Year Out, Gap Year Advice.. Recommendations?

newyddion

newyddion

Well-known member
Got my eldest looking into taking a year out before jumping straight back into studies with uni.. see a bit more of the world, gain some life experience.

Just thought I would tap into the collective hive mind to see what folks on here have experienced or would recommend..
 
My daughter took a year out and it helped her better understand what she wanted to do. My son didn't and I think he should have as he did a degree that he probably wouldn't have given where his path has taken him. I look back at my time at Uni and I think that I would have been better served by taking a year out. You do a lot of growing up in that year.

So I would say it is definitely a positive thing. Of course if you have a long defined career path (e.g. Medicine/Law) then maybe not so much?
 
Good advice from Muttley. I took a year out during my early career as i had an accident which prevented me from doing a gap year at the time. Nothing i could do about it but i would echo that a lot of growing up and understanding of what you want to going forward happens during that time.
 
I didn't do a year out but I know quite a few that went travelling and I think the people that did it post uni preferred it. After uni you can choose how long you go for a bit more flexibly as you aren't stuck with having to wait for September to come back around and you can just stop and get a job whenever you want. I would guess travelling the world on your own at 18 could be a bit more daunting than when you've experienced a bit more at uni. There might be more options to do it with friends as well because more people do go travelling post uni.

If you are just going to have a year off before uni and stay at home for most of it and work in a minimum wage job then I can't see the benefit.
 
Tell him to get himself a job doing that'll get him some worthwhile experience. I took a year out from uni to work at deloitte and rejoined once I finished my studies.

Even if he doesn't end up going back to work for whoever it is, graduates with some sort of relevant work experience are looked upon a lot more favourably than graduates who've got zero experience
 
Normanby_Red said:
I took a year out from uni to work at deloitte and rejoined once I finished my studies.
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to add to this as well, he might end up getting a job offer somewhere which saves him applying for jobs in his last year of uni.

Majority of people I went to uni with ended up working in a pub or retail for ages because they didn't do enough job searching during final year, due to the fact it is quite time consuming
 
Walk from the top of New Zealand to the very bottom - will take around 120 days and it will change him for life.

Te Araroa - New Zealand's Trail — Home

Te Araroa is NZ's walk of a lifetime. The 3000km route stretches from Cape Reinga in the north of New Zealand to Bluff in the south.
www.teararoa.org.nz www.teararoa.org.nz

Then off to Bali, Oz, working back through Asia

Whatever he decides - it will be a win
 
Nano said:
I didn't do a year out but I know quite a few that went travelling and I think the people that did it post uni preferred it. After uni you can choose how long you go for a bit more flexibly as you aren't stuck with having to wait for September to come back around and you can just stop and get a job whenever you want. I would guess travelling the world on your own at 18 could be a bit more daunting than when you've experienced a bit more at uni. There might be more options to do it with friends as well because more people do go travelling post uni.

If you are just going to have a year off before uni and stay at home for most of it and work in a minimum wage job then I can't see the benefit.
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I can definitely see the benefit of getting a year of life experience before uni.. getting thrown in at the deep end at uni and all the distractions that can be there can definitely impact on your studies.. plus no point wasting a year at uni doing a course that doesn't necessarily suit. bit of independence and self suficiency will go a long way.

definitely no point sitting on the couch for a year.. that is not happening. I did Camp America which was a very good experience and did prepare me some what for university.. my son doesn't turn 18 until after June so he cant really start off with that. I've got friends who have backpacked across Australia and South East Asia.. taught conversational English and worked bar jobs and factory work.. I guess work experience is work experience.
 
Normanby_Red said:
Tell him to get himself a job doing that'll get him some worthwhile experience. I took a year out from uni to work at deloitte and rejoined once I finished my studies.

Even if he doesn't end up going back to work for whoever it is, graduates with some sort of relevant work experience are looked upon a lot more favourably than graduates who've got zero experience
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This is especially good advice if looking to go into a graduate scheme or similar, especially if it's with the same company. Everyone I know that did an internship or had prior experience got a graduate scheme. I would say as well that this is one of the big differences between the people that went to private schools and the people that went to comprehensives. All the private school kids had relevant work experience before going to uni and where therefore at the front of the queue post uni, even with the same grades. It was never even mentioned that was an option or something we should be doing at our school whereas the private kids had experience and had been drilled on how to properly do interviews. My parents had never been to uni or worked in those sort of environments so they didn't know any better either.

