Most seniors can not wait to get out of school and be free, meanwhile others want to go straight to college. While gap years increase self-awareness and can help students transition to college, they are not necessary and can negatively impact students.

Gap years are a risky gamble to take for many students because they lose their academic edge that they have worked so hard to acquire in high school. Coming back to school a better overall person is definitely a positive, but students lose a lot of basic knowledge and awareness of school culture that they have lived with for twelve years.

If people do not get organized during the gap year, it can be to a student’s disadvantage. When students take a gap year, it is usually because they have a have personal or professional motivation. Students have to apply to colleges in order to get back in school, and they are vying to fill spots vacated by transfer students, a number much smaller than a freshman class. Students often will lose the momentum of writing an essay or even something as simple as the knowledge the student has learned throughout the academic course of the years.

Additionally, being a year behind everyone can be tough on some students. Their social life could be negatively impacted while their friends depart to college for a new adventure, and they have not filled that void with new college friends.It is difficult to break into friend groups that have already formed after the first year of college. If a student went straight to college, they essentially maintain the same lifestyle in regards to finance.

Another negative is that the amount of time planning and organizing trips abroad could be spent in an academic situation. Students that use “getting away from home to find a new perspective” as an excuse to take a gap year may not be telling the whole side of the story, as college provides plenty of experience and students can travel abroad during a semester in college.

Also, the students might not want to go back to the stressful school life after taking the year off, and that can put your education and future in jeopardy. Students can become used to the traveller “lifestyle” and may not emphasize a college education and a well-paying job. It can be a huge shock trying to adjust to the new way of life too.

Instead of rushing into the adult world, you could take it slower and easier at college where you are still a student and have to strive to succeed at school, but do not have to worry about financial independence. As you can see, taking a gap year is a risk that is not worth taken.