Why are gap years so frowned upon?

Benefits include:

• Time to gain work experience and earn money

• Time to knock out gen eds at CC

• Time for personal major related projects

• Time for volunteering and service

• Improved GPA (only for those leaning on an upward trend due to being able to submit full senior year grades)

• Time to improve test scores

• Get to EA pretty much everywhere you apply

• Time to specialize and really think about what you want to do in college

• Do that one thing you really wanted to do

Drawbacks include:

• Loss of study skills

• Loss of motivation

• Unforeseen events (relationship, pregnancy, etc)

• Rooting down too soon (financing a car, incurring loan debt, etc)

• Not using it productively (gooning in your parents basement)

I think a lot of this is selection bias as the people who are weaker students = unsure about college = takes gap year = gets comfortable = not ending up going. I think a lot of it is about knowing yourself. If you are a strong student and are taking a gap for any of the benefits listed I say go for it IMO. From what I heard it will likely be a positive for ones application if used well.