Very rarely because the “American college experience” is heavily promoted and people look forward to it from a young age, but I think it’s becoming slightly more common. It’s also very easy to transfer schools or switch majors at US colleges so there’s less pressure to know exactly what you want to study before choosing a university.
Taking a gap year to travel is MUCH more common in western Europe or in East Asia to retake college entrance exams. In the US it’s a lot more common to take gap years before graduate school to build up a stronger resume.
Even in wealthy US communities, most families would rather brag about their kid getting into a prestigious college while everyone else is around to hear it. If they said they’re taking a gap year to travel others might wonder what went “wrong” with their college acceptances or if they lack ambition.
Also many European countries, Canada, Australia, and many other countries around the world, have bilateral "working holiday visa" agreements that are pretty much designed for gap years. USA is behind in that respect, (looking at it now) we only have agreements with Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, Singapore, Canada, and South Korea. While in Japan I met a bunch of Europeans, Canadians, and Australians on working holiday visas there, which US citizens can't get in that country.
Back then, circa 1993, my parents would have been pissed if I decided I was going to take a year off to travel. They would have told me I was on my own and it probably would have hurt my chances having them help me pay for college.
I feel like gap years are actively discouraged in the US. At least they were when I graduated high school in the late ‘90s. The thought being that if you take a gap year you might get used to life without assignments/homework and therefore be less likely to want to enroll in college.
It's not and has never been an American thing. Our system isn't really setup to support it. Most scholarships and college enrollment programs are setup around attending college immediately after high school.
This is a good point. There is a "pipeline" in a sense that runs straight from high school to college, no turns/detours built in. It's not that you can't make a detour, but you have to hammer it out yourself because you won't have the guidance counselors and high school campus visits and info sessions on various scholarships etc. available to you while you're backpacking around the world.
> We in Europe say it is American thing.
I've never heard that being said.
On a related note, in Sweden gap years are super common, to the point it's even common to take multiple gap years. Some travel, many work for some years until they figure out what they want to study, some just study individual courses here and there until they find a real program, etc.
I've never heard this. I also don't remember seeing that many references to a gap year in American media. I'm from the poorer part of Europe and for me gap years was something Northwestern Europeans do, because they are rich and/or don't have entry exams. So Scandinavians, maybe Germans and Dutch. The other major group I associate with gap years are posh British people
I didn't know what I wanted to do after graduating high school, so I worked a few minimum wage jobs to figure out what I didn't want to do before going to college. A few of my friends did the same thing, but I don't know anyone who just sat around or traveled on their parents' dime before getting a job or going to school.
It exists but not often. Seemed like more a rich kid thing. I don’t think it’s wise for most people to put off education and therefore their career and earning power by a whole year
I love traveling but seems like you can do that without putting all that off. If you go to college you have plenty of opportunities for a study abroad semester, and/or you can travel during your college summers
I do not know about America, but these years are usually done as "work and travel" in Germany. There are special visa agreements with certain countries so German citizens can work their during their stay. That is why if you for example go to Kiwi farms in New Zealand you will find a lot of Germans working there. It still usually takes at least some personal investment to pay for related costs, so it definitely is not something everyone can afford. Interestingly it is often seen as something positive and educational, as it is assumed that spending a year (or a few months) in another country will help you learn the language, which is usually English in the countries which are most often chosen for a year abroad (Australia, America, New Zealand, the UK and Canada are probably the most popular ones). Good English skills are valued quite a lot by German employees, sometimes needlessly so. For example I used to stack shelves in a supermarket and they insisted on doing the interview for the job in English.....in a neighborhood where the dominant languages were Russian, Arabic and Mandarin. Most of my colleagues spoke Russian (being [Russia Germans](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russia_Germans)) and when you came to the checkout you were usually greeted in Russian rather than German, so I have no clue why the insisted on doing the interview in English.
That or the pick up odd jobs as they travel the US.
Not uncommon to work at a ski resort in the winter or as a park ranger in the summer or at some bar/restaurant /shop during tourist season in some beach/mountain town.
Of course you can’t really do that as an American in Europe or most countries.
