Now that the semester’s in full swing, there are days when every girl wishes she were far, far away from exams, drama and overcrowded dorms. What if you could make this wish a reality? Taking a gap year between high school and college is a popular option (check out Karina’s account of her adventures from India to Italy). However, an increasing number of collegiettes are choosing to take time off during the college years. So why take a gap year? Is a gap year during college right for you? Read on for stories from girls who have taken a gap year themselves.
Why Take a Gap Year?
To Travel and Gain Perspective
After Maya’s sophomore year at Harvard got off to a bad start, she found herself increasingly frustrated with college life. Between less-than-pleasant social situations and not enjoying her classes or extracurriculars, Maya felt that college wasn’t helping her on the path to reaching her long-term goals—or figuring out exactly what those goals were. “At the time I thought I wanted to go into music, so I figured the best way to figure out whether that was true would be to leave Harvard and just try to be a musician,” Maya says.
Instead of retuning to college for her junior year, Maya left cloudy Massachusetts behind for a music program in sun-kissed Milan, Italy. “Milan was my fairy godmother,” Maya later wrote in an op-ed for The Harvard Crimson. In Italy, she developed practical skills that included cooking, looking after an apartment and searching for a job. “I learned another language so much better than I would have in any classroom,” she says. Additionally, she also became accustomed to making friends with people of backgrounds different from her own. Overall, she learned how to function independently without the safety net of college life.
Maya had been stressed out and constantly busy at college, so the slower-paced Milanese lifestyle was a welcome change. “If I wanted to just sit in a cafe with a cup of coffee and people-watch for three hours, I did. If I wanted to go to another city for a weekend and not take any work with me, I did. I didn’t worry about homework or grades or summer jobs or my future,” says Maya. After a year of introspection in Italy, she returned to school. Although Maya decided against a career in music, her gap year taught her to reclaim happiness and find satisfaction in life, an enlightening lesson that helped her through the rest of her college years.
To Do a Start-up
When Her Campus co-founder Annie Wang was a sophomore at Harvard, she and two of her classmates came up with the idea of an online magazine custom-made for college girls. Soon after, Her Campus was born! By the time Annie’s senior year approached, HC was growing quickly and required her full-time attention, so she decided to take a year off from college to serve as the company’s Creative Director and Chief Technology Officer. “My decision to take a leave of absence from college was the result of weighing opportunity costs,” says Annie. She considered factors such as academics, her career aspirations and the long-term pros and cons before making her decision. “I felt that the opportunity to run a start-up like Her Campus was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so I went for it!” A year later, Annie has decided to continue her leave from college indefinitely so that she can continue running Her Campus.
With one gap year under her belt, Annie looks back on the experience as “extremely worth it.” As one of the leaders of a blossoming start-up, she gained priceless interpersonal and professional skills. “I have learned more about how to lead and work with others in the real world in this year than I have through any other program or experience,” she says. Annie also grew personally, from a college girl to an independent woman. “I’ve matured a lot, as I’ve had to cook for myself, pay rent, and such,” she says. These skills will come in handy long-term, not to mention that unlike most people her age, Annie has already gained valuable career experience by founding and running a company.
Annie’s first gap year was unique because she lived and worked close to her college. “Luckily, I was able to find an apartment just two blocks from campus, so I would often sleep over with my roommate from the year, and definitely hung out with my friends throughout the week, too,” she says. She also continued serving in a leadership position for her favorite extracurricular, although she didn’t have the time to stay involved in other activities. She expects that it will be difficult for her to eventually transition back to being a full-time collegiette, but endorses the idea of a mid-college gap year and encourages more girls to consider it.
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To Reconsider Your Major
As senior at the University of Kentucky, Lauren had second thoughts about her sociology major and wasn’t focused on a career goal. “I knew I wanted to do something that would allow me to be more creative and utilized my writing skills,” she says. Lauren discovered that journalism might be a better fit for her, but at that point, it was too late in her college career. “I had considered changing my major to journalism my senior year, but was just ready to graduate,” she says.
Lauren was offered a job in marketing shortly after graduation. She found the “real world” experience exciting at first, but became dissatisfied with the marketing field over time. Still interested in a writing career, Lauren thought about getting entry-level internships at newspapers and a Master’s degree in journalism, both goals that could be more easily reached with an undergraduate degree in journalism. Two years later, Lauren returned to college to get a second bachelor’s degree.
