While many students attend college directly after graduating from high school, some students choose different paths. Some are jumping into the workplace, some are pursuing additional education outside of college, and some are taking a gap year. But what is a gap year and is it beneficial or detrimental to students?
Taking a gap year after graduating high school is becoming an increasingly popular option for students looking to take a break before starting college. A gap year provides students with time for self-reflection, personal growth, and gaining real world experience outside of the classroom.
What is a Gap Year?
A gap year refers to a period of time when students take a break from formal education to pursue other opportunities. Typically, a gap year lasts about 6-12 months and occurs in the year after graduating high school and before starting college. However, a gap year can be taken at any point throughout a student’s academic journey.
The most common gap year activities include
- Traveling
- Volunteering
- Interning or working
- Pursuing a passion project
The key benefit of a gap year is that it allows students time for self-exploration and personal development outside of the structure of traditional academics A gap year can help provide clarity and direction moving forward
Reasons to Consider a Gap Year
There are many excellent reasons high school graduates may want to take a gap year before starting college
Gain Maturity and Life Skills
A gap year promotes independence and maturity as students navigate new environments and situations on their own. Handling logistics like travel, finances, and decision-making helps students gain real world skills.
Explore Interests
A gap year provides freedom to pursue interests that may not fit into a packed academic schedule. Activities like volunteering, interning, or developing a business idea allow students to gain first-hand experience in potential career fields.
Improve Academically
After years of nonstop academics, many students experience burnout by the time they graduate high school. A gap year offers a much needed break and can renew motivation to perform well when starting college.
Make an Informed College Choice
Rushing to choose a college straight out of high school can lead to selecting the wrong school. A gap year provides time to thoroughly research colleges and make the most informed decision.
Manage Application Stress
Applying to college can be extremely demanding. A gap year eliminates the stress of applications, testing, essays, fees, and acceptance anxiety.
Affordability
College costs continue to rise every year. Spending a gap year working and saving money can help offset some of the expense of higher education.
Popular Gap Year Ideas
There are endless possibilities for how to spend your gap year. Here are some of the most popular ideas students choose to pursue:
Travel
A gap year is the perfect opportunity to experience new cultures and places through extended travel, especially right after high school graduation. You can backpack across Europe, teach English abroad, or volunteer at an orphanage in Africa. Travel helps broaden perspectives and expands comfort zones.
Work
Spending your gap year working allows you to start earning an income and saving up money for college expenses. Working also looks great on college applications and resumes. Popular jobs for gap year students include waiting tables, retail, childcare, internships, freelancing, or helping with a family business.
Internships
Interning full-time is an excellent way to gain valuable work experience in a potential career field like healthcare, business, engineering, writing, or technology. You can search for meaningful paid or unpaid internships that align with your interests and goals.
Volunteer
Volunteering offers the chance to give back while also developing new skills. You can volunteer locally at places like animal shelters, hospitals, schools, or community organizations. There are also many international volunteer programs where you can make an impact abroad.
Start a Business
If you have an entrepreneurial spirit, a gap year is the perfect time to start turning a business idea into reality. Starting a business as a young adult helps develop useful skills like marketing, accounting, project management and more.
Creative Passions
If you have a talent in the arts, use your gap year to immerse yourself in dance, music, writing, photography, graphic design or any other creative interest. The flexibility of a gap year empowers you to pursue artistic goals.
How to Make the Most of a Gap Year
Follow these tips to ensure an enriching and meaningful gap year experience:
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Set clear goals and make a plan. Decide what you want to accomplish and map out action steps to achieve it. Build in flexibility for spontaneous opportunities too.
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Line up funding sources. Determine how you will finance your gap year early on. Save up money from a job, look into financial aid, or crowdfunding platforms.
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Look for programs. There are many reputable gap year programs that provide structure, guidance and placements for students.
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Build key life skills. Focus on developing confidence, independence, time management, communication, budgeting, and problem solving.
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Pursue passions. Carve out time for unique experiences that excite you and align with your interests or goals.
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Prepare for college. If you plan to attend college next, make sure to research schools and fees during your gap year.
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Keep learning. Take online courses, learn a language, teach yourself to code or explore any topic that enriches your education.
Gap Year Timeline
If you decide to take a gap year, use this general timeline to help plan out your break:
Winter & Spring of Senior Year
- Solidify your plan and pitch it to your parents
- Start researching gap year options and programs
- Apply for financial aid or gap year funding if needed
- Apply for summer jobs, internships, etc.
Summer After Graduation
- Work and earn as much as possible
- Finalize gap year plans and lock in program dates/logistics
- Apply for visas or passports if needed
- Prepare for your gap year activity like packing, reading, lessons
Gap Year
- Fully engage in your chosen gap year experience!
- Work, volunteer, travel, intern, or pursue your passion project
- Reflect on your growth and set new goals
- Research colleges if you plan to apply soon
Spring & Summer Before College
- Wrap up your gap year activity
- Send college applications if you haven’t already
- Compare financial aid packages and make your final choice
- Transition back home and get ready for college
Are Gap Years Right for You?
While a gap year is a smart choice for many students, it does require a great deal of self-motivation, planning, and initiative to be successful. Consider these factors to determine if taking a gap year aligns with your needs:
You learn well independently – You will be directing your own education during the gap year.
You manage time effectively – Juggling gap year activities takes strong time management skills.
You feel burned out on school – A gap year reenergizes academic motivation.
You want new life experiences – A gap year allows immersive cultural experiences.
You need more time to choose a college – You can make the best college choice after a gap year.