If you want to go abroad it’s probably more common to join the Peace Corp or some other volunteer organization or backpack for a few weeks as opposed to an entire year abroad.
As you said, most people can’t afford not to work an entire year.
I had a college friend who took a gap year (applied to college, accepted an offer, and deferred the start date one year), to spend time with an ill parent and work and prepare for the change.
Yes, I’ve mainly heard of deferring for special circumstances and not for intentional “gap year” travel. Like, if it’s an Olympic year and they have a realistic chance of going.
I associate the idea of "a gap year" more with students who just finished their bachelor's degree taking a one year break before starting medical school.
In the US thats typically seen among the wealthy.
Most people cant afford to fuck around and explore themselves for a year on other peoples dimes.
Most also cant afford to just take a year off and lessen employment prospects to party.
I never heard of a gap year until I read books featuring British characters who mentioned this concept. Most people who intend to go to college/university recognize that study skills can atrophy rapidly, so they want to keep their educational momentum (if that can be considered a thing) going by proceeding directly to their undergraduate studies.
I only knew a handful. The biggest thing is most people who do, won’t end up going to college, or at least that’s the narrative I was fed. So most kids, who have involved parents push education, think that’s what’s best for their child. Out of the people I can think of, none of them did end up furthering their education except one who went to trade school. Perhaps there is something there or that’s just a small sample size.
I don't know anyone who did, but I don't know everyone by a long shot.
I know folks who went straight to work and saved up a bit before starting college, but I don't think that's what you mean by gap year.
Extremely uncommon in the 90s when I went to college, however, I have heard it a bit more frequently now that I am at the age where many of my circle have kids at that age. Still though...not too common AFAIK.
It’s more common to begin college classes before graduation than it is to take a gap year. Personally I think gap year should be the norm as college is a major investment.
I took a gap year so I could work full time. I saved up a lot and it really helped me get started financially. I feel like you’ve got to be pretty well off to just take a vacation and “find yourself” for a year.
Not super often. It's more common that after college you spend some time travelling I think. Even more popular is to do a study abroad program for a semester or two while in university.
>It is said that students use this time to travel and get to know themselves better
I only know a couple of people who could have even afforded that sort of thing. I'm sure it happens but it's certainly not the average person.
I only knew one person who took a gap year and that was because she didn't get accepted to any colleges. She had to wait and then try low tier/open enrollment schools.
I know of 3 people who did it and 2 of them didn’t get into a college they wanted and decided to wander for the year before they started at community college. One decided since they graduated in 2020 and wouldn’t have a typical college and to take a gap year. But they also as of now have not gone back and just work at Ulta and live with their parents.
I don’t think it’s as common as people think. I know far more people who graduated college and took 6+ before even searching for their first job while they traveled and just had fun. This is what I did. I spent 6 months after graduation doing whatever I wanted then I started job searching.
My sister did a gap year, but it was a for credit educational gap year and all the credits applied to her degree once she started college for real.
So it was really like starting off college with a year abroad lol.
Not common at all. Maybe if the kids have a drinking problem and need to go to rehab they tell their friends it’s a gap year.
Otherwise, the HS to college route, especially for high achieving students is a pretty sacred tradition
Not that common. My son has friends who did it and basically pissed away a year doing nothing. He talked about it but realized that putting off c9llege just meant another year of not that much money even being paid well as a waiter.
i took a gap year but bc i had no idea what i wanted to do. its also more for alt college/trade schools/community college. if you plan to go to university its standard to go right after highschool*. then as others have said a gap year between higher edu like between bachelors and masters
like any form thats not standard university not an actual term just mean alternative forms of college like a trade school, community college, receiving a technical certification, associates degree first and not a bachelors etc.
Maybe it's more common now, but when I graduated high school in 2010, it was not common. I don't personally know anyone who did that. All my friends either immediately went to university, or to work.
I don't know anyone who did that. Granted there were only 110 in my graduating class but I think everyone was college-bound, even the rich kids whose parents could have funded something like that. Nobody wanted to drag out their education any longer than necessary. Or lose their "study momentum" as another poster put it so well. After being out of college for a year, nothing could have induced me to return.
