While the end of the school year may be an exciting time to relax and enjoy a summer vacation, it can also be a stressful time of decision making. This is especially true if you are entering your last year of college and deciding whether you should apply for grad school during your last year or take a gap year before grad school.

If you want to go straight to grad school after getting your college degree, you have to start applying during your last year of undergrad. This means preparation for entrance exams should already be underway the summer before your senior year.

This can make the summer before senior year a hectic time so I will highlight some of the points you need to consider to help you decide whether taking a gap year is right for you.

 

1.  Is your current GPA competitive enough to get into grad school?

By far the number one reason my college colleagues gave for taking a year off was to boost up their application with better grades and relevant extracurriculars.

If you didn’t do so well in your first few semesters of college and don’t think your GPA is good enough, you may want to use a gap year to take relevant classes to boost up your GPA.

You should also take a look at the prerequisites from the schools you are interested in. Make sure to take those classes either part-time from community college during your gap year or if financial aid allows, take an extra semester or year of university to complete them.

If you think a small boost in GPA won’t help you much, you can always consider balancing your application with relevant extracurriculars during your gap year.

 

2.  Will your grad school look favorably on more experience?

Grad school administration, even more so than undergrad’s, are looking for relevant experiences in the field you are pursuing. They are looking to see if you are a good fit for their specific program and the only way they can do that is by looking at your past experiences.

If like most college graduates, your work experience only include a campus job, you may want to seek outside work experiences during your gap year to boost up your application.

You should also keep in mind that some grad school programs like business schools look very fondly at past work experiences. In fact, business schools prefer applicants with a couple years of work experience rather than new college graduates.




While I cannot think of any graduate school programs that would consider having more work experience a detriment to applicants, I can think of some that are not as strict on having full-time work experience prior to applying.

An example I know well is pharmacy school. While the administrative board will look fondly on prior pharmacy experiences, not having a full year of pharmacy work experience did not set me back from being accepted to pharmacy school right after college.

The point is, grad school administration doesn’t want to enroll someone who finds out midway that the program is not for them. So you have to be able to show that you have enough experience going into the program to know that this is what you want to do.

More so than just to boost your application, this is important for you as well. Grad school is expensive. So if you’re not 100% sure you can commit, I would take a gap year to gain experience so you’ll know for certain if the field you want to pursue is right for you.

 

3.  Do you have the willpower to quit your job to go back to school?

The biggest warning I have to give when it comes to taking a gap year is you might end up giving up on going back to school. Lifestyle inflation is real.

When you finally get a full-time job after graduation, you are going to have a more enjoyable lifestyle. And once you stop living like a broke college student, it’s hard to go back.

Many people choose to work after graduating from college to have enough money to pay for graduate school but end up being too comfortable with their job that they choose to forgo graduate school.

This is not entirely bad. If you end up finding yourself in a job that you absolutely love, then, by all means, don’t go to graduate school. But for many, they simply get too complacent and settle for a job they don’t love rather than starting from point zero all over again.

4.  Do you need a break?

The length of grad school can range depending on the program you choose. After being at school for so long, sometimes you just need a break. Especially if you are entering a program like medical school that you know will take you on a grueling ride for years before you see the end of the tunnel, you might want to consider a break first.

Ask yourself if you’re feeling worn out. Do you feel like you’re lacking life experiences? Maybe a break to travel and enjoy life for a little bit wouldn’t be so bad.

 

5.  What is your plan after graduation?

I know it is hard to think about graduation, especially if you haven’t even started your senior year of college. However, you should start thinking about what you want to do after graduation if you decide not to go to grad school right away.

Do you already have a job in mind that you’d like to pursue before considering grad school? Or is grad school the only way you’ll be able to obtain your desired job?

The point is to get you to start thinking about it. The excuse that you’ll be too busy to apply to grad school in your last year of college is not a good enough reason to delay grad school application. You have to decide if you have a good enough reason to take a gap year.

While it may seem like grad school is still far away, these are some of the questions you need to ask yourself to help you decide if taking a gap year is the right decision for you. No matter what, there is no right or wrong decision; it is simply a personal one. I have met people who have been happy with either of these decisions. So don’t get too stressed out and good luck with grad school applications!