Gap Year Plans?

[Varrack 1,080]

A gap year is traditionally a year that some students take between high school and college. It's meant to be a break from scholarly studies and an opportunity to go volunteer, travel, go on an internship, etc. Some people take it during or after college too.

 

Here are a lot of programs specifically for people taking a year off: 

http://www.gooverseas.com/gap-year

 

Are you planning on taking a gap year in the future? If you've already taken one, what did you do?

 

 

[PiratePony 8,489]

Here's my two bits:  If it was me, I wouldn't travel. Travel when you're working - make living and vacation a part of your work career. My best travel times were when I was a teacher. Granted, you have tons of weeks off as a teacher, but you can rock your vacation like a pro when you're an adult and working, plus you have the money to do it. Don't get yourself in debt, especially credit card debt, when you're already in debt from school most likely.  It's a lot more satisfying when you take a vacation where you can pay it off on your next credit card statement than if you rack up that debt and pay high interest for months (or years....don't do this). 

 

If I was to rewind and take a year off between high school and college, I would find something that's in the field of study that I plan for college. I would go to a job in that field, and take any job you can, even if it's the janitor. Something that gets you in the building. Try to climb up to something in that time - meet the coworkers, see the environment. Maybe get two P/T jobs, one in a completely unrelated field that you're maybe on the fence about. That might steer your education to a major change, or even a double major. Who knows - you might find that you don't need the college experience, or you can keep this job part-time while in school and have a bright future ahead of you at that company when you graduate. 

 

And if you do go to a four-year university and are off in the summer and are fortunate where you don't have to work...that's 4 summers of travel/volunteering/etc. you can do that equals a year off that you would have done. 

[Jeric 46,880]

I did travel for a few months after high-school and before entering college ... but I was with family so that doesn't count as far as a GAP year. The closest I got was a brief period between PSU and UCF due to moving to Florida after my first semester in college. I ended up accelerating my studies when I resumed. Word to the wise, don't do this. Don't take a break. Use your breaks to travel and volunteer. 

 

I was recruited by Ford straight out of college back in '99 so I never had the opportunity of a GAP year post college. I actually ended up getting a BSc while employed with Ford because they paid for it. As it turns out, I was not happy in the world of business ... so I basically took a GAP decade in a sense. I just finished a post-bac surrounded by pre-med types like myself. I bring this up because taking a GAP year after a pre-ed undergraduate was a common point of discussion. Some were struggling getting the EC's they needed for a competitive graduate application. The general consensus was to use the break to do something specific in your field such as research or absent that ... volunteer, intern, and shadow. 

[Luna 831 466]

I say you never want to take a gap year.Best to get schooling done first then have days of when your established.

[EpicEnergy 23,245]

I'm like taking gap years right now, as I haven't been in college in a long time.

[Splashee 28,596]

Maybe a Pokemon gap year. I need to keep watching from Season 10 and forward.

[Stone Cold Steve Jobs 22,501]

Depends if I had a source of income. I gots to make ends.

[Lucky Bolt 35,218]

I didn't take a gap year. I graduated high school in May of 2019 and then started college that following September. 

[Splashee 28,596]

I have no plans to do a gap year from this forum.

 

I've always wondered what it would look like to have one of those "last visited: Forever ago date" profiles that I have visited so many times.