Many students when asked “Where are you planning on going to college” hesitate because they don’t know what they want for the future. Those students then come to the decision to go to college undecided or take a gap year. Although needing time to decide what you want for the future isn't the only good reason for taking a gap year. There are lots of pros and cons with taking a gap year after high school. Should you consider taking a gap year?
There are many benefits that taking a gap year could provide. Taking a gap year will give you lots of opportunities that you won’t get going to college right after high school. One reason is needing more time and experience to decide what you want for your future career. You can use the time to volunteer or take on an internship. An extra year will give you more time to reflect and focus on what you want. Another reason is traveling. A gap year can be the perfect time to travel and see the world before you go to college and start your career. A third reason is so you can prepare for college. Whether you need time to mentally prepare yourself for more years of school or financially wise.
While there are lots of benefits there are some downsides. One downside to gap years is lost earning potential. A gap year will set your schooling back a year meaning you will start your career later therefore losing out on possible money. Another disadvantage is losing academic momentum. During high school you get used to going to class, taking tests, writing papers, and other homework. Taking a gap year could throw off your studying skills. Getting back on the school routine could be challenging.
If I was a senior right now, I would take a gap year. I don’t know what I want for my future career so it would benefit me more to take a gap year instead of going to college undecided. I would spend the year exploring different possible jobs I would be interested in to get a feel for what I like and what I don’t. That way I can be certain I will be happy with the job I go into.
Would you take a gap year if so how would you benefit from it?
How would you spend your gap year?
Replies
It would be super nice to be able to just start college right away so you can get it over with and start your career. However once you start your career it might be harder to get long periods of time off to have a fun vacation. I think that is why so many people take a gap year to travel that way once they get their job they can just settle down and focus on work.
I think that I would take a gap year if I could to prepare myself for military baselines and gather some more finances by continuing to work. I was just wondering if you would loose a chance for scolorships.
A gap year would be very good for preparing yourself weither mentally or phsically for the military. Is there a rule or something that if you are planning on going into the military it has to be right after high school? I believe that losing your scholarship would depend on the scholorship itself, some you would lose, some you wouldn't. So if you were wanting to do a gap year definitely check and make sure you won't lose it.
I don't think I will take a gap year because I want to start my career as soon as possible. I would also feel behind in my classes if I was a year older than everybody else, and that sounds terrible. If I do take a gap year, it would be to get more money and experience.
I do think that starting your career later then you could have is a huge downside, but I don't think you would really be "behind in your classes". I think that because college is a lot different from high school it isn't as separated by ages and some people go to college longer then others, so you could still graduate with some people your age.
I have thought about this question many times in recent months because it is an interesting topic for both sides of the argument. For the people that go straight into a higher level of education, are not getting to experience the same real-life experiences of that of someone who has taken a year off. However, some of those who take a year off go into a full-time job and end up not going to school and get stuck at that job for life.
It is a very difficult choice since either way you will lose out on something. Although if someone who decided to take a gap year and spend it working instead of traveling got a full time job job that they wanted to stay with, wouldn't that be beneficial. and if they didn't like the job couldn't they just leave and go to college and get a different job since when they originally got the job that was their plan anyway?
I don't think I would take a year gap. I want to start and end college as soon as I can so I can start my career choice early on in life. I don't really like school very much, so I feel like if I were to take a year gap, I wouldn't want to go back to school. If I took one, I would definitely go on trips and give myself time to figure out who I am, and who I want to be. I would use that time to figure stuff out.
In my opinion i think this wouldnt be a bad idea, taking a gab could be very beneficial for me in many ways but i feel like for me it would be better to just to a cosmitology school right after highschool. i feel like if i take a gab years i wouldnt be as motivated to go anymore.
It really wouldn't be such a bad idea, especially if you don't know what you want to do for your future career. It could be very fun and eye opening. Maybe you thought you wanted to do something do its not whta you thought or you find something else that interests you more.
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