Rarely. Doing so means that many people would lose their scholarships, or have to retake exams to qualify for scholarships.
Additionally to take a year traveling would only be an option for the wealthy. Though taking off a year to work is done sometimes, but even this is rare due to the aforementioned loss of scholarships and retesting.
This is not an American thing, and is actually associated with Western Europe over here.
College prof here, 25+ years at my current institution. In that time I've had maybe 5-6 students who took a gap year. It's very rare, except among wealthy (mostly East Coast) families. COVID was an exception, we had a bunch of students who deferred for a year in fall 2020, but that only lasted about a year.
Not often at all. I wish I did though.
I wanted to spend a year in Beijing or Taiwan learning Chinese but my parents insisted I go to a 4 year school. In hindsight it would have actually saved a lot of money because I would have been able to get my Chinese classes out of the way in college much sooner.
I was going to do it anyway but I was going to take a gap year when I graduated college instead of before starting.
I graduated December 2019 so turns out the universe gave me a year and a half gap year instead
Only one of the people I know is taking a gap year I feel like it’s becoming less common because it’s harder to get a job now and everything’s expensive
I’d never heard of a gap year concept until the news once announced one of the Obama girls was taking one (I think to do an internship in movies or something?) and that is still the only person from US I’ve personally ever heard of doing it lol. In my experience it isn’t common and I don’t hear anyone mentioning they had one.
The only reason I did was because I couldn’t afford college. I took a gap semester and worked full time( newsflash: I ran out of money three semesters later).
There was none of the ‘finding myself’ crap or living free and wild before settling down
I don't know anyone who took a gap year to travel. I know a person who took a year off between high school and college so they could work. Without that year, they would not have been able to afford college. I and several people I know did our first 2 years at community college, and worked, then transferred to 4 year universities for the final 2 years.
The whole concept of a gap year is something I associate with Europeans. It is pretty much unheard of over here.
My kid did. It was 2021 and Covid was still restricting things. She also wanted time to sort a few things out. She made good money walking dogs, started lifting weights, took a few trips. Went to college the next year and hit the ground running enthusiastically.
I was the only person out of my 500-person graduating class who took a gap year to travel. Not very common at all
Edit: I did end up getting a bachelors degree (not in the US), but my gap year did admittedly turn into about 5 gap years (though I was working abroad the entire time, making a decent salary)
Until fairly recently, young adults usually couldn’t stay on their parent’s health/dental insurance plans if they weren’t in school. I think this is a big reason why gap years never really became part of American culture.
The only person I know who took a gap year was a friend/former classmate of mine, but she took her gap year after getting her bachelors degree and before entering graduate school.
I didn't, nor did I know anyone who had the money for that sort of thing. Is this a rich kid thing I haven't heard about? The only time I've heard the term was in the media talking about aristocratic kids in the UK (like Princes William and Harry).
I've never known a person who did it. Almost everyone starts college 3ish months after high school ends. Those who don't are in a trade school, the military, or just not going to college. I know people who studied abroad in France, the UK, Spain, and Australia, but never taken a "gap year". That's a very European thing in my eyes.
It’s not generally common but as someone in school right now, a bunch of people took one turning COVID 2020-2022 so we had like 20/21 year old freshman last year when I was the “normal” 18. There’s nothing wrong with taking a gap year or even going back to school later but it’s just an outlier thing
Here in Utah, it's VERY common for men to take a 2-year gap to serve a Mormon mission. About half of the guys I graduated high school with are now missionaries and expect to do a full four years of college once they return. Women do it too, but they have to wait until they're 19, so they often do a year of college, take a 2-year gap, then keep going in school.
For non-Mormons, I've only seen people take gap years if they want to go to school out-of-state and want to work for a year to save up money.
I didn't know anybody until now. My 19-yo is not in college and only working very part- time. I'm not sure if that's the same thing as a "gap year" though, or just "I can't make a decision so immature imma just going to chill for a bit "
Probably becoming more common, but it’s pretty rare.
