Is Taking a Gap Year Worth It?
After high school graduation, students face a pivotal decision: whether to dive straight into their college education or take a gap year to travel, take extra classes, or save money.
While taking a gap year before college or graduate school can be a transformative experience, one of the biggest concerns for students and parents alike is whether the benefits of taking a year off will outweigh delaying college. Let’s explore the pros and cons of taking a gap year to see if it’s the right choice for you.
- Gap year: Solo or group?
- Taking a Gap Year: Pros and Cons
- Pros of Taking a Gap Year
- Travel and see the world
- Gain new skills
- Make new friends and broaden your network
- Try new things and take new classes
- Mature and grow as a person
- Pushes you out of your comfort zone
- Looks good on college applications
- Real-world experience for your resume
- Cons of Taking a Gap Year
- Missing out on college life
- Waste of time
- It can be expensive
- Can be unstructured and unproductive
- Lack of support
- Making the most of your gap year
Gap year: Solo or group?
A common misconception about gap years is that students have to plan their own gap year. But that’s not the case: students can join gap year programs that include all the things they want to experience like international travel and learning new skills. With the aid of a structured gap year program, you can have the classic gap year experience while still preparing yourself to achieve future goals.
Taking a Gap Year: Pros and Cons
If you’re considering taking a gap year before starting college, here is some gap year advice to help you make an informed decision
Pros of Taking a Gap Year
First, let’s look into all the benefits of taking a gap year after your senior year of high school.
Travel and see the world
One of the biggest reasons young adults opt to take a gap year is the opportunity to travel, which is a central part of many gap year programs. After years of traditional schooling, you finally have the chance to set off on your own adventures, either solo or with friends. At the end of the year, you walk away with increased cultural awareness, a better knack for problem-solving, and a lifetime of memories. You may even learn a new foreign language!
Gain new skills
Taking a gap year gives you valuable new skills like self-confidence, independence, resourcefulness, organization, and leadership skills. Not only do these skills make you a more well-rounded and self-aware person, but they also stand out on resumes. You can also tailor your gap year to gain experience in specific areas, like sailing with Sea|mester and learn how to handle and operate a ship, navigate the open ocean, or become a PADI-certified scuba diver.
Make new friends and broaden your network
Gap year programs broaden your worldview by connecting you with new people from different walks of life or other parts of the world. Sharing new, exciting experiences and growing together as young adults, the friends you make during a gap year can be friends for life. They may also prove to be valuable connections in the future as you embark on your career track, giving you connections at different companies and organizations.
Kirstyn Guevara, who joined our 80-day Fiji to Bali voyage described the Sea|mester experience saying, “I wanted to be more with a smaller group in a community and I think that’s something Sea|mester did well. I got to see it was kind of like a little family.”
Try new things and take new classes
Just because you’re taking a break from traditional education doesn’t mean you have to stop learning. Whether you want to get a head-start on your planned college major by taking accredited courses or try something new, taking classes or participating in extracurricular activities can help support your education goals during your gap year.
Mature and grow as a person
Seeing the world, challenging yourself with new life experiences, gaining new skills: all these things aid in personal growth and help you mature into a well-rounded individual.
Pushes you out of your comfort zone
For many students, a gap year is their first foray into the world outside school. Pushing your boundaries and challenging yourself to step outside your comfort zone helps you learn and grow, expanding your horizons in new and unexpected ways like Kirstyn Guevara did. Growing up in rural Texas, Kirstyn didn’t have much experience spending time in or around the ocean before her 80-day sailing voyage with Sea|mester. Entering a new, unfamiliar environment, she expanded her horizons during her time at sea, growing both personally and academically.
Looks good on college applications
A productive gap year can really stand out on college applications, demonstrating ambition, motivation, discipline, planning, and other life skills that many colleges look for in applicants. Joe O’Shea, Dean of Undergraduate Studies at Florida State University, says that more colleges are supportive of productive gap years, as the students that then matriculate are more motivated, excited to learn, and have better academic performance. Many colleges, like Harvard, also actively encourage admitted students to take a gap year so they can travel or pursue special projects.
Real-world experience for your resume
Looking further down the road post-college to the start of your career path, the skills and real-world experiences you gain during a gap year can make your resume stand out. Studies have also found that having international experience on your resume, like a gap year or studying abroad, translates to better job opportunities and increased earnings.
Cons of Taking a Gap Year
While there are many benefits to the gap year track, there are some potential drawbacks to consider.
Missing out on college life
Taking a year off from school while all your friends start college can make you feel left out and isolated as you watch your peers share those rites of passage without you.
Falling behind
It can be natural to feel like you’re “losing time” in a gap year, whether it’s losing academic momentum or falling behind on your career path. But just because you’re on a different path doesn’t mean you won’t achieve your goals.
It can be expensive
From travel costs to program fees, gap years can be pricey. But so is college. Advanced degrees prepare you for life and work, which is why high college costs are considered a worthwhile tradeoff. The same is true for gap year programs: you’re gaining skills and experiences to help you thrive in the real world. To help make this accessible to more students, financial aid is a core part of many gap year organizations.
Can be unstructured and unproductive
Leaving school and the structure it gives to your life can be a jarring experience, which is why wasting time on an unstructured gap year is a valid concern. Taking part in a program helps keep you applied, productive, and working towards goals while also having fun.
Lack of support
Taking a gap year is an unconventional choice and not everyone in your life may be supportive. Family members, advisors, and admissions officers may question the decision and make you doubt yourself, especially if they don’t understand what you’re getting out of this experience.
Making the most of your gap year
As you can see, there are many benefits to taking a gap year, and most of the cons can be avoided with proper planning.
About The Author – Mike Meighan
Mike is Sea|mester’s Executive Director & Co-Founder and has over 25 years of experience running experiential education gap year and study abroad programs for high school graduates.