

Ask HN: should I take a gap year? - peter_l_downs

Hey everybody,
I was accepted into an awesome university a couple of months ago. Not only are they one of the top science / tech schools in the US, they have a really good gap year policy. If I can come up with a reasonable plan, they'll let me defer my acceptance for a year.<p>That being said, do you think I should do it? Did you take a gap year and have it turn out to be great (or terrible)? I don't have the kind of money where I could just travel for a year, but I'd love to work overseas if I could.
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hippee-lee
I'm 36, took the 'safe' route through college right after high school and
then, through a round about cross country jaunt, I went on to a safe place in
a large company after that. So take this for what it is worth to you.

If you can get a year to do something you are interested in or passionate
about go for it! Formal education will be here for a while even though the
alternatives like Kahn and udacity and others are validating a different path.

In the places I have gone, since college, I have always met interesting people
with unexpected backgrounds. I highly doubt that you have to go off the beaten
path or to the far ends of the earth to find interesting people with a story
to tell and worthwhile work to do. But it is exciting to travel 'On The Road'
style and i'll bet it sounds cool when you tell stories to your kids or
friends over beers years later.

In retrospect, I could have done the cross country trek before college but
that may have changed where I went to college and where I worked after
college. If I change that I change meeting my wife and miss out on my
daughter. The flip side to that is that for someone who is at a stage where
they just want to experience life and people and learn more about the
differences in the world; now is the best time to do that. Be it on the other
side of the world, in the run down part of large city near them or a rural
countryside - what will make the decision worthwhile are the people you engage
with and what you do for them while you are there.

Things have changed a lot since I decided to go right into college and perhaps
it is cheap and easy to find work on the other side of the world these days. I
believe that meaningful work to fill a gap year could be found anywhere.

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paulhauggis
If you can, do it. You might have this opportunity again once you have a 9-5.

Don't waste it (IE: do something cool and interesting).

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gamechangr
Don't go to the cliches places in Europe, go somewhere that makes you stand
out. I lived in Vanuatu (South Pacific) it was a blast.

I worked (and made money), but many friends regret borrowing money to take a
pleasure trip. You decide.

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impendia
Why attempt to stand out? OP should follow his heart, his interests, and his
inclinations, whether that's off the beaten path or on it.

~~~
gamechangr
Have a different experience will help you have a different outlook.

Think different

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shuzchen
I dunno. Unless you seriously know what you want to do, I feel like it'll be a
waste of time. If you don't already have a very good idea about what you want
to do, college is the place where you should discover that. Looking back, I
had no clue what was important to me when I was first starting college (I
mean, at the time I _thought_ I knew).

I'd say the best time to take a year off would be between your 3rd and 4th
years, when you've tried a lot of different classes and actually done some
coursework in your major. You should definitely study abroad, and if your
school is as cool as it sounds, they'll provide help and direction on a great
place to go (I had a paid-for year in Japan. That was the most educational of
all my years of college).

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treme
imagine your self at 30, do you think looking back you'll think anything but
"I'm glad I took that year abroad when I was 18"

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peter_l_downs
Possibly – if I have to spend a lot of money and don't get that much out of
it, then I'll be thinking the opposite.

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jiganti
I took a gap year after high school, and am taking a leave of absence in the
midst of my junior year in college- both experiences have taught me more about
the world and myself than my time formal education ever has. I'd recommend the
year off if at all possible.

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kaybe
Depending on where you're from, there's the work&travel programs of some
countries. You can make enough to travel afterwards easily too.

I yet have to find somebody who regretted a gap year - go for it.

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qiang1012
Do what you want, even if they are something crazy! Try your best to make your
life wonderful!