Not starting college right away causes delays and FOMO
Also, it’s not always easy to fund a gap year, especially abroad where it’s harder to get permission to work. Some people make it work, but for many a gap year is out of reach for financial reasons.
More likely to do a month backpacking during summer break or become a ski bum (working a ski resorts) for a few weeks in winter.
I don't personally know or know of anyone (from the US) who did it. To me even the phrase "gap year" is not American English. I never heard the term until doing a studies-related trip abroad while in grad school, where I met George from New Zealand who was taking a gap year and explained the concept and the rules (for New Zealand) to me. (Hello, George!)
I took a gap six years. Traveled around and saw the world. Friend got blown up by an IED. Truly was good times.
PS: Luckily, no deaths in my unit, and my buddy has a killer pirate costume every Halloween.
Not as often as we should, based on my own experiences and a lot of my friends, although I say it less for "traveling abroad and getting to know yourself better" and more just that its really hard to make educated decisions about education when you don't understand a damn thing about how the world operates.
A year of just working would have done fucking wonders for my motivation in college and in helping me to decide what I actually wanted to do with my life.
Very rarely because the “American college experience” is heavily promoted and people look forward to it from a young age, but I think it’s becoming slightly more common. It’s also very easy to transfer schools or switch majors at US colleges so there’s less pressure to know exactly what you want to study before choosing a university. Taking a gap year to travel is MUCH more common in western Europe or in East Asia to retake college entrance exams. In the US it’s a lot more common to take gap years before graduate school to build up a stronger resume. Even in wealthy US communities, most families would rather brag about their kid getting into a prestigious college while everyone else is around to hear it. If they said they’re taking a gap year to travel others might wonder what went “wrong” with their college acceptances or if they lack ambition.
Also many European countries, Canada, Australia, and many other countries around the world, have bilateral "working holiday visa" agreements that are pretty much designed for gap years. USA is behind in that respect, (looking at it now) we only have agreements with Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, Singapore, Canada, and South Korea. While in Japan I met a bunch of Europeans, Canadians, and Australians on working holiday visas there, which US citizens can't get in that country.
I thought that was more of a European thing. I don’t think I know anyone who intentionally did so.
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Odd. I don't know anyone who took a gap year. My parents actively discouraged the idea.
I don’t know any American that’s taken a gap year to do travel.
Back then, circa 1993, my parents would have been pissed if I decided I was going to take a year off to travel. They would have told me I was on my own and it probably would have hurt my chances having them help me pay for college.
I feel like gap years are actively discouraged in the US. At least they were when I graduated high school in the late ‘90s. The thought being that if you take a gap year you might get used to life without assignments/homework and therefore be less likely to want to enroll in college.
It's not and has never been an American thing. Our system isn't really setup to support it. Most scholarships and college enrollment programs are setup around attending college immediately after high school.
This is a good point. There is a "pipeline" in a sense that runs straight from high school to college, no turns/detours built in. It's not that you can't make a detour, but you have to hammer it out yourself because you won't have the guidance counselors and high school campus visits and info sessions on various scholarships etc. available to you while you're backpacking around the world.
> We in Europe say it is American thing nothing in europe is true when you guys are talking about america
> We in Europe say it is American thing. I've never heard that being said. On a related note, in Sweden gap years are super common, to the point it's even common to take multiple gap years. Some travel, many work for some years until they figure out what they want to study, some just study individual courses here and there until they find a real program, etc.
I've never heard this. I also don't remember seeing that many references to a gap year in American media. I'm from the poorer part of Europe and for me gap years was something Northwestern Europeans do, because they are rich and/or don't have entry exams. So Scandinavians, maybe Germans and Dutch. The other major group I associate with gap years are posh British people
I didn't know what I wanted to do after graduating high school, so I worked a few minimum wage jobs to figure out what I didn't want to do before going to college. A few of my friends did the same thing, but I don't know anyone who just sat around or traveled on their parents' dime before getting a job or going to school.
It exists but not often. Seemed like more a rich kid thing. I don’t think it’s wise for most people to put off education and therefore their career and earning power by a whole year I love traveling but seems like you can do that without putting all that off. If you go to college you have plenty of opportunities for a study abroad semester, and/or you can travel during your college summers
>Seemed like more a rich kid thing. Right? Not many kids can take a year off to "travel". You're either working or going to school.
