If you’re reading this, we assume you’ve heard the phrase “gap year” before, but might be a bit unsure what exactly it means, or maybe what the benefits are of taking a gap year. Or maybe you’re looking for help with how to plan out a gap year, or whether a gap year is the best choice for you.

This guide is here to help answer these questions!

We’ll walk you through:

What a gap year is
Pros and cons of taking a gap year
If you should apply to college before or after
Defining your gap year goals
Questions to consider
Planning out your gap year
Final thoughts

We even have a Downloadable Guide with exercises to help you define your gap year goals, research programs, and develop a timeline.

What is a gap year?

A gap year is a period of experiential learning, usually taken between high school and college. And to clarify, a “gap year” doesn’t actually have to be a year—maybe you take one full semester off before enrolling in college, for example. Gap years can take many forms—travel, internships, volunteer work, paid work, or classes for college credit. The options are endless!

We’ll get into this in greater detail below, but gap years can, if planned out well, offer students significant benefits with future education and career. Which is probably why colleges like Harvard and Princeton highly recommend them. Gap years can offer these benefits because they can give young people time to make better, more informed decisions about the path they want to pursue, and possibly give them experience to help clarify their goals.

A brief history of gap years

Gap years started becoming popular in the US in the 60s and 70s. Companies in the US and UK were created that began offering experiences like volunteer projects that would help other nations develop while also strengthening the students’ skills and understanding.

In the 80s in the US, gap years were promoted as a way for students to focus on growth and to develop hands-on skills. And with increasingly widespread use of the internet in the 90s and then the advent of social media websites, gap years developed into more of an industry.

In some countries, for example New Zealand or Norway, time off between the equivalents of high school and college or career are more the norm than the exception. While far less common in the US, gap years have steadily increased in prevalence as students, families, and universities have come to understand their value.

Should I take a gap year? Pros and Cons

Should you take a gap year? Maybe. That really depends on how well you plan it out, since gap year experiences can really vary. We’ll talk you through how to most effectively plan out a gap year below, but first, we’ll cover some potential pros and cons:

Pros

Recover from Academic Burnout

Taking a year off before starting college can give you the chance to decompress, recover from academic burnout, and enjoy not studying (at least in the traditional sense) for what may be the first time you can remember. After a year off, you’ll likely find that you feel even more motivated and excited to re-enter the academic sphere.

Explore Your Interests

Maybe you’ve always dreamed of improving your photography skills, learning Chinese, writing a novel… Whatever your passions or curiosities are, a gap year can provide the opportunity to explore on your own terms. Maybe you’ll start a job or internship in an area of interest, take a class, start a personal project, or something else entirely.

Develop Hard and Soft Skills

A gap year is a great time for developing valuable skills—the kind of skills that will help you immensely in college and beyond! You can learn a foreign language, master a new programming language, or grow your knowledge of permaculture.

You may choose to live in a different city or country during your gap year. Immersing yourself in another culture and language can be transformative. In addition to hard skills, you’ll develop invaluable soft skills, like independence and intercultural communication. (And while we generally don’t think you should pursue things just because they might look good to a college or future employer, it’s probably useful to understand that those soft skills are often valued more than your specific degree.)

Unsurprisingly, a gap year can be a wonderful addition to your resume, setting you apart when you apply to college or future jobs.

Save Money

A gap year can also be an opportunity to work or intern and explore potential career paths. Not only will you develop skills, you can save money for your education.

Another tip—if you have a younger sibling who’ll be entering college soon, taking a gap year could improve both of your financial aid packages. Due to the financial burden for a family of having two (or more) children in college at the same time, colleges tend to offer more generous financial aid packages.

Personal Development

Regardless of how you choose to spend it, a gap year means gaining life experience. It provides valuable time to mature before college, helping you enter college with more clarity on what you want out of the experience and feeling more prepared to take full advantage of it. And considering a huge proportion of students enter college unsure of what they actually want out of it, that kind of clarity can be super valuable.