You have clear gap year goals – You’ll get the most value from a structured, goal-oriented gap year plan.
You can afford a gap year – Look into financial aid and budget wisely for your gap year.
Taking a gap year after high school graduation is becoming more popular as students recognize the value of stepping outside of academics to develop real world skills and self-awareness. A gap year empowers students to explore interests, gain global experiences, improve academic performance, make informed choices about higher education, and so much more. With proper planning, a gap year can be a transformational experience leading to a much more fulfilling educational journey overall.
Difficulty Returning to School
Taking a gap year can result in some difficulty in returning to school. The National Student Clearinghouse Research Center found that of those students who took a gap year in 2020, only two percent chose to enroll in college for the fall 2021 semester.Â
Part of this could stem from gap-year students getting out of the habit of doing schoolwork and going to classes, thereby losing their academic momentum. They may also not want to give up an income (if the person is working) or time with their friends and family.
Another reason may be because the individual feels intimidated when applying to college after a gap year since they no longer have contact with their high school counselors and teachers and feel as if they lack the necessary academic support.Â
Without the built-in deadlines of academia, students may lose motivation for formal learning. Students need to hold themselves accountable to move constantly towards their goals and to live each day with purpose. Yet, if they have an unstructured gap year and do not have a concrete plan for their time, then they may lose momentum and purpose.
Gap years can cost significant money, particularly if the student decides to travel. Some travel researchers estimate that gap year travel costs can vary between $5,000 and $40,000 per person, although the costs depend upon location, activities, travel style, and accommodations.
A student who takes a gap year may feel isolated from their friends who are attending college. Seeing friends having college experiences may also cause the gap-year student to feel as if they are falling behind their peers.
For some students, taking a gap year can be a good choice, particularly if they use it for building their skills, expanding their horizons, finding clarity in their interests and career choices, and saving money. However, a gap year can lead to wasted time, numerous costs, feelings of isolation, and a loss of academic motivation. Students should discuss the idea of taking a gap year with their family and academic advisors so that they can determine if it is the right option for them.
What is a Gap Year?
A gap year is a period of time (usually one or two semesters) that students take after graduating from high school to engage in experiential learning, which is when students participate in hands-on experiences in order to âlearn by doing.â A gap year can also refer to a period of rest after high school graduation to lessen a studentâs feelings of academic burnout or to tend to oneâs mental or physical health.
Gap years have become increasingly common, but there are some benefits and considerations to think about before you and your student answer the question: âShould I take a gap year?â
A gap year should increase participantsâ self-awareness, allow them to learn about different cultural perspectives, and enable them to explore their passions and possible careers. These explorations may include internships, apprenticeships, jobs, volunteer work, or travelling.Â
Learning Coaches and parents can help students find such learning opportunities and use resources available to help students get the most benefit out of their gap years. For example,
the Gap Year Association offers accredited gap year programs to provide structure and plans for studentsâ gap years. Connections Academy also offers students resources to pursue Career and Technical Education (CTE) courses and can help parents and Learning Coaches find options for students to explore their passions as well as prepare students for how to apply to college after a gap year.
Ideally, this exploration should lead to greater clarity and focus for a student regarding what they are interested in and what career they want to pursue. For example, if a student is thinking about a career in working with the elderly, then they can volunteer or get a job at a local retirement home to see if they enjoy the work and if they are passionate about it enough to pursue a college degree in gerontology, medicine, or community health science.
It is no secret that college can be pricey, with the average annual tuition for four-year public institutions being $9,375 and $32,825 for four-year private institutions in 2021. Students who may not have the funds to pay tuition costs, but do not want to accumulate debt, may use their gap year to get a job and save money for college.
A gap year is a great opportunity to build skills that will help students in their desired careers. For example, if a student wants to be a veterinarian, then they may want to work at a veterinarianâs office to learn skills for helping animals.
Skill building can also be useful if studentsâ GPAs are low, because students can point to their relevant work experiences and skills to take the focus off of their GPAs in their college applications and portfolios. Excellent work experience and skills may also indicate how a student has matured and is ready to pursue college.Â
The aforementioned benefits allow students to return to academia with additional knowledge and experiences, which may give them advantages when applying to college after a gap year. Indeed, some advice for how to apply to college after a gap year is to use the experiences and skills that a student has learned to show colleges that the student is truly passionate about their intended career, has clarity regarding what they want to do in life, and has the necessary skills to succeed in a collegeâs program and, ultimately, in the studentâs chosen career field.
However, despite these possible benefits of a gap year, there can be some challenges to consider.
Gap Year: A Path to Purposeful Education | Jay Gosselin | TEDxKanata
What is a gap year in college?
The two most typical gap years are as follows: (1) after a student completes their senior year of high school, before applying to colleges, and (2) after a student completes their senior year, after they’ve already been admitted to college (s) but instead chose to defer their enrollment by one year.
Should you take a gap year after high school?
Some people may want to go directly into college or the workforce if they’re confident in what they want to study or what type of career they want to build. However, even if someone knows what they want to do after high school, taking a gap year in between can still help enrich their academic, professional and personal development.
Can a gap year help you get into college?
A Complete Guide to the College Application Process. O’Shea says a gap year can help motivate and inspire students and better prepare them for college. He notes that the “natural break” between high school and college is an ideal time for students to “pause and reflect” and explore options before their studies begin.
How many students take a gap year?
The Gap Year Association, an Oregon-based nonprofit that helps students access gap year opportunities, estimates that on average, between 40,000 and 60,000 students take a gap year each academic year. That number rose to an estimated 130,000 students during the 2020-2021 school year, according to the organization.
