College is a big decision. What do you major in? What school do you attend? Do you attend college at all? How are you going to pay for it? There are a lot of questions to ask yourself. But, increasingly taking a gap year (or even longer) before college can be a really great decision to help you avoid unnecessary student loans and give you a better idea of what you want (or don’t want) to do for a career. Let me explain.

Benefits of Taking a Gap Year

The Ability to Save Money to Help Pay for College

It is no surprise that college is super expensive.The average student loan borrower owes more than $37,000 in student loans. And increasingly, a lot of students are having $100,000+ student loan debt.

This debt can be an albatross around the neck if you are not careful. A good way to help alleviate that pain is to take some time off between high school and college and save money. Of course, this will probably have to come with some form of privilege.

If you have the ability to live at home and have your parents cover most of your living expenses, even a low paying full-time job can help you with paying for college.

The average in-state public university is about $10,600 per year. Even with working for just one year at $15 per hour, you could pay for the tuition and fees for two years.

I know this might sound like pie in the sky or otherwise unattainable, but if this is an option for you, please consider it. 

College debt is one of the most stressful aspects of personal finance for a lot of people (myself included). If you could take a year or so off and save the money to pay for most (or maybe even all of it) at least consider doing so.

With that being said, if you aren’t (or cannot) going to aggressively save for college, then taking a gap year to help save for the cost of college will do you no good. So make sure to be disciplined while doing this.

You Can Try Out Different Fields Before Majoring in Them

I have seen it SO many times. I have even had it happen to close friends of mine. They are going through college and sometime during their junior or maybe even senior year, they realize that they hate the field that they are studying and don’t want to do it for their career.

Taking a gap year can help with this.

If you take some time between high school and college you can have a better idea of what working in a particular field really looks like. 

Sure, you may not be able to do the exact same job without a degree but you can get an idea for it. You can either shadow people in that industry or get a lower, more entry level job in that industry to get a taste of it.

I understand that this is not full proof. But I really don’t want to see people work in fields and industries that they don’t enjoy. 

If you take some time between high school and college to try to figure that out, you could potentially save yourself from a midlife career crisis later on.

You Have Work Experience on Your Resume, Not Just Education

I get it. Most people will have some form of work experience on their resume upon graduating college. But if you really want to stand out from the crowd of 22 year-olds graduating, have some real work experience on your resume. And bonus points if it is in your particular field of study.

It is hard for recent college graduates to hear this, but unless a degree is REQUIRED for a regulatory body or something similar, most employers don’t care about your degree.

Yes, it shows that you accomplished something. It also shows a degree of perseverance and fortitude. But at the end of the day, employers want to know that you can do the job that you have applied to.

If you take a gap year (or two) it shows that you have the degree and (more importantly) that you know what it is like to work in an actual work environment, not just in a classroom.

Final Thoughts

Taking a gap year isn’t for everyone. Just like going to college isn’t for everyone either.

You have to decide what is best for you.

But at the end of the day, if you are 23 or 24 when you graduate college instead of 22, no one will care.

I didn’t graduate with my undergrad until I was 30 and it hasn’t affected my career or friendships at all.

You can do this!

I am here for you!

Until next time!