Gap years help you develop resilience and grit, and grow as a thinker and individual.

Check out this podcast to hear more about the benefits of an alternative educational path.

Cons

Cost

Gap years can be expensive! As you explore taking a gap year, make sure to consider how to make it financially feasible for you and your family. That could mean working for part of the year or pursuing a work exchange. While some structured programs have high price tags, other programs actually give you a stipend or an education credit to apply to the cost of college later on.

Fear of Missing Out

Beyond the cost factor, FOMO is real. If all of your friends are going right off to college, it can be isolating to take a different path, even if that path may ultimately be right for you. As you look at photos and hear about your friends’ first years of college, you might feel like you’re missing out. But remember, it’s just a year! Taking a single year off school is unlikely to have any lasting repercussions on your academic or professional path.

Losing Academic Momentum

Another potential disadvantage is losing academic momentum. After a year out of the classroom, your study skills and motivation might suffer. However, recent studies do show that a gap year does not weaken young people's enthusiasm to study or their performance when they return to school. Instead, taking a gap year can actually improve your academic performance.

If you’re worried (or your parents are worried) about losing academic motivation, consider applying to college before taking a gap year and then deferring.

Should I apply to college before or after taking a gap year?

Again, the answer is: it depends. Which is probably not a super satisfying answer, but we think there are several important factors that you should take some time to think about (more on that just below). Choosing when to apply to college is a personal decision, and it’s important to find the right fit for you.

If you’re struggling with this question, take a minute to freewrite. No really, print our Downloadable Guide and grab a pen, or make a copy you can edit. What advantages do you see to applying to college before your gap year? What advantages do you see to applying to college after your gap year? Which one do you feel like would be a better fit for you?

Talk through these questions with someone you trust, whether that’s a parent, teacher, or mentor.

Pros to Apply to College Before

Most colleges, at least in the United States, allow students to be accepted and then defer their admission for a year. Applying and getting accepted to college in advance of your gap year means you don’t have to worry about college applications during your gap year, which can lead to a more relaxing and fun year. You may feel calmer knowing you have a plan for when the year comes to a close.

Additionally, if your parents are worried that you won’t go to college upon finishing your gap year, applying in advance can provide the security that you will start school the following year.

Bonus: some schools even offer gap year programs, like Princeton’s Bridge Program.

Pros to Apply to College After

An advantage of applying to college after your gap year is that you can use the first months of your gap year to better understand yourself and what and where you want to study. An internship in marketing, for example, may solidify your interest in the field or push you in a different direction. Realizing you aren’t actually interested in a field you were considering majoring in because you got some experience in it seems like a pretty great time saver.

Additionally, diverse experiences during your gap year may actually make you a more competitive candidate and provide you with compelling content for your application essays.

Finally, applying to college after your gap year can be a great back-up plan if it’s late in your senior year and you haven’t applied to college or you’re not happy with the colleges you were accepted to. But remember, college applications can be time-consuming so plan ahead to ensure you craft applications you’re proud of!

Defining your Gap Year Goals

After years of structured academics, planning out a full year might feel daunting. A helpful place to start is with your goals. Broadly speaking, most gap year goals fall into four categories: career exploration, travel, volunteer work, and paid work.

Take a few minutes to freewrite (like, for real—a bit of exploring in a quiet space can help a ton with clarity). Think back to what drew you to the idea of a gap year in the first place. Was it the desire to take a break from school? To explore your interests? To develop skills? To save money? What do you hope to get out of your gap year? Where do you see yourself when the year comes to a close? What are your goals for the year?

Your goals might be…

Start college with a clearer idea of what I want to study
Complete an internship in a career area that interests me
Leave my hometown and travel
Immerse myself in a different culture
Strengthen my foreign language skills
Participate in a meaningful volunteer opportunity
Save money for college
Spend quality time with friends or family

Narrow your free write down to one to three primary goals and write them down. These goals will serve as your compass as you plan out the year to come.

