The Pros & Cons of Taking a Gap Year

By Melissa Cornetta / Dec 11, 2020

Nine months after the Coronavirus pandemic shocked the world, undergrads are still readjusting to campus life. The majority of classes are online, and students are learning from home, yet tuition is the same. On university grounds, everyone must wear a mask and stay distant. As a result, millions of 2020 high school graduates have chosen to take a “gap year.” Instead of starting college in August, they decided to wait a year and begin next fall. Most teenagers use this time to work, travel, volunteer, discover themselves, reapply to colleges, and take an educational break. Here are the pros and cons of taking a gap year, which is trendy in 2020.

Pros

  • Gain experience in the real world during adolescence
  • Acquire responsibility and independence
  • Learn to save money
  • Maintain adult liabilities and finances
  • Expand your network
  • Meet people who will give you a broader perspective of life
  • Make memories and stories
  • Hand’s-on learn through new situations
  • Gain a better sense of yourself and the world
  • Obtain self-confidence
  • Become more mature
  • Receive a mental break from learning
  • Life experience will help you find your passion and major
  • You could discover that your intended major isn’t for you
  • Realize you prefer trade school or the military
  • Recharge your excitement for the classroom
  • There are programs for students taking a gap year
  • Some universities provide preferred admission, financial aid, and course credits for those who have taken a gap year
  • Attend college after the pandemic is over
  • Prevent worrying about Covid while at college
  • Work a part-time or full-time job
  • Volunteer
  • Get involved in something you believe in
  • You will have time to do something for yourself
  • Travel! Even though that is currently limited
  • You can add the experience, travel, and work on a resumé
  • Stay close with friends who didn’t attend college or are local
  • Avoid missing out on family gatherings

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    Pros Pros

     

    Cons

  • Family might not be supportive of your gap year
  • Postpones graduation and starting a professional career
  • For fields that require many years of college, being a year behind is not the best option
  • You could forget what you learned in high school
  • A decline in writing and research skills
  • Making the transition back to school is rough
  • Fall behind your peers academically
  • Be the oldest student in freshmen classes
  • Lose interest or motivation to attend college
  • You may become too comfortable with your low-paying job and not reconsider higher education
  • So many people can’t afford and want to go to college. You have the means, but not the desire.
  • It is harder to find a job during the pandemic
  • Colleges are temporary less crowded, meaning there are smaller classes
  • You can catch Covid from working or traveling
  • Traveling can become an immense financial toll (more than tuition)
  • Maintaining a long-distance relationship can be a burden and cause mistrust
  • You might rather travel with your significant other when you are older and financially stable
  • Traveling can make you homesick
  • There’s potential to waste a lot of time
  • Wrong intentions: attend parties, rejection from a dream university
  • The uncertainly can be stressful
  • Involves endless planning (travel, work, money, reapplying to colleges)
  • Loss of scholarship or athletic opportunities

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    For more information, visit:

  • Here Is Why You Need To Take A Gap Year After College
  • The Best Gap Year Programs You Should Consider Today
  • 4 Crucial Considerations Before Taking Time Off College

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    Sources:

  • The Pros and Cons of Taking a Gap Year (students.org)
  • The Pros & Cons of Taking a Gap Year (gooverseas.com)
  • PROS AND CONS OF TAKING A GAP YEAR (globalcitizenyear.org)

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