To take a year off, or not?

molliebatmit
Wed, 15 Oct 2008 20:44:53 +0000

I wish I’d taken a year off – I went straight from undergrad to grad school, and while I was very set on that course of action at the time, I think I would have benefited from a year where I wasn’t going full speed ahead all the time.

But I wouldn’t have considered taking a non-research job if I’d taken a year off. That’s not for the sake of admissions, but because I think it’s useful to use the year as a prep year for grad school, for deciding which areas of research are interesting, and that sort of thing. Essentially, I think it’s most useful to treat a research year as a preliminary rotation.

People who take a year off often find it useful to gather letters and take the GRE while they are still in school.