Gap year

Can anyone who took a gap year give me a guide to how they went about it? I’m worried about having to give up my current uni offers incase I don’t get any/ the ones I currently have next year. Any advice?

Reