Is taking a gap year a bad idea?

happymomof1
Sun, 29 Mar 2015 13:15:34 +0000

If you are burned out, then it really doesn’t matter if there are or aren’t money issues. You should be taking the time off anyway.

As for the home-state issue: Take yourself to maps.google and check out the possible routes from some of the public universities in KY to your grandmother’s place in NC, and then read through those universities’ websites. They may not be quite as awful as your parents fear. It is important for you and your parents to know that the academic job market is very tight. There are terrific professors to be found everywhere because the colleges and universities can be extremely picky about who they hire.

If what your parents object to about KY is something that isn’t specific to the universities themselves, but that would make your experience at one of the universities more challenging than necessary, then yes, maybe you want to take that into consideration.