Can I just relax in my gap year?

I keep hearing that you need to have a “productive” gap year otherwise it will look bad for your Uni application, but is this actually true? I have gained so much stress and my mental health has gotten worse due to my A levels. So really I just want to relax and take some time off. Also I want to go holiday for a long time (like 3-6+ months) to my home country to see family after an extremely long time. I am also going to work to save up money for University, and I have other productive hobbies like programming. But I don’t want to volunteer or go on an internship or whatever other people do in their gap years. Is this okay or will it look bad? I am planning to go to a good Uni.

I keep hearing that you need to have a “productive” gap year otherwise it will look bad for your Uni application, but is this actually true? I have gained so much stress and my mental health has gotten worse due to my A levels. So really I just want to relax and take some time off. Also I want to go holiday for a long time (like 3-6+ months) to my home country to see family after an extremely long time. I am also going to work to save up money for University, and I have other productive hobbies like programming. But I don’t want to volunteer or go on an internship or whatever other people do in their gap years. Is this okay or will it look bad? I am planning to go to a good Uni.

If you get an offer this year for deferred entry, you can relax with 0 worries. Try clearing or calling to see if unis still have spaces on their courses. If you're looking after your health, and doing something I don't think it really matters, but it depends on the course. What are you applying for?

Have you already applied and got offers or are you going to apply during your gap year?

If you are applying during your gap year I would say at least do something related to the subject for the earlier part of the year so when you apply you will have an extremely strong application. I personally applied during my gap year and have a few offers now waiting for the rest. I did work for about 6 months in a related field and did mention this in my personal statement. I am currently planning on relaxing and traveling during the remaining part of my gap year and have some fun before starting university. Hope this helps feel free to ask any questions I was in a similar position as you last year and would love to help you out. Good luck

I am going to apply in my gap year for Computer Science. I also forgot to mention I’m resitting an A level (or I guess sitting for the first time) because I got taken out of it in sixth form. But I already know most of the content so I don’t need to study that much. I do programming as a hobby but I don’t know if that if that is something that can add to my application.

I am going to apply in my gap year for Computer Science. I also forgot to mention I’m resitting an A level (or I guess sitting for the first time) because I got taken out of it in sixth form. But I already know most of the content so I don’t need to study that much. I do programming as a hobby but I don’t know if that if that is something that can add to my application.

I keep hearing that you need to have a “productive” gap year otherwise it will look bad for your Uni application, but is this actually true? I have gained so much stress and my mental health has gotten worse due to my A levels. So really I just want to relax and take some time off. Also I want to go holiday for a long time (like 3-6+ months) to my home country to see family after an extremely long time. I am also going to work to save up money for University, and I have other productive hobbies like programming. But I don’t want to volunteer or go on an internship or whatever other people do in their gap years. Is this okay or will it look bad? I am planning to go to a good Uni.

I keep hearing that you need to have a “productive” gap year otherwise it will look bad for your Uni application, but is this actually true? I have gained so much stress and my mental health has gotten worse due to my A levels. So really I just want to relax and take some time off. Also I want to go holiday for a long time (like 3-6+ months) to my home country to see family after an extremely long time. I am also going to work to save up money for University, and I have other productive hobbies like programming. But I don’t want to volunteer or go on an internship or whatever other people do in their gap years. Is this okay or will it look bad? I am planning to go to a good Uni.

I am going to apply in my gap year for Computer Science. I also forgot to mention I’m resitting an A level (or I guess sitting for the first time) because I got taken out of it in sixth form. But I already know most of the content so I don’t need to study that much. I do programming as a hobby but I don’t know if that if that is something that can add to my application.

I did something similar last year where i resat an A level (well, sat for the first time) and im currently on a gap year. I volunteered for about a week at a charity shop so that I'd have something to talk about just in case and also worked in hospitality because i wanted to earn some money. It really depends on what university you're planning on applying to - for me, Warwick wanted me to provide some information on what i did during my gap year but other universities didn't. In my interviews i didn't really have to mention my gap year stuff, i just did because i could.