As the school year begins to come to a close, high school seniors are faced with lots of choices for their future. While the majority of seniors will choose to attend a college or university in the fall, a smaller—but increasing—percentage will decide to take a gap year.
Gap years are something the majority of students may not give a second thought to, as it veers from the traditional path of high school, college, job. But out of hundreds of gap year alumni—college graduates who took a gap year—surveyed by the American Gap Association in 2015, 81% said they would recommend taking a gap year to someone considering it. The most compelling reasons to take a gap year are often to gain life experiences and increase readiness for college, and there are many avenues through which gap year students pursue this goal, such as through travel, experiential learning, internships or jobs.
Madison student Tessa Berg (’24) plans on taking a gap year overseas before starting her college career.
“During my gap year, my plan is to work at the U.S. embassy for the second half of the summer,” Berg said. “It would be an intern-like position that gives me the chance to learn about the internal processes of an overseas embassy. In the beginning of 2025, my plan is to live and take language classes in Kyoto, Japan. I am fascinated with Japan and Japanese history and I would like to spend my gap year learning the language so that I can better understand the culture.”
In fact, many successful people took gap years, figures like Steve Jobs and Elon Musk. While their success may not be attributed directly to their gap year, the majority of those who take gap years do report that they believe it helped increase their readiness for college and guided their path of study for college. This is often because gap years give students time to develop soft skills such as communication, teamwork and adaptability, as well as better understand their own passions and interests. Additionally, while some students believe it may be difficult to return to an academic path after a gap year, most gap year students end up going to college within a year of their gap and have an average graduation time of four years.
“I have not decided [what college] I want to go to yet, but I plan to accept an admittance this year and defer until the fall of 2025,” Berg said. “So, when I get back to the U.S. in August of 2025, I already have a spot held at the school I accepted the year before.”
When considering a decision like this it is important to keep in mind that the benefits of a gap year do not come by simply taking time off, but by purposefully creating a year that will help you develop personally and return more ready to pursue your formal education. Some examples of gap year endeavors include participating in service projects abroad, traveling the world or simply working a job close to home.
Furthermore, many platforms, such as Go Overseas, offer a wide variety of gap year programs that students can participate in or use as a guide to plan a gap year on their own.
“I’ve done a lot of research online, that’s where I found the language school I would like to go to, but I’ve also gone to two gap year fairs,” Berg said. “There, I learned about different programs and gap year counselors that could help you go just about anywhere in the world and do almost anything you would want to during your gap year.”
From volunteering for a conservation project in Peru to teaching English in South Korea, there are hundreds of options for students to choose from or gain inspiration to forge their own path.