The Gap Year Trend: What, Why and How?

What is a gap year?

Originally popularized in the United Kingdom, a gap year is a year students take between high school and starting college most typically to travel, volunteer or work.

Often, these students will have already been accepted into a college who work with admissions counselors to defer their starting dates. Some universities are more willing than others to do this, but its becoming a more accepted practice each year.

Why take one?

While the practice is certainly still far from common, taking a gap year is slowly gaining popularity.

Students may choose to take a year away from classes because they want to try out a few career options, because they want to find out more about themselves, because they want to make a difference in the world, because they are already burning out, etc.

Whatever the motivation for taking the gap year, there have been various studies showing that those who take that year off and go back end up performing better in school than those who went straight into it from high school.

However there is also a lot of skepticism, wondering how many of those intending a gap year never end up going back to school.

Either way, it’s a consideration that more and more people are starting to think about.

But there are a huge range of options including:

National Outdoor Leadership School. One option through NOLS is a semester in the Rocky Mountains including backpacking, mountaineering, winter camping, wilderness medicine, rafting, etc. They offer a wide range of scholarships and financial aid. 

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