including your studies. Imagine how much more meaningful that Latin American history class will be if you went to Costa Rica during your gap year. Or imagine how different your psychology class will seem if you've spend the year getting to know lots of different kinds of people.
A chance to figure out what you want. Not sure what college to attend? Or if you want to attend at all? A year off can help you think things over.
Impressive material for a college application. Want your application to stand out? Spend a year doing something unique, and discuss in your personal essay how the experience changed you.
Money issues. It's not secret that college is expenses. Depending on what you do during your year off, you might be able to save money.
Disadvantages to the Gap Year
Losing momentum. For some students, a year off can be a refreshing breaks that helps you get into the swing of things in college. However, it also takes you away from the classroom experience, so you might be rusty when you get back.
Being a year behind. A year off will put you a year behind your classmates. If you're planning to go to grad school or professional school, it will put you a year further back on a long educational process.
Money issues. Some gap year experiences don't require money (like working for a year) or are inexpensive (like teaching abroad for a year). But others can be quite costly and can be an added expense to an already costly college education.
Problems with organized trips. Some of these new gap year companies have been criticized for doing too much to help students organize their gap year adventures. After all, if someone does all the work for you, how does that help you learn responsibility?
Weighing Your Options
A gap year is not the solution for everyone -- but neither is going right to college after high school. This new trend may be what you need to help you start your adult life off in a unique and fruitful way.
