Pros and Cons of Taking a Year Off Before College

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It’s your senior year of high school. It is time for you to decide what you want to do after you graduate. You have a few possible things that you could do. You could start applying for colleges, get accepted to one, and then go to college right out of high school; or you could do the same thing, but take a year off. This brings up the argument of whether or not a student should take off a gap year before they begin college. There are both, pros and cons to taking a gap year prior to starting college. In this paper, you are going to read about some of the benefits of taking a gap year before college, as well as some of the negative affect of taking a gap year before college. Students should take a gap year before starting college; Students have the chance to learn how to be independent, students have the opportunity to get to know them as well as learn what they want to do in life, and waiting to go to college can save you money. To start out, I am going to talk about the benefits of taking a gap year prior to starting college. Taking a gap year, students have the chance to learn how to be independent (Ma, 2014). By the time the student is done with high school, they are most likely ready to explore their boundaries; they are now an adult. Since there has been on a slight leash from parent’s for a while, they may need some kind of guidance. This can be used as time where the student should get away from their family and move out, get a job, and pay for their own bills. It is time to learn responsibilities, and that isn’t always cheap. This is a time where social life and academics can clash, so the student needs to learn priorities. It is true this is out of the student’s comfort zone, but it makes settling into college an e... ... middle of paper ... ...ience without taking a gap year. I think if a student isn’t ready for college by their junior year of high school, they should be prepared to take a gap year after they graduate; it will help them out in the long run. Works Cited Lazaro, G. (2013, October 23). Gap year success depends on student circumstances. Daily Nebraskan. Retrieved March 2, 2014, from http://www.dailynebraskan.com/news/article_199cd8f6-3ba0-11e3-97c6-001a4bcf6878.html Ma, A. (n.d.). 6 Reasons Every Student Should Consider Taking a Gap Year.PolicyMic. Retrieved February 23, 2014, from http://www.policymic.com/articles/70163/6-reasons-every-student-should-consider-taking-a-gap-year The Pros and Cons of Taking a Gap Year. (n.d.). Options Solutions Educational Consultants RSS. Retrieved February 24, 2014, from http://www.optionssolutionsed.com/the-pros-and-cons-of-taking-a-gap-year-7

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