Benefits Of Gap Year Essay Example

For many people, having a break between high school and university gives them the ability to have fun before entering the next serious part of their lives. With gap years, high school graduates have the chance to earn a bit of money, boost their self-reflection, and improve their resumes. While many people say gap years derail students from their education plans and are more geared towards wealthier people, it does show people who take gap years often perform the same or better than those who hadn’t taken gap years. While going to university right after high school helps it get it done and over with, there are many personal and professional benefits that gap years give you.

With gap years, many students can earn money before entering university, boost their self-reflection, or improve their resumes. As Crelin says in his Article “Points of View: Gap Year”, they wrote, “As academic workloads and expectations increased at all levels of schooling, more high school students showed interest in using a gap year for personal reflection, to boost their résumés or both.” Here they show that as the choice of gap years becomes more popular, high school students chose to do so choose it because of the chance of helping with personal reflection and to increase info to add to their resume. Also Crelin also wrote, “...with educational commentators suggesting that students could benefit from taking a year off before college to assess their career goals, learn valuable academic and professional skills, and earn money to prepare better for college and the job market.” With this quote, the writer states that many students who take gap years often have more academic success in university. Having a job and earning money gives the student a headstart. Students having a boost on their resume and a better reflection on themselves and their lives can be a couple of benefits of taking a gap year.

Many uninspiring reasons for no gap years are that it derails students from their education route and gap years are geared toward the wealthier section of society. According to the article, “Counterpoint: Taking a Gap Year”, it states “Critics of the practice also argue that taking a gap year can derail students' educations altogether, making them less likely to finish college than those who enroll in higher education immediately after high school.” Though it makes sense that students could get off the educational route, as there is a gap between learning in high school and university, and with it costing quite a bit of money, especially if the student is planning to travel or go abroad, making it seem like it is geared to wealthy people who want a gap year. Within an article in “Counterpoint: Taking a Gap Year”, a University professor by the name of Johns Hopkins found that there was a 64% less likeliness to finish their bachelor's degree compared to those who started right after high school in a survey that was made. Again, it is said in the article “Counterpoint: Taking a Gap Year”, “In addition, those critical of the practice argue that most formal gap year programs are geared toward wealthy, privileged students and are largely inaccessible to lower-income students.” Stating that the gap years, the most proper gap years for students, is customized for the wealthier status of students, the ones with a financially stable family. As for stereotypical gap year is abroad and outside of the state or country of the student’s home.

Despite it being geared towards the wealthy and can derail students of their education route, it doesn’t make it impossible for students to perform equal, or even better than non-gap year students and choice of major comes easier. In an article titled, “Gap Year: What Does the Research Say?”, wrote, “According to a study of GPA results by Robert Clagett, the former Dean of Admissions at Middlebury College, gap-year students tended to outperform in college by 0.1 to 0.4 on a 4.0 scale, with the positive effects lasting over the entire four years.” With this study, it becomes clear that despite it being geared towards wealthier students and the possibility of derailing students, the students determined to go to university have positive results of scoring a bit higher than their non-gap year counterparts. The fun fact about this is that it doesn’t last for just a couple of months, but has shown lasting results over the four years of university. In another article written by Gallagher, they stated in their article “When Clagett controlled for the academic rating and looked at the actual academic performance of students who took a gap year compared to their predicted performance based on their academic rating, students who took a gap year almost always over-performed academically in college(...)” Alike the previous statement, a study of GPA and scores between gap year students and non-gap year students, again shows that they still perform better academically. It shows that even though some gap years can be quite hefty for financial reasons and potentially take some motivation away from the student, it has quite powerful benefits as they go onto university and even afterwards. There can be other benefits besides the previously mentioned. According to the article “Should I Take a Gap Year?”, it publicly states,  “The time spent reflecting and learning about potential interests can help students make a more informed decision when picking their major and connect better with their selected field. One study reports that 60% of students felt their gap year influenced their major.” With the added benefits of a boosted resume, better self-thought of one’s self and reflection, better GPA and scores, students can have a great deal of more time to consider what major, and potentially minor classes they want to pursue. Allowing students to have more confidence in themselves, as they had time to get to know themselves, and able to have more focus on studies they want to pursue.

Students of gap years can boost their self-reflection, earn money, or improve their resumes. Many people believe that gap years derail students’ motivation and the route of their education journey along with gap years strictly for the wealthy. Even though many believe gap years derail students of education and motivation and are more for the wealthy students, students can perform the same as or even better as students without the gap year. Even though some people will choose to do university with no gap year, choosing a gap year has many personal and professional benefits.