The idea of taking time off between high school and college may seem like a recipe for sofa lounging, a newfound Netflix addiction, and scorn from admissions officers. However, gap time has the potential to be just the opposite, gaining praise from colleges and taking one anywhere from South America to Asia, Africa, or Europe – or, on a smaller scale- to inner city Chicago.
“A gap year is taking that experience to either focus yourself or gain experience you haven’t had a chance to do yet before you go to college,” Carl Krause, college counselor, said. “It gives students an opportunity to do something that is important for them to try.”
Such opportunities include travel and volunteer work, or a combination of the two. Prospective gap year students can explore a plethora of gap year programs at the annual Gap Year Fair at New Trier High School in Winnetka, Illinois or learn more on USA gap year Fairs’ website, Krause recommends.
In Europe, it is a tradition for students to take a gap year to volunteer or travel before college, and this practice is starting to gain popularity in the United States as well.
“My mom was kind of skeptical about a gap year for a little bit, but we ended up looking into it,” Dorothy Potts, a junior intending to take a gap year after high school, said. “All books and websites and colleges that we talked to agreed that taking a year off is so much better for the student because it clears their mind and when they come back to school they are more motivated to learn.”
In fact, several colleges, especially private institutions and Ivy League colleges, encourage gap years and are seeing an increase in students who opt to take one.
At Amherst College, a selective liberal arts college in Massachusetts, the Class of 2014 had a 67 percent increase in students who decided to take a gap year. Harvard’s another fan, allowing 50 to 70 accepted students to take a gap year.
Additionally, students can reapply after an initial rejection if they have done something remarkable in their gap time.
“Students become better candidates for some selective colleges after a year off,” Krause said. “They come back even more mature depending on what they do that year. If they’re traveling, they don’t have much of a choice but to become more mature of a student.”
Of course, money can play a role in the decision to take a gap year and the program one chooses.
“There are opportunities for scholarships and financial aid and some even pay you to do them, like the AmericCorps,” Potts said.
While only a small percentage of Lake Zurich students take gap years, Krause forecasts this number will rise over time.
“I anticipate an increase here because I think a lot of students are interested in elite schools right now but they aren’t diverse enough to get in,” Krause said. “But after gap year time, they have more experience.”