That’s the question every grad student has before enrolling into the university. While most of the students are opting for a gap before university purposely, there are many universities which encourage students to take a gap and believes that an extra experience of life brings new perceptive to the classrooms.
Contrary to such universities, there are some educators, especially in mathematics and physics, who thinks that taking a gap for a year or two is not the best thing to do as students tend to forget important formulas and facts about the subject.
But, if you are not into going to the universities directly, there are many things you can do between the gap and these are the answer to the above question.
First and foremost thing students choose to do is travel the world while exploring new places and themselves in the way. It’s not only about the adventure, students do this because it offers profound lessons, especially for motivated and curious young people. Travelling to unknown places always gives experience and helps in opening their minds to new things. Travelling remains one of the important reasons for taking a gap.
Money is also the prime reason behind taking a gap and no, taking a gap is not only limited to wealthy students. Anyone can do that as it gives you the option to earn some bucks before you go out to the university. Doing part time job is perhaps one of the common things students do in free time. Earning some money in a profession you want to take up as a career will always help students getting first-hand experience and strengthening a resume.
Apart from travelling and working you can also opt for gap year programs that allow gap year students to develop a portfolio or journal, give seminars on their experience, keep in contact through social networking sites, begin studying subjects, use university resources, and earn credit towards their degree.
Learning a foreign language is also a better option as it helps you to connect with people from different countries easily. Proficiency in any foreign language is an important and invaluable skill for students in today’s interconnected world. The best way to learn a foreign language is living, working and travelling overseas.
The last option in the list is improving your college admission chances in the gap period you have. Imagine you have applied for some university where you are competing with another applicant who has scored same grades and SAT score as yours, is highly recommended by teachers and also has been an active player in high school. Now imagine you have volunteered in Europe, speaks French and are very much passionate about solving social problems. Who would get selected?
On a personal note, taking a gap to travel, earn money, learn a foreign language, opting gap year programs while improving your college admission chances seems like a great deal.