I'd expect that to be a bit different these days because students seem more switched on to getting value from their degree than we did back then. A lot more studying and a lot less partying as the norm seems to be the way with the younger ones that have come to work with us after uni.
 
Nano said:
would guess travelling the world on your own at 18 could be a bit more daunting than when you've experienced a bit more at uni. There might be more options to do it with friends as well because more people do go travelling post uni.
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I think he's looking to start off going with friends.. so it shouldnt be that bad. also going to uni at 18 living away from home can be quite daunting.. I think that's the angle we're coming from.
 
Beware of the added expense of a year out compared to previous generations.

I took a year out and worked locally, went on a couple of holidays, collected my thoughts etc but this was back in the naughts.... Totally different ball game now.

As @Nano said it might be better doing it post uni.

It's hardly jumping into the deep end going to uni now with a bunch of people the same age.
 
newyddion said:
I can definitely see the benefit of getting a year of life experience before uni.. getting thrown in at the deep end at uni and all the distractions that can be there can definitely impact on your studies.. plus no point wasting a year at uni doing a course that doesn't necessarily suit. bit of independence and self suficiency will go a long way.

definitely no point sitting on the couch for a year.. that is not happening. I did Camp America which was a very good experience and did prepare me some what for university.. my son doesn't turn 18 until after June so he cant really start off with that. I've got friends who have backpacked across Australia and South East Asia.. taught conversational English and worked bar jobs and factory work.. I guess work experience is work experience.
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To be honest, I don't think you get thrown into the deep end in first year at uni. There was a lot of foundation learning, which if you had studied that subject at A-level was just a repeat, and marks didn't count towards your degree so all you need to do is pass. You don't need a 1st or 2:1 in your first year. You also have the option to switch courses after the 1st year and you can even retake exams if you do fail one.

newyddion said:
I think he's looking to start off going with friends.. so it shouldnt be that bad. also going to uni at 18 living away from home can be quite daunting.. I think that's the angle we're coming from.
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Yeh, going with friends would be much better. A lot of people struggle leaving home for uni if they have a really good group of friends and they are going to be dotted around the country so one last hurrah does sound good.

1st year can be daunting as well but you are typically in a halls of residence with a load of other kids the same age in the same boat. If you can get catered halls it takes away a lot of the hassle of having to be too self-sufficient and also gives a good place to meet people if you don't get on with your immediate neighbours.
 
Nano said:
To be honest, I don't think you get thrown into the deep end in first year at uni. There was a lot of foundation learning, which if you had studied that subject at A-level was just a repeat, and marks didn't count towards your degree so all you need to do is pass. You don't need a 1st or 2:1 in your first year. You also have the option to switch courses after the 1st year and you can even retake exams if you do fail one.

Yeh, going with friends would be much better. A lot of people struggle leaving home for uni if they have a really good group of friends and they are going to be dotted around the country so one last hurrah does sound good.

1st year can be daunting as well but you are typically in a halls of residence with a load of other kids the same age in the same boat. If you can get catered halls it takes away a lot of the hassle of having to be too self-sufficient and also gives a good place to meet people if you don't get on with your immediate neighbours.
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Thrown in at the deep end as far as living away from home being self sufficient ect.. the distraction of mediocre pub nights.. etc etc.. with a bit more experience under his belt maybe he wont just pish away the first year and be a bit more switched and focused. Also as far as networking and friendship groups.. be a little more confident.
 
My son left 6th form went straight to University and got a great degree in finance and accounting.
One year later he's now not interested in any jobs associated with finance and accounting.
A gap year may have helped but my concern would have been that he spent half his money on women and booze and then simply squandered the rest.
 
There will be some volunteer networks globally that they can look into and apply for that combines some travel, volunteer work and helps broaden horizons whilst giving assistance to those in need around the world. An acquaintance's daughter has gone off to the far east helping to teach English for 9 months. If I bump into them in the near future I’ll see if I can find how they went about it.

Lots of research would be advised mind.
 
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