Some students prefer to take a gap year between high school and university, to work or to travel. Do the advantages of this outweigh the disadvantages?

Delaying tertiary education for one year seems a trend among students at present. While there exist compelling reasons why deferring higher education benefits gap-year takers, having a year-long break does accompany considerable drawbacks at best.

On the one hand, students taking a gap year will receive noticeable advantages in many aspects. First of all, they stand a higher chance of being exposed to more life experiences and honing practical skills. For example, gap-year takers could spend more time traveling and participating in community activities to refresh themselves after intense study schedules at high school, thereby growing more mature and adaptable to new environments. Another pronounced point is that they can take career options into account to identify the most suitable one. Because universities rarely provide adequate career guidance, it is hard for a high school senior who is still vague at his interest to immediately pick a particular major.

On the other hand, delaying tertiary education does pose unquestionable disadvantages to students. The first thing I want to mention is losing confidence. Because most of the gap-year takers, compared with the other, often fall behind regarding academic performance, they are more inclined to encounter peer pressure, thereby losing incentives to study. Another point is that gap-year takers can lose momentum and have difficulty concentrating because they get away from studying too long. Finally, they could also have trouble saving money and enriching relevant job skills. As high school graduates, they could only do entry-level jobs with a meager income. As a result, gaining practical experience may not be feasible.

In conclusion, while taking a gap year is not without benefits, I contend that the given disadvantages make it an unworthy path.