Questions to Consider

Once you have a clearer idea of your goals, you can start thinking about how you’ll achieve them. On the guide, you can find the following questions to direct your initial reflection.

Career Exploration

What career areas interest you? What career areas don’t interest you?
How could you explore them during your year off?
Are you interested in an internship, paid work, or college classes related to your career interests?

Traveling

Are you more interested in domestic or international travel?
What destinations interest you?
Would you prefer traveling to lots of different places or immersing yourself in one for an extended period of time?
Do you want to stay with a host family or in hostels and hotels?
Are you excited about strengthening your language skills while traveling?

Volunteer Work

What kind of volunteer work interests you?
What types of service work have you found meaningful in the past?
What skills or talents can you contribute to your community or other communities?
Would you like to volunteer in your hometown? Domestically? Internationally?

Paid Work

Is there an amount of money that you need to earn to sustain yourself during your gap year?
Do you have a current job that you’ll continue working at?
What kinds of work opportunities interest you?
Do you want to work in your hometown or elsewhere?

Planning Out Your Gap Year

One of the biggest questions as you plan out your gap year is how much structure you need to reach your goals. Reflect on the following questions in writing: How much support and structure do you want during your gap year? How independent are you? How comfortable do you feel traveling? Would you prefer to travel independently or with a group of other gap year students? Would you feel confident reaching out to organizations about volunteer opportunities or would you prefer to volunteer through a gap year program?

Gap year programs

There are tons of wonderful programs out there that can provide a little structure for your gap year. Programs range in their focus—from conservation work to travel to language study. As you research programs, take notes on the Downloadable Guide, noting the costs, dates, and what stands out to you about a given program.

Not only can gap year programs provide structure, they can also provide a sense of community, access to alumni networks, and even scholarships for colleges. City Year, for example, offers educational awards that can be used for college expenses upon completing the program.

However, gap year programs can be very expensive, so make sure to sit down with your family to discuss costs beforehand, and note the cost of each program as you research.

Don’t be afraid to choose a mix of structured and unstructured! For example, consider participating in a semester-long volunteer program before spending a few months traveling independently. This will allow you to gain confidence before pursuing more independent opportunities.

Gap Year Association and Go Overseas both have wonderful varied lists of gap year programs. They range from outdoor adventures with Downwest Semesters to career exploration with Dynamy Internship Year to international travel with Carpe Diem Education to studying abroad for a semester with Verto Education.

Another great option is to WWOOF (World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms), a program that links organic farms with volunteers. In exchange for working on the farm, volunteers often receive free housing and meals.

Work Away has a similar model, in which volunteers work in exchange for room and board. This type of experience can be a wonderful and more affordable way to travel and gain work experience.

AmeriCorps offers a gap year program, in which participants work with non-profit organizations around the US. Participants receive a stipend, health insurance, and opportunities for professional development and network-building through the year.

Logistics of a Gap Year

It can be helpful to think of your gap year like an academic year—the summer after high school, Fall semester, Spring semester, and the summer before college. Try drawing out a timeline and breaking it into these four chunks . Look back at your goals. What is your goal for each segment, and what will you do to reach that goal?

Once you have a rough timeline, you can move forward on the more immediate logistics. What can you start on now? Do you need to apply to a particular gap year program? Reach out to organizations to see if you can volunteer with them? Save money to fund your year off? If you’ve already been accepted to college, do you need to contact your college to request a deferral? If you plan to apply to college during your gap year, what can you get a headstart on?

Final Thoughts

Remember that there is no single right or wrong path! Whether you decide to take a gap year or not, the important part is that you find the best path for you. Trust your instincts and see this as an invaluable opportunity to better understand yourself and your passions. Happy gap year-ing!

Special thanks to Rachel for writing this blog post