A gap year between high school and college is a common alternative chosen by students who aren’t sure whether higher education is for them. But now, high school seniors might not have any other choice.
Colleges across the country are debating whether to reopen at all this fall due to concerns about COVID-19 and how easily the virus could spread throughout a campus’s close quarters. And that means high school seniors, many of whom have already committed to certain universities, are being forced to think about a Plan B. For many, that Plan B is a gap year, or a chance to work, intern, or travel while they put college plans on hold.
“The gap year world is humming,” Holly Bull, head of a consulting firm in New Jersey that helps high school seniors navigate gap year decisions, told the Omaha World-Herald. “Gap time is all about rolling with change anyway.”
Internet searches for the term “gap year” have skyrocketed on Google since March, according to the Wall Street Journal, with the question “What is a gap year?” increasing by more than 180% in the last week of April.
Many of these questions are coming from concerned parents unhappy about shelling out $25,000 a semester for Zoom meetings with some adjunct professor in American studies. But right now, those questions are just that: questions. Colleges haven’t seen an uptick in requests for deferrals yet, though many expect to see them soon, according to Todd Rinehart, the president-elect of the National Association for College Admission Counseling.
For some students, the idea of a forced gap year is a dream come true.
“I’m crossing my fingers,” George Ma, a New Jersey high school senior, told the Wall Street Journal after requesting a deferral from UCLA. Ma said he’s always loved the idea of a gap year, but it wasn’t something his parents supported until the coronavirus changed everyone’s expectations. “It sounds more logical to them now — not so emotion-based,” he explained.
But educators and parents alike have very real concerns about the long-term consequences that accompany this kind of educational delay.
“We know that if a student takes a break, it is much harder to come back,” Lina Stover, the undergraduate admissions director at the University of Nebraska, Omaha, told the Omaha World-Herald. “You lose momentum in terms of studying.”
It’s reasonable to debate the costs and benefits of a gap year, but at the end of the day, the decision should be the students’. Navigating life after high school is hard enough as it is. Add a global pandemic into the mix, and … well, is it any wonder so many are looking for a break?
