If I don’t get into a target in a few weeks I want to do a gap year. But when I sort of drop hints to friends or friends parents I got a dismissive / sarcastic “oh, ok Malia Obama.” Like it’s not even taken seriously that someone in the top 10 or 20% of the school would delay beginning college (mostly, I think, because college is so fun and everyone wants to start a-sap). Upper middle class area.
I know Princeton, UChicago and a handful of other super selective colleges encourage gaps and even have their own organized offerings but I don’t think those are even popular. Doesn’t seem like there’s anyone or anything pushing gap years to the mainstream so they become more acceptable? Or maybe it’s diff where you all live?
Most top colleges - Harvard included - encourage gap years. They know students are more engaged after a year of experiential learning.
In life, most people climb on the hamster wheel and follow the beaten path of lemmings and sheep. Follow your own path, do what is right for you. Don’t worry about what others say or do.
That said, I think gap years are best for those who have reasons for doing them which have little to do with their college admissions decisions. Do it because you want to explore something new that you can’t do in a classroom. Taking a gap year is no guarantee that you’ll have more success in applications the following application cycle.
What do you mean encourage? What are you basing your post on? I couldn’t find anything on google revealing how many H admits actually take a gap year. If it was a significant # it seems they’d brag about it, right?
You didn’t look too hard. It took me 5 seconds to find the quotes below.
"Harvard College encourages admitted students to defer enrollment for one year to travel, pursue a special project or activity, work, or spend time in another meaningful way—provided they do not enroll in a degree-granting program at another college. "
“Each year, between 80 and 110 students defer their matriculation to the College.”
“Lower class” gap years, typically work or military service immediately after high school due to no immediate intention to go to college, but going to college some years later as a non-traditional student, have been common for decades.
“Upper class” gap years of some organized enrichment activity besides work do not seem to be that common, other than in forum chatter here of what to do if the student gets shut out or has medical or other issues that prevent college attendance immediately after high school.
Given the numbers posted above, that’s 5-6% of Harvard’s class each year which isn’t insignificant nor is it a case of “what to do if the student gets shut out”.
Gap years are fine if you have a plan and a way to fund it. Make sure you are on the same page with your parents as even if you work, the bulk of support with be from them.
@calmom not really point of this thread. just curious if gaps are becoming more common or not and how are they perceived where you all live. thank you.
What other people think about a gap year is immaterial. What matters is whether one is a good idea for you. Ignore the nay-sayers. If you were in Australia most of your friends would be taking a gap year.
Note that Harvard uses the term “defer.” Applicants who apply and get in an then defer entrance for a year and take a gap year with Harvard’s official sanction.
It is also okay to wait to apply but it is much easier to apply in senior year, get in and then defer. Easier to get recommendations, and easier to get applications in while still home and not working or in the wilderness or trekking in Europe or working full time or whatever.
Some kids take gap years for negative reasons but many take a gap year for positive ones. And some high achievers are burnt out from all the pressure in high school and need to take a breather to regain energy. it varies.
I don’t know why you think gap years are “weird” and wonder why you are asking: are you considering one?
ps I do think it is useful to differentiate gap years for financial reasons, for uncertainty about further schooling, for health reasons etc.- particularly class differences. In my town a few kids seem to go to Costa Rica to work in an orphanage, and they are not paid, may even be paying. Ditto wilderness programs, WOOFing, many other formal gap year programs. But there are affordable ways to do a productive gap year as well.
Yes. From what I have seen among people I know, “lower class” gap years (work or military service, often followed by college as a non-traditional student) are common, but “upper class” gap years as discussed on these forums are much less common.
@aboveaverage – you asked how gap years are perceived. How they are perceived depends on the reasons for the gap year and what the perso is doing-- so that’s why I asked what your plans are.
@ucbalumnus, It might be clearer if you used upper and lower income as descriptors instead of upper and lower class. You make good points, but I think the reasons you list for gap years taken by lower income students are too limited. I think gap years are normal and there are many reasons for them.
Many of the low income families I know see college as an absolute necessity and they have every intention of attending college, but they don’t have the resources. Students take a gap year to raise money for college expenses (to buy a car, pay for insurance, etc.). Some lower income students take gap years because they aren’t sure what they want to major in and they know they can’t afford to waste their limited grants.
Lower income students do sometimes decide to take a gap year or two to travel before going to college. When I was younger gap year trips we’re generally cross country road trips, but the students I know now are saving for places like Hawaii and Europe. I think families are encouraging these types of activities because it makes their children’s resumes a little more similar to the middle income students they’ll be competing with for spots at college and in the job market.
Lower income students volunteer too. They aren’t generally doing it on trips to India like an upper income student I know, but they are active. Interests differ, of course. Some are involved in environmental causes, others volunteer in soup kitchens or get involved in social interest groups. The reasons and activities vary, but I agree that gap years have been common for decades. We just didn’t have a name for them.
Why are you talking to friends and friends parents about this? I would suggest you stop doing this. The ONLY people you need to discuss a gap year with…your parents.
Back in the Stone Age…a lot of kids took gap years…I suspect that has been happening all along, but we didn’t have social media to spread the news.
What makes you think you won’t gwt accepted to ANY colleges? Did you apply to any sure things that are affordable…that you would like to attend? If not…think about THAT as well.
I’m a bit bothered by this upper and lower income split that that people are using. We are an upper middle class, full pay family, but we are not rolling in money. My S19 is an average student who doesn’t know what he wants to major in, and who, at times, seems unmotivated. We have discussed a gap year for him. Let him work a year, mature a bit, and maybe get some direction. I’m certainly not spending my money so he can have an enrichment experience. He can spend the year working a minimum wage job and then understand why people go to college. This doesn’t fit neatly into either the lower income or upper income buckets that people are describing.
Not only does Harvard (and Chicago, and many others) explicitly encourage gap years, but Harvard (and Chicago) also has a practice of admitting a few dozen applicants every year on condition that they cannot enroll until the September after the coming September. That’s the so-called “Z-List” admissions.
I don’t think gap years are “totally normalized” to the extent they are in Europe or Australia, where I think the majority of kids now take them, but they’re common enough not to be “kinda weird” either.
Stanford encourages and supports gap years. I heard around 40 to 50 kids do it. My kid felt he could not pass up 1 year of free study abroad opportunity. Stanford or any school can wait.
I’ve often wondered though how that works out for students planning on pursuing STEM degrees. Does a year out of school make first year math and science courses more difficult as much material from high school may have been forgotten in the interm? Studies often cite learning losses during summer break which usually averages 2 months. What happens when you take a whole year off?
There is a difference between being admitted and taking a deferment for a gap year and not getting in and taking a gap year to improve your chances. What you do with that gap year would be very important in improving your chances to top schools or even targets that reject you. Otherwise, you may be better off going to a school you are admitted to now. You say you are waiting on target schools, hopefully you want to attend those schools.