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Taking a 'Gap Year' Before College Is a British Tradition That's Becoming a Big Trend In The US (qz.com)
An anonymous user cites an article on Quartz: Today, many U.S. universities not only allow admitted students to take a year off before beginning their studies, but encourage it. In 2000, Harvard's admissions officers co-authored an article titled "Time Out or Burn Out for the Next Generation," in which they suggest admitted students combat the mounting pressures of secondary and post-secondary education (and modern life in general) by taking a year off. [...] The term "gap year" caught on in the US about a decade ago, when Prince William and Prince Harry took planned time off before entering university in the UK, according to Holly Bull, president of an independent agency called Interim Programs that helps US pre-college students plan their time off. Bull's father founded the agency in 1980 to promote the concept. "I've basically watched the trend grow from its inception in the U.S.," she says. "And while I wouldn't call it mainstream now, we've seen a lot of growth." This growth has led to a burgeoning "gap year" planning services industry, populated by an increasing number of consulting agencies such as Bull's. The American Gap Association (AGA), founded in 2012, oversees this industry, acting as a kind of accreditation agency. Based on the programs it reviews, the AGA estimates that between 30,000 and 40,000 students annually take a planned "gap year" in the U.S., and that the number of students doing this has grown by between 20% and 30% each year since 2006."The growing popularity of gap years speaks to a larger conversation in the US about what direction education is heading and how we help young people become thoughtful, caring citizens," Joe O'Shea, president of the AGA, says.
I went right out of high school at the age of 17 into an Ivy League school and pretty much went through a stress/depression meltdown, after which I left school. It took me about a year sitting at home to get motivated enough to try college again, but when I did, I pretty much ran the tables, graduating at the top of my classes in both undergrad and (after a few years off to pay off what hadn't been covered by scholarships and have kids) then grad school. However, the road back wasn't easy - working up to 64 hours a week while taking a 19-credit load and graduating at the undergraduate level with two degrees from a no-name school so I could demonstrate my freshman year was a fluke. It would have been a lot less expensive, stressful and risky to just have taken a year off before jumping into college, and my career would likely have been different with a few more connections from my original school.
In the UK (at least) it's usual to have your university place lined up already, so it's unlikely that you won't go.
It's quite common for kids to spend a few months working first to get the money to spend on a few months travelling. Of course they'll usually be living rent free with parents whilst working so their life is subsided - but that's just a continuation of the arrangement whilst they were in school.
It's become very common here now although when I started university (33 years ago) it's wasn't a thing. For some kids it's a really good idea, for others ... not so much.