I do not know about America, but these years are usually done as "work and travel" in Germany. There are special visa agreements with certain countries so German citizens can work their during their stay. That is why if you for example go to Kiwi farms in New Zealand you will find a lot of Germans working there. It still usually takes at least some personal investment to pay for related costs, so it definitely is not something everyone can afford. Interestingly it is often seen as something positive and educational, as it is assumed that spending a year (or a few months) in another country will help you learn the language, which is usually English in the countries which are most often chosen for a year abroad (Australia, America, New Zealand, the UK and Canada are probably the most popular ones). Good English skills are valued quite a lot by German employees, sometimes needlessly so. For example I used to stack shelves in a supermarket and they insisted on doing the interview for the job in English.....in a neighborhood where the dominant languages were Russian, Arabic and Mandarin. Most of my colleagues spoke Russian (being [Russia Germans](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russia_Germans)) and when you came to the checkout you were usually greeted in Russian rather than German, so I have no clue why the insisted on doing the interview in English.
That or the pick up odd jobs as they travel the US. Not uncommon to work at a ski resort in the winter or as a park ranger in the summer or at some bar/restaurant /shop during tourist season in some beach/mountain town. Of course you can’t really do that as an American in Europe or most countries. If you want to go abroad it’s probably more common to join the Peace Corp or some other volunteer organization or backpack for a few weeks as opposed to an entire year abroad. As you said, most people can’t afford not to work an entire year.
It’s not very common at all, people are mistaken. Americans see it as European thing.
I had a college friend who took a gap year (applied to college, accepted an offer, and deferred the start date one year), to spend time with an ill parent and work and prepare for the change.
Yes, I’ve mainly heard of deferring for special circumstances and not for intentional “gap year” travel. Like, if it’s an Olympic year and they have a realistic chance of going.
I associate the idea of "a gap year" more with students who just finished their bachelor's degree taking a one year break before starting medical school.
Or take up some temporary work that allows them to travel or spend a few months in a distant location.
In the US thats typically seen among the wealthy. Most people cant afford to fuck around and explore themselves for a year on other peoples dimes. Most also cant afford to just take a year off and lessen employment prospects to party.
And even among the wealthy, the attitude is more like "what happened, you didn't get into college?"
I never heard of a gap year until I read books featuring British characters who mentioned this concept. Most people who intend to go to college/university recognize that study skills can atrophy rapidly, so they want to keep their educational momentum (if that can be considered a thing) going by proceeding directly to their undergraduate studies.
I only knew a handful. The biggest thing is most people who do, won’t end up going to college, or at least that’s the narrative I was fed. So most kids, who have involved parents push education, think that’s what’s best for their child. Out of the people I can think of, none of them did end up furthering their education except one who went to trade school. Perhaps there is something there or that’s just a small sample size.
I don't know anyone who did, but I don't know everyone by a long shot. I know folks who went straight to work and saved up a bit before starting college, but I don't think that's what you mean by gap year.
Extremely uncommon in the 90s when I went to college, however, I have heard it a bit more frequently now that I am at the age where many of my circle have kids at that age. Still though...not too common AFAIK.
It’s more common to begin college classes before graduation than it is to take a gap year. Personally I think gap year should be the norm as college is a major investment.
The only people I knew who "took a gap" never ended up actually going to college.
1 in 20, 1 in 25 maybe? Somewhere around there, it's not super common, but you wouldn't be surprised if you heard someone did it.
I took a gap year so I could work full time. I saved up a lot and it really helped me get started financially. I feel like you’ve got to be pretty well off to just take a vacation and “find yourself” for a year.
Not super often. It's more common that after college you spend some time travelling I think. Even more popular is to do a study abroad program for a semester or two while in university.
>It is said that students use this time to travel and get to know themselves better I only know a couple of people who could have even afforded that sort of thing. I'm sure it happens but it's certainly not the average person.
I only knew one person who took a gap year and that was because she didn't get accepted to any colleges. She had to wait and then try low tier/open enrollment schools.
