Advice on taking a gap year

College Confidential Community
1

<p>Towards the end of high school i realized i wasn't happy with how i handled senior year, applications, etc. I decided i was going to take a gap year since i needed time to reflect and think about what i'm going to do. I didn't get any scholarships. In fact, the only thing i really got was grant money/work-study options from a school i didn't like. But to be fair, i didn't enter any legit scholarships, They were mostly non-essay scholarships.</p>

<p>As summer started to end i felt bad about the amount of schools i applied to and the lack of scholarships. I felt like my classmates were moving on and i was going nowhere. </p>

<p>Obviously i planned on using my time productively. So in the past few week I've been getting a clear understanding of what i want to do with my time. I've been focusing on freelance work. I've even managed to make some money so far, but i'm still unhappy. It seems like i have to work extremely hard just to get something. I'm willing to work as hard as i can, i just want to make sure it's all worth it.</p>

<p>Does anyone have experience with taking a gap year? If so, what did you do during that time to prepare for college?</p>

2

<p>I took a year off between high school and my first degree and it was the best decision I could have made. I got to work, take a break from classes (I was a really involved in high school AP’s etc, and was really burnt out) and really get a sense of what I wanted to get out of my college experience. I applied to a bunch of schools in that year, really looked at all of them and was able to take my time and make the correct decision about where to go without the pressure of time. If I could do it again, I would have traveled more, maybe done a study abroad or such since it was not possible for me later in my college time. If you are already feeling like you need some time off than you probably need some time off. I would suggest making a plan/timeline of how you will spend your next year, complete with all the deadlines/ scholarship applications/school tours/etc so that you do not slide into that trap of never going back/not having a set schedule like you did in high school anymore. Good Luck!</p>