Gap Year: A Break Before University – Worthwhile or a Waste of Time?

Symbolic image: a traveller · Photo: CC0

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Straight to university after school? More and more young people first take a break – a "gap year". They travel, work, do an internship or volunteer. For a long time this was seen as a detour. Today many see it as a gain.

Advocates say: those who spend a year doing something different often arrive at university more mature, more independent and more motivated. You learn to organise yourself, cope with unfamiliar people and situations, and many only discover during this time what they actually want to study – which spares costly changes of subject later.

But there are cautionary voices too: a year without structure can also fizzle out. And those out of learning for too long sometimes find it hard to get back in. A gap year also has to be financially feasible.

Experts agree on one point: what matters is not the year itself but what you make of it. A gap year with a goal and content brings a lot – mere procrastination less so.

What you can take from this: anyone planning a gap year shouldn't leave it to chance but think beforehand about what they want to achieve or try out in it. Then it is rarely wasted time.

Own synthesis based on publicly available education and career information.

Symbolic image · Photo: "Woman in Bali", CC0, via Wikimedia Commons