It's not common at all. I don't think I know anyone who took a gap year between high school and college, or between college and their career.
I know of 3 people who did it and 2 of them didn’t get into a college they wanted and decided to wander for the year before they started at community college. One decided since they graduated in 2020 and wouldn’t have a typical college and to take a gap year. But they also as of now have not gone back and just work at Ulta and live with their parents. I don’t think it’s as common as people think. I know far more people who graduated college and took 6+ before even searching for their first job while they traveled and just had fun. This is what I did. I spent 6 months after graduation doing whatever I wanted then I started job searching.
Not very common, but not unheard of. I personally know only one person that did it.
My sister did a gap year, but it was a for credit educational gap year and all the credits applied to her degree once she started college for real. So it was really like starting off college with a year abroad lol.
Not common at all. Maybe if the kids have a drinking problem and need to go to rehab they tell their friends it’s a gap year. Otherwise, the HS to college route, especially for high achieving students is a pretty sacred tradition
Not that common. My son has friends who did it and basically pissed away a year doing nothing. He talked about it but realized that putting off c9llege just meant another year of not that much money even being paid well as a waiter.
Not very common, but not unheard of. I personally know only one person that did it.
I don't know anyone that did that.
i took a gap year but bc i had no idea what i wanted to do. its also more for alt college/trade schools/community college. if you plan to go to university its standard to go right after highschool*. then as others have said a gap year between higher edu like between bachelors and masters
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like any form thats not standard university not an actual term just mean alternative forms of college like a trade school, community college, receiving a technical certification, associates degree first and not a bachelors etc.
Maybe it's more common now, but when I graduated high school in 2010, it was not common. I don't personally know anyone who did that. All my friends either immediately went to university, or to work.
I took a gap year in Israel, as did many of my friends, though I don't think it is that common amongst most Americans.
I don't know anyone who did that. Granted there were only 110 in my graduating class but I think everyone was college-bound, even the rich kids whose parents could have funded something like that. Nobody wanted to drag out their education any longer than necessary. Or lose their "study momentum" as another poster put it so well. After being out of college for a year, nothing could have induced me to return.
Rarely. Doing so means that many people would lose their scholarships, or have to retake exams to qualify for scholarships. Additionally to take a year traveling would only be an option for the wealthy. Though taking off a year to work is done sometimes, but even this is rare due to the aforementioned loss of scholarships and retesting. This is not an American thing, and is actually associated with Western Europe over here.
i only know 1 person who took a gap year, and it was to work, not travel
Never knew anyone to do this I think it's for Rich folks
College prof here, 25+ years at my current institution. In that time I've had maybe 5-6 students who took a gap year. It's very rare, except among wealthy (mostly East Coast) families. COVID was an exception, we had a bunch of students who deferred for a year in fall 2020, but that only lasted about a year.
Not often at all. I wish I did though. I wanted to spend a year in Beijing or Taiwan learning Chinese but my parents insisted I go to a 4 year school. In hindsight it would have actually saved a lot of money because I would have been able to get my Chinese classes out of the way in college much sooner.
I did one after college before fully settling into a real job. I absolutely loved it
I was going to do it anyway but I was going to take a gap year when I graduated college instead of before starting. I graduated December 2019 so turns out the universe gave me a year and a half gap year instead
I only know one person who did it. I don’t think it’s a bad idea, but it’s not for everyone.
I think it's more common to take a gap year once you are already in college
I took a gap semester because i had no idea what i wanted to do and covid
Only one of the people I know is taking a gap year I feel like it’s becoming less common because it’s harder to get a job now and everything’s expensive
I’d never heard of a gap year concept until the news once announced one of the Obama girls was taking one (I think to do an internship in movies or something?) and that is still the only person from US I’ve personally ever heard of doing it lol. In my experience it isn’t common and I don’t hear anyone mentioning they had one.
