Alesha Reynolds

English 102

Hem Paduel

13 April, 2015

How effective is the “Gap Year” Theory?

Abstract

 When deciding on whether or not you would be interested in a college degree, you must also think about when you would like to attend an institution. “Should I take a ‘gap’ year between high school and college?” I took a survey of 20 people that I know well. Some have taken a gap year between high school and college, some haven’t, and some have taken several gap years. I have found that about 75 percent of the surveyed persons, disagree with the “gap year” phenomenon. These results were surprising to me and my theory has now changed.

Introduction

Getting a college diploma is almost essential in today’s society. Now when one decides to go to college can be the tricky part. In a lot of countries, high schools encourage students to take what’s known as a “gap year” between high school and college. Some feel as if this gap year is to help students have a year to breath and also a year away from studying and homework. Others feel as if a gap year will give students too much of a break, and they will never want to return to school and receive a college diploma. I have conducted a survey to find out which of these theories is true or most believed. I have asked students who have taken a gap year, taken several gap years, or went straight from high school into a college institution.

Participants

6 students who have taken a “Gap year”

3 students who have taken several years between high school and college

11 students who haven’t taken any gaps between high school and college

Procedures

1.      First I asked each individual what their current situation was. (Took a gap year, several years, or no gap year at all)

2.      Then I asked why each individual decided to take this route in their education.

3.      Third, I asked each person how they were doing in college. Are there grades poor, average, or excellent? Are they still enrolled in college, or have they since dropped out? Was it easier or more difficult choosing their major?

4.      Lastly, I asked each individual if they were happy with their decision. Was it the best choice for them? Would they recommend their choice to other high school students?

Data Analysis

I took each person’s responses and compared and contrasted these responses with other interviewed students and also online articles and studies over this topic.

Results

Participant	Gap year Or not?	GPA	Still in college or drop out	Happy with decision?	Would they change it?
1	Gap	A average	College	Yes	Yes
2	Gap	C average	College	Yes	No
3	Several years	F average	Drop out	No	Yes
4	No Gap	C average	College	No	Yes
5	No Gap	B average	College	Yes	No
6	No Gap	B average	College	Yes	No
7	No Gap	D average	College	No	No

This table represents the results of the seven students that were the most credible and gave me the best results along with the most information. Participant number one is a good friend of mine. He took a one year break between high school and college. I asked him why he made this decision. His answer; “I had obviously been in school for twelve consecutive years. I needed a break from all the homework and studying. I took a year off and worked at my job and saved up money and returned to school the following year at the University of Louisville. This was a great decision for me. Whenever I finally returned to school, I was refreshed and eager to get back into my studies. I now have great grades.”

Participant number three is also a close friend of mine. He took a 3 year gap between high school and his first semester of college. I also interviewed him. “My plan was to only take a one year break from school. I needed a break. I was tired of homework and studying and I just wasn’t ready to start college yet. One year turned into two, and then three. For a while, I didn’t think I was ever going to return to college. Been in the fall of 2014, I decided to enroll in Jefferson community and technical college. I went to class for about two months and eventually just quit going to class and quit turning in my assignments. I just didn’t seem to care about my school work; I was no longer motivated. If I could change it, I would have never taken a break between high school and college. It threw me off track and once I realized how relieved I was to not be doing school work anymore, I didn’t want to go back to it.”

Participant number four is a C average college student who did not take a gap year. I interviewed her as well. “During my senior year of high school, I started applying to colleges because that’s what I felt like I was supposed to be doing. I applied at the University of Louisville and got accepted. When the fall came around, I was a full time student taking 15 credit hours that semester. There were days where I really enjoyed college, and there were days where I wanted to drop out. My grades suffered a little bit because of this. If I could go back and change it, I would have taken a gap year between high school and college. I needed a break from school, and I still do. If I were to take a break from school now, I would never return. If I would have taken a year break right after college, it would have given me the time to breathe and really rest up so I could go into college and be focused and ultimately have a higher GPA than what I do now.”

Discussion

In my study, I found what was most important was the students’ performance in school. If they were doing well in school, they tended to agree with their decision whether it was to take a gap year, no gap year, or several gap years. If the student’s grades were poor, the participant usually said that they would go back and make a different decision if they could. This study has shown me that student that took one gap year, were doing pretty well in college and seemed to be more focused than students who didn’t take any break between high school and college. My study has also shown me that students who take more than one year between high school and college, seem to get off track and don’t realty succeed in college as well as others did. Students who didn’t take any gap year between high school and college, seem to be doing well in college for the majority. There were a few participants who were struggling some, but most seemed to be on track. Some of these students informed me that it would have been nice to have taken a break from school, but overall they are on track to graduate and can’t complain too much about their decision. It’s hard to know if the “Gap year” method is effective in such a small study. To find more specific results, you would need to survey a large amount of students, and also look at each individuals GPA to see if the “Gap year” is a success or unsuccessful on average. I had always assumed that students who took breaks from school or a “Gap year” would either never return to school, or become off track and unfocused and some of my results have proved me wrong.