The Benefits Of Taking A “Gap Year”
A really interesting perspective on the “gap year” (a year off from education taken between high school and college) from Victor Luckerson on Time.com:
“About 1.2% of first-time college freshmen choose to defer enrollment for a year, according to the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA. What these students choose to do with their time varies widely, from expensive study-abroad programs to volunteer programs to staying at home and saving up for college.
‘In 1980 no one was talking gap year,’ says Holly Bull, president of the Center for Interim Programs, a company that offers parents and students consulting in choosing the appropriate gap-year program. ‘I’ve watched this whole concept go basically from its inception to present day. I wouldn’t call it mainstream, but there’s way more awareness and support, and colleges are now beginning to endorse it as a really positive thing.’
With over 20 years of experience researching gap years, Bull has seen students work everywhere from outdoor-education centers to Scottish castles to elephant sanctuaries. She says the students that go to her are often looking for a break from the academic grind. The gap year can provide young people with an opportunity to learn what type of adult they want to be. It can also help them gain more focus so they don’t have to spend extra years — and tuition dollars — figuring out the answer to that question on a college campus. ‘I’m definitely hearing from families that it’s harder to consider these colleges’ tuitions with a student who seems so uncertain,’ she says.
Bob Clagett, a former director of admissions at Middlebury College, says taking a gap year can help students gain a renewed focus on academics. ‘By stepping off the treadmill, they frequently remind themselves of what their education is all about,’ he says. ‘They kind of reinvent themselves.’
He’s done research to back up the claim. At Middlebury, students who took gap years were found to have higher GPAs than those who didn’t, even when controlling for things like wealth and high school achievement. A study at the University of North Carolina yielded similar results.
The idea that formal education has to be a sprint from age 5 to 21 seems to be changing. Says Clagett: ‘Getting a job for a year, even if it’s flipping hamburgers, still can be a productive experience and can help students just do something other than think about what they have to do to get into college.’” Read more here.
Do you know a student who took a gap year, and was it a positive experience?
Yes—me! And this was before the concept of “gap year” was really a thing–way back in 1969. I’d been admitted early to UC Berkeley through a program for high school juniors that no longer exists. After attending classes on the Cal campus during my senior year of high school, I sensed that I wasn’t really ready to tackle the Big U full time. Got a 9-5 job with the telephone company, and after a year I felt as though I could handle it. I was sort of right about that! Some kids definitely need a growing up year–or a break from academics.
Many of the programs I’ve seen for gap years are prohibitively expensive for most families, though. As a former college counselor, I’m familiar with a variety of them. What worked for me may not be right for every kid, but I certainly learned many important life lessons during my “free” gap year! Overall, I would say mine was a positive experience.
I think the crucial issue here is there is a lot of work & life experience to be achieved on your gap year. The customers on our ski & snowboard training courses are experiencing new cultures, meeting new people and learning new skills that results in recognised qualifications. Indirectly, they are growing up, doing their own laundry & cooking, budgeting, networking, fending for themselves and in another country far from home. Our courses can, and often do, lead to a career in snowsports but if he/ she chooses to then go on to tertiary education or a more conventional career, the qualifications gained in the mountains of Canada, France, New Zealand or the States will hugely stand out on a CV. A lot of students are coming out of uni these days to find no jobs or they are missing out to those with work experience too. Taking a gap year in any area of occupation can only add to job prospects that you might not get staying in University constantly for 3-5 years