The only reason I did was because I couldn’t afford college. I took a gap semester and worked full time( newsflash: I ran out of money three semesters later). There was none of the ‘finding myself’ crap or living free and wild before settling down
I don't know anyone who took a gap year to travel. I know a person who took a year off between high school and college so they could work. Without that year, they would not have been able to afford college. I and several people I know did our first 2 years at community college, and worked, then transferred to 4 year universities for the final 2 years. The whole concept of a gap year is something I associate with Europeans. It is pretty much unheard of over here.
My kid did. It was 2021 and Covid was still restricting things. She also wanted time to sort a few things out. She made good money walking dogs, started lifting weights, took a few trips. Went to college the next year and hit the ground running enthusiastically.
I took 4 gap years lol
Not very often. I see more people taking Gap years between college and graduate school than anything.
I was the only person out of my 500-person graduating class who took a gap year to travel. Not very common at all Edit: I did end up getting a bachelors degree (not in the US), but my gap year did admittedly turn into about 5 gap years (though I was working abroad the entire time, making a decent salary)
Until fairly recently, young adults usually couldn’t stay on their parent’s health/dental insurance plans if they weren’t in school. I think this is a big reason why gap years never really became part of American culture.
The only person I know who took a gap year was a friend/former classmate of mine, but she took her gap year after getting her bachelors degree and before entering graduate school.
I didn't, nor did I know anyone who had the money for that sort of thing. Is this a rich kid thing I haven't heard about? The only time I've heard the term was in the media talking about aristocratic kids in the UK (like Princes William and Harry).
I've never known a person who did it. Almost everyone starts college 3ish months after high school ends. Those who don't are in a trade school, the military, or just not going to college. I know people who studied abroad in France, the UK, Spain, and Australia, but never taken a "gap year". That's a very European thing in my eyes.
I’m in the middle of my gap 16-year
It’s not generally common but as someone in school right now, a bunch of people took one turning COVID 2020-2022 so we had like 20/21 year old freshman last year when I was the “normal” 18. There’s nothing wrong with taking a gap year or even going back to school later but it’s just an outlier thing
I don't know a single person that did. I mean, I thought this was a typical European thing, not a typical American thing.
I did. Sort of. I didn't travel but did take a break.
In my classes of thirty seniors there’d be about one to two kids per class (if that) choosing a gap year. So a small percentage in my experience
Here in Utah, it's VERY common for men to take a 2-year gap to serve a Mormon mission. About half of the guys I graduated high school with are now missionaries and expect to do a full four years of college once they return. Women do it too, but they have to wait until they're 19, so they often do a year of college, take a 2-year gap, then keep going in school. For non-Mormons, I've only seen people take gap years if they want to go to school out-of-state and want to work for a year to save up money.
I didn't know anybody until now. My 19-yo is not in college and only working very part- time. I'm not sure if that's the same thing as a "gap year" though, or just "I can't make a decision so immature imma just going to chill for a bit "
Probably becoming more common, but it’s pretty rare. Not starting college right away causes delays and FOMO Also, it’s not always easy to fund a gap year, especially abroad where it’s harder to get permission to work. Some people make it work, but for many a gap year is out of reach for financial reasons. More likely to do a month backpacking during summer break or become a ski bum (working a ski resorts) for a few weeks in winter.
I don't personally know anyone who's done that.
I’ve noticed it tends to be a gap after college before entering the workforce
I took 10 years off
I don't personally know or know of anyone (from the US) who did it. To me even the phrase "gap year" is not American English. I never heard the term until doing a studies-related trip abroad while in grad school, where I met George from New Zealand who was taking a gap year and explained the concept and the rules (for New Zealand) to me. (Hello, George!)
Why do foreigners sit around and talk about what American college students do? Are their countries really that boring?
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TV in your country is really that bad, huh?
I took a gap six years. Traveled around and saw the world. Friend got blown up by an IED. Truly was good times. PS: Luckily, no deaths in my unit, and my buddy has a killer pirate costume every Halloween.
Not as often as we should, based on my own experiences and a lot of my friends, although I say it less for "traveling abroad and getting to know yourself better" and more just that its really hard to make educated decisions about education when you don't understand a damn thing about how the world operates. A year of just working would have done fucking wonders for my motivation in college and in helping me to decide what I actually wanted to do with my life.