While many students head directly to college after graduating from high school, a smaller cohort chooses an alternative: a gap year.
What may have previously been seen as an unconventional path has become more accepted in recent years, particularly since the COVID-19 pandemic. When colleges either shut down or moved to virtual learning, many students opted to defer enrollment and take a gap year, experts say.
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The Gap Year Association, an Oregon-based nonprofit that helps students access gap year opportunities, estimates that on average, between 40,000 and 60,000 students take a gap year each academic year. That number rose to an estimated 130,000 students during the 2020-2021 school year, according to the organization. High school counselors, students and parents are becoming more aware of the variety of options after high school and seeing the benefits of taking a gap year, says Jennifer Sullivan, founder of Fast Forward College Counseling.
“It’s not an all-or-nothing now,” she says. “You’re not just going to college or you’re going to work. There’s a lot of in-between. There’s a lot of gray area where some students do choose to take a gap year or to take a gap semester, then decide that they’re ready.”
What Is a Gap Year?
The Gap Year Association defines this educational interlude as “a semester or year of experiential learning, typically taken after high school and prior to career or postsecondary education, in order to deepen one’s practical, professional and personal awareness.” Some students elect to take a gap year in the middle of pursuing a degree.
Typically, students use this time to travel, work or volunteer and figure out what they want to study when they do eventually go to college, experts say. Some students may be experiencing burnout and are taking a break to focus on their mental health.
While experts say the concept has long been popular in Europe, it has grown in the U.S. more recently. One major boost came when former first daughter Malia Obama announced in 2016 that she would take a gap year before attending college, which caused the term to spike in Google searches that spring.
Experts suggests the move not only introduced many students to the concept but gave them social permission to pursue it.
“A gap year, if done right, can position you really strongly for college,” says Cathleen Sheils, senior associate director of college counseling at New York-based Solomon Admissions Counseling.
How Gap Year Experiences May Vary
For high school students or graduates considering a gap year, the options are plentiful and include structured programs or self-guided exploration.
The Gap Year Association, which accredits numerous programs, lists experiences with a focus on ecology, animal welfare and conservation, language studies, coding, cultural immersion and a variety of other topics.
Another option is AmeriCorps, which offers a number of service programs throughout the country for those 18 or older. Students who participate are eligible for benefits such as a living allowance and an education award that can be used to pay off loans or put toward future tuition.
Students may also elect to work during a gap year, either to make money for college or to earn college credit through an internship.
“The best gap years tend to be the ones that push students to think about who they are and their role in the world,” says Joe O’Shea, associate provost and dean of undergraduate studies at Florida State University and author of “Gap Year: How Delaying College Changes People in Ways the World Needs.”
[Read: A Complete Guide to the College Application Process.]
O’Shea says a gap year can help motivate and inspire students and better prepare them for college. He notes that the “natural break” between high school and college is an ideal time for students to “pause and reflect” and explore options before their studies begin.
“Often you see students who struggle in higher education because they don’t have a sense of purpose and direction,” O’Shea says. “Gap years — because they give students a broader sense of the world and their place in it and how they can contribute — help to supply and empower students with the kind of motivation and purpose that can animate their entire college experience.”
How a Gap Year Affects College Admissions
If students are considering a gap year, they should go through the college application process as a high school senior as if they’re planning to attend right away, rather than waiting to apply during the gap year. It’s much easier to complete college applications when students are still in school and have the help of counselors and teachers, says Colleen Paparella, founder of DC College Counseling.
O’Shea suggests that high school students considering a gap year research whether the colleges they’re interested in support that effort.
Experts typically recommend that students not divulge gap year plans on their college applications or before being admitted. But students can reach out to admissions offices to find out their general policy on gap years. “We definitely tell them this is not something you want to advertise at the time that you’re applying, because that’s not going to make you a more attractive candidate,” says Paparella. “Not to say they won’t get in, but it’s just going to make things more difficult.”
After being admitted, students might want to have a formal conversation with an admissions officer about considering a gap year.
While it’s rare for colleges to deny a gap year request, it’s common for them to want more information about why the student is taking a gap year, and they may require paperwork, Paparella says. Some schools have policies for how students can take their gap year. They might require students to check in mid-year to make sure the plan is still on track, or they could stipulate that students can’t take classes at another institution, she says, as that could possibly change their status to a transfer student.
Generally, students can then defer enrollment, paying a deposit to retain their spot and enrolling after their gap year. Keeping in mind that the decision day for most colleges is May 1, Paparella says students should wait until they are absolutely certain about taking a gap year to fill out any forms from the school, but to still be cognizant of their timeline to allow for alternate plans to be made.
“Somebody who feels like a gap year is a great idea in September of their senior year might feel very differently eight months later,” she says. “We say just keep your options open. Don’t disclose that now, and when you’re sure you want to do it and you have schools you’ve been admitted to, you can go ahead and ask for a gap year.”
[READ: How Colleges Choose Which Students to Admit.]
Some students, however, take a gap year because they weren’t admitted to their desired school but are intent on attending that institution. A gap year is a way for those students to rebrand themselves and stand out among other applicants. Those students will reapply either during or following their gap year, says Sheils, who previously served as director of admissions at Cornell University.
Colleges expect to see more maturity and perhaps more direction from those applicants, she says, and there needs to be some connection between how students spent their gap year and their future academic goals.
“Not every gap year is created equally or is seen by admissions officers as credible,” she says. “What you’re looking for is, what did they do during that gap year to actually grow their academic profile?”
How to Know if a Gap Year Is Right for You
Students should not take a gap year simply because they’re putting off their next step. Whether their plan for that year is to work, travel or recharge mentally and emotionally, students should have a specific reason for taking time off.
“They need to have a very clear idea in mind about what they’re going to do afterwards,” Paparella says. “I would definitely never do this and keep it open-ended at the end. That’s not going to work.”
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Some students, Sullivan says, are deterred from taking a gap year because they don’t want to be behind their peers academically and socially. Some might regret missing out on certain college experiences that their friends are having.
Experts say students should determine what motivates them, what their long-term goals are, and whether or not they can make it work financially. Formal programs offering travel or internship opportunities can cost more than $50,000 on the high end, although students may pay less due to scholarships and other financial aid, O’Shea explains. And for low-income students, certain programs may be subsidized to enhance affordability.
O’Shea notes the need in higher education to support gap year students and points to scholarship funding from FSU that aims to do so through its Gap Year Fellows Program. He believes such initiatives are making the gap year concept more available to students with limited financial means. While gap years have been the domain of middle-class families and above, O’Shea thinks that is changing as enrichment programs become more affordable.
Money aside, students need to determine how a gap year will ultimately help them.
“I have worked with individuals who have taken a gap year to focus on their mental health or passions (such as art or teaching English abroad), which has helped them gain perspective, different skills, and mature emotionally before returning to academics,” Lindsey Giller, a clinical psychologist with the Child Mind Institute, wrote in an email. “These individuals can then begin school with newfound confidence that may not have been possible had they gone to college straight from high school.”
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How a Gap Year Prepares Students for College originally appeared on usnews.com
Update 11/29/22: This article was previously published at an earlier date and has been updated with new information.
