Why Gap Year? > Harvard on Gap Years

Harvard on Gap Years

Universities around the world support the decision to take a gap year. To understand the university perspective, we encourage students and parents to consider these quotes from Harvard University Dean of Undergraduate Admissions William Fitzsimmons:

"We believe that students use their opportunities in college much more effectively if they have had some chance to get some perspective and get away. . .

"Most fundamentally, it is a time to step back and reflect, to gain perspective on personal values and goals, or to gain needed life experience in a setting separate from and independent of one’s accustomed pressures and expectations. . .

"Regardless of why they took the year off or what they did, students are effusive in their praise. Many speak of their year away as a ‘life-altering’ experience or a ‘turning point,’ and most feel that its full value can never be measured and will pay dividends the rest of their lives. Many come to college with new visions of their academic plans, their extracurricular pursuits, the intangibles they hoped to gain in college, and the career possibilities they observed in their year away. Virtually all would do it again."

For more information, we encourage you to read the article “Time Out or Burn Out for the Next Generation” by Harvard Dean of Admissions William Fitzsimmons, et al.