<p>I’m curious.</p>
<p>what do you want to do do afterwards? med/grad school? what kind?</p>
<p>advantages: more time to get experience related to your field
disadv: more time before you get out working (but I think this is a small consequence)</p>
<p>taking a year off when? between undergrad and grad/prof school? or during undergrad career?</p>
<p>All. I’d like to hear about all the possibilities.</p>
<p>this question is too hard to answer. you have to at least say what direction you’re thinking about</p>
<p>for law, the trend is towards taking a year off. some ppl encourage it, encourage you to do something that you’ve always wanted. once you go to law school, you will get a job and start your career. you won’t really have the chance to do something like travel for a year, humanitarian work, etc</p>
<p>I’d like to hear more about taking a break during undegraduate career. Like taking a break between 2nd and 3rd or 3rd and 4th year.</p>
<p>I think the biggest con about taking a break during your undergraduate degree is that once you leave, it might be difficult to come back. I’ve heard a couple stories about people that take breaks and then never finish…</p>
<p>why do you want to take a break in your undergrad?</p>
<p>Access career direction before graduating, general vacation before getting into workforce, etc</p>
<p>I think the riskiest part of taking a break during undergrad is you lose momentum. I know a couple of people who tried this and never finished. (Well, one of them came back, but now can’t find her rhythm and I don’t know if she’ll ever graduate.) Wouldn’t it be better to take a break after undergrad, before grad school or career?</p>
<p>So aside from a lack of motivation, it’s all good? I wouldn’t use the year to slack off(considering how I usually spend my summers), so I don’t think that’s a problem.</p>
<p>well make sure you plan out what you’re doing for that year. Because when grad school and future employers see that you take an year off, they will be curious as to what you did that year and why you took it off. It would look really bad if your answer to them is that you just wanted a break.</p>
<p>Then again, I’ve heard of plenty of people who take a break and return to school invigorated.</p>
<p>I’ve been thinking about this, myself. The practice of taking a gap year between college and grad school and/or high school and college, is supposedly commonplace in Europe… but not here. Here are some pro’s and con’s that I can think of, though it pertains more specifically to a transition year between college and career/grad school.</p>
<p>PROS
-Gain additional experience to solidify career goals or identify appropriate grad programs
-Have unique experiences before “settling down” to grind of grad school or full time job
-Study for GREs, etc
-Travel or work in a different country/state/city
-Have the opportunity to “give back” to society</p>
<p>CONS
-Poor reception by family members who might initially think you’re just slacking off
-Remuneration for the “year off” tends to be low or nonexistent, and in some volunteer, service, or work abroad programs, there will be fees for participation
-Health insurance may have to be purchased privately
-If you do not meticulously research and plan your year off, the event may end up to be a waste of time
-Grad school admissions reps and potential employers will inquire about the year off, so you need to be able to effectively communicate the value of your transitional year or else you may put your admission/employment in jeopardy</p>