Although the idea of surviving freshman year twice seems daunting to most of us, Lauren believes that her decision was worth it and found re-enrolling at UK to be a straightforward process. She talked to an academic advisor at the university about how long it would take to complete the journalism major, applied online and was re-accepted. “It was easier because I was already familiar with the campus, the classes and how the school works,” she says. Additionally, Lauren’s general education requirement credits transferred, so she will be able to graduate with her second bachelor’s degree in two years instead of four.
So how does it feel to be back on campus once you’ve already walked the graduation stage? “I was nervous about starting back as a non-traditional student, being that I already have a degree and am older than most of my classmates,” says Lauren. Fortunately, she found that it wasn’t hard to fit in with younger freshmen. This time, however, her undergrad career is much different. Taking only journalism classes, she is 100 percent committed to her major and career choice. Because she’s “done it all before,” Lauren is not participating in student activities or campus life outside the classroom, but she’s doing internships related to her major, in contrast to her first four years of college when she didn’t get much work experience.
“I am much more focused now, which I attribute to knowing what I want to do for my career after I graduate, as opposed to just working towards a degree the first time,” she says. While most collegiettes would assume there’s no turning back once you get your bachelor’s degree, Lauren points out that it’s easier to do so earlier in your career than later, when you might have to juggle other responsibilities like a family.
In the end, Lauren’s previous major and job experience in marketing helped her find a career niche. “My work experience in marketing has helped me with my journalism internships,” she says. “I want to tie together my skills in different fields by working in an area like social media,” she says, where she can apply her sociology, marketing and journalism skills at the same time. Lauren’s story is hardly typical, but she now looks back on the two years of work experience between her degrees as a gap year, in the sense that she used the time to reflect and reshape her undergraduate goals.
To Pursue a Career in the Arts
Long before she started freshman year at Harvard, Pua was an accomplished ballet dancer who had won national titles. “Since I was little, ballet was my dream and it was my focus for most of my life,” Pua says. After high school, she was torn between a prestigious ballet apprenticeship offer and her acceptance to an Ivy League university. “Since Harvard allowed me to do a gap year [before starting college], I took the opportunity to dance professionally,” she says. As it turned out, her apprenticeship wasn’t a positive experience. The next fall, she headed to college, unsure of her future in dance.
At Harvard, Pua took diverse classes, joined a ton of clubs and even met her first boyfriend. “I took classes I loved and met people who were absolutely fascinating, but knew ballet was what I wanted,” she says. The highlight of her freshman year was performing with the Harvard Ballet Company, away from the pressures of a professional apprenticeship. “I was dancing because I loved it,” says Pua. After finishing freshman year, she took a leave of absence from college, eventually returning to New York to train with a different ballet academy.
Today, Pua is a star performer in the American Ballet Theatre. She’s continuing her leave of absence, but just finished up summer classes at Harvard and plans to work gradually toward her college degree. Because of the extended time in and away from college, Pua says, “It will be a different experience. I’ll have a better idea of what I want to do outside of ballet.” Would she encourage others to take a leave during college? “I would say definitely do it. If there’s a passion or interest outside of school, sometimes the traditional route is not necessarily the best,” she says. For collegiettes who hope to balance a career in the arts with higher education, Pua’s non-traditional undergrad experience is a great example of how you can have it all.
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Is a Gap Year Right for You?
Each of these collegiettes went through a thoughtful decision-making process before setting their sights on their awesome gap year accomplishments. Before you hammer out your own gap year plans, consider the following:
Funding
If you plan to travel or work without pay, how will you fund your gap year? Maya strongly advises that you decide early if you want to take time off (for travel, this means a semester or school year in advance), so you can secure funding as necessary. “There are tons of scholarships out there for students taking a gap year,” says Julia Levine, director of EnRoute Consulting, a company that helps students plan a gap year. Just like when you applied for financial aid before starting college, look into options like career-related, privately sponsored or ethnic scholarships to fund your time off. You could also try personal fundraising online, a method that allows your friends, family and community to donate to your cause until you reach your goal. For a small fee, websites like First Giving and Just Giving can help you start raising funds, says Levine. Finally, there are special loans available to gap year students, and some of your existing college loans might apply to your gap year if you study abroad for academic credit. Regardless of how you’ll spend the year, work out logistics like housing and food well before your leave of absence begins.
Also think about how taking a gap year will affect your financial aid status when you get back to college. For example, if you took out a student loan that doesn’t require payments for the first four years, but then you delay graduation by a year, you could be expected to start payments while you’re still in college. Some scholarships might also require you to attend school for four consecutive years. Levine explains that the gap year’s effect on financial aid can vary greatly depending on your school, your bank and specific scholarship and loan policies among other variables. “However, a lot of times you can defer loans easier than financial aid [that you don’t have to repay],” says Levine. “But you might have to reapply for the loan and get different rates.” Be sure to contact a financial aid officer at your college and discuss how your aid will be impacted before you decide to take time off.
Delaying Your Degree
“Be aware that if you’re not studying abroad or getting academic credit for your work during the gap year, then you’re extending your college career,” says Levine. In most cases, that translates to graduating a year or semester later than you would otherwise. This could affect your financial aid, housing situation and social life among other aspects of college.
To ensure that your pre-gap year classes will still count toward a degree, talk to academic advisors at your university, Levine says. Also, consult the campus career center to see how taking a break during college could help or harm your prospects in your intended career field. Depending on your major, career goals and what you did during your gap year, some employers (or grad schools) will view the time off in a favorable light, but others may not.
For collegiettes like Maya or Lauren who decide to switch majors after taking time off, changing your academic plans after a gap year requires careful planning ahead of time. “Before leaving college, think one step ahead about what place you’ll be in when you get back,” Levine says. Is there a possibility that you might change majors or even transfer to a different school? If so, take advantage of your time off to chart a new academic course. “Apply to new schools and get experience in your potential career during the gap year,” Levine says.
Personal Needs
Although we’d all love to skip the next two semesters to catch waves with cute surfers in Hawaii, taking a year off from college is a big step that should be taken only if it will benefit you on a personal or professional level. “If a student decides to take a break during his or her college career, it’s important to examine the reasons why,” says Levine. If you’ve been offered a great opportunity, carefully weigh the pros and cons of leaving college to take advantage of it before you arrive at a decision.
On the other hand, if personal circumstances leave you feeling unsatisfied with college life, try to pinpoint the issues and plan a gap year that will help you address them. “Honing in on the reasoning behind the break will help the student direct their gap year towards meaningful time off,” says Levine. “It will also dictate whether or not the student will have to set aside some time to reapply to schools or take a few extra classes to change majors.” Many students also take gap years due to health problems, financial conflicts or other reasons.
Social Life
Unlike the pre-college gap year, taking time off in the middle of your undergrad experience means that you’ll no longer belong to the class you started freshman year with. It’s not easy to say goodbye to the people who’ve been with you through all the ups and downs of college so far. “I have become painfully aware in the last few months that I will never have a real senior year,” says Annie. “When I return, my class will be long gone and I will be rooming with strangers.”
Although she encourages ambitious collegiettes to pursue once-in-a-lifetime career opportunities, Annie also believes that you should think carefully before giving up the social experience of college. Taking time off could mean you’ll be missing out on a whole year of all-night conversations, encounters with new people and lifelong bonding experiences. “It is just as legitimate to say ‘there will never be a time to launch X, Y, or Z ever again’ as ‘there will never be this time of being a student with these people experiencing these things in this place ever again,’” she says. This is especially true if you might take an indefinite leave instead of returning to campus in a year.
Finally, be aware that YOU might be a different person when you get back to college. “Students can be completely transformed by their gap year experience,” says Levine. “They almost always come back more focused, independent and energized.” It’s okay if you change during your time off! Most gap year students will agree that the experience helped them grow in a positive way. However, you should consider that if you take a longer leave, like collegiette Lauren, you might be at a different maturity level than your classmates when you return to school. Even if you take a single semester or year off and your friends are still in college when you return, that doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll remain in the same social circles.
Campus Involvement
Are you willing to give up your sports team, sorority or other college activities? Since most students will spend their gap year hundreds—or thousands—of miles away from their college campus, it’s important to weigh the benefits of missing out on extracurriculars. You might be able to stay involved in some activities remotely, but your gap year schedule could also entail giving up major leadership positions and time commitments. If you do take a gap year, be sure to inform others well ahead of time so that other people can transition into leadership roles or take over your duties.
If you’re sure you want to take a gap year and you’ve got the perfect plan for it, it’s time to check out your university’s website for the official policy on students taking time off. Learn about the procedure of filing for a leave of absence, and ensure that your leave is official so that you won’t have problems resuming your academics where you left off.
After a year out there in the real world, you’ll gain a whole new appreciation for dining halls, dorm gossip and school spirit. Who says college only has to last four years?
Sources
Annie Wang, Her Campus Co-Founder, CTO and Creative Director
Julia Levine, director of EnRoute Consulting
Lauren, University of Kentucky student
Maya, recent Harvard graduate
Puanani, Harvard student