Has anyone taken a gap year before starting college or even while in college? Is it worth it? Did it have any impact on your future, like did your gap year affect your college applications or even work in the future (such as a gap on your resume)? Thanks!
Worth it - depends on what you want to do with that time?
I never did - I was going into college right at the start of Covid. I had a few friends that took a gap. Maybe because of covid and not much open but all were looking forward to getting back to school.
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it is really common, especially in the Covid era but, I agree, it really depends why you took it and what you did with it.
Many kids grow dependent on the income and have a tough time getting back into the ‘student’ mindset.
Tell us a little about your situation for more tailored advice.
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@JoJoLi, my son took a gap year before college and said he was glad he took it. He was tired after his senior year (hard work and a medical problem that needed surgery). He actually applied for college during his gap year. He said he felt more mature than some of his classmates because of the extra year of maturity and his choices were better. He also was glad he was rested.
It never affected anything with respect to jobs etc. He got into quite a few very good colleges.
I didn’t take a gap year between college and grad school and wish that I had.
I encouraged my daughter to take one. She didn’t. She transferred after the first semester, though that was not due to immaturity or not taking a gap year, but I saw her maturity amp up a year later.
I’d highly recommend it.
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@shawbridge Thanks so much for sharing! Gap Year sounds like a good thing to do, I was just worried that it would affect my future if an admissions person or a potential boss would ask why there was a year gap on my resume. Anyhow thanks for sharing your kids experience
@NCalRent Thanks a lot for sharing! I just worry that taking a gap year might affect my resume or college application, when they ask where I was that missing year.
Didnt think about this but you’re right!
@Luckyjade2024 Thanks a lot!!
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The question of worth comes down to you. Do you feel ready to tackle college? Would you benefit from some time to refresh and reset? Do you have a plan for your gap year? Work? Travel? Volunteering? Are you happy with your college choices? Be aware that if you want to apply as a freshman you can’t take classes during your gap year or you will be considered a transfer student.
Many kids take gap years. It won’t affect your college trajectory unless you allow it. Colleges don’t ask specifically about your gap year but it does come up as far listing your ECs/activities. Seems unlikely that you’d do nothing during that time, and college apps are due January and transfer apps are due mostly around the beginning of March.
My D took a gap year after her freshman year (2019) because of COVID. She had zero interest in zoom university. She was also attending a school in the UK at the time and had misgivings about the academic fit. She took classes, did an online internship and applied to transfer during her gap year. Current she is having an amazing experience as a sophomore attending her new university in the US.
As others have said, much depends on what you plan to do that year.
If you decide to take a gap year then be careful to find out for colleges you are considering if taking a class or two (which some students might want to do just to keep their hand in academic waters) is ok. For example at the UC schools if you take even one community college class during that gap year then you are no longer eligible to apply for frosh admission.
Also some colleges offer admitted students the opportunity to defer admission for a year. For example Harvard used to make that offer in their admission letters to every student (don’t know if they still do, but I doubt it has changed).
It all depends upon what you do with it. I urged my kid to take a gap year after high school to study kid’s special interest with a master of it, abroad, because I was afraid that schools wouldn’t have started back up in-person. I was also afraid that the application round for admission for fall 2021 would be hypercompetitive, since so many people had taken gap years last year, and so was urging kid to apply not for fall 2021 and then defer, but apply for fall 2022. But kid pointed out that kid was afraid of losing academic momentum, was afraid that if they stepped off the treadmill, they’d never be able to get going again. I couldn’t blame them.
Other child said that the students who had taken gap years were clearly far more mature, far more self-confident than those who hadn’t.
If you know what you want to study, and are very eager to get started, then no gap year. If you’re totally burnt out, and have no idea what you want to do at school, then exploratory gap year. Plan it well. Maybe work/study in another country, becoming fluent in the language you studied in high school, doing work in a field that you might eventually be interested in studying. Try to do things that allow you to explore various interests, to find academic direction.
Gap years are really common in the UK, not so much in the US it seems. My son is going to take one, and we encourage it. He is going to work for the first part, save money and travel, exploring the world a bit.
I think the important thing is to have an specified end to the gap year, so it doesn’t turn into 2 or 3 years… My son is applying this year as a senior and will defer for a year, to enroll at university Fall of 2023. Many universities will allow this, but some will not. Fingers crossed this works out for him because he doesn’t want to be dealing with the stress of applying for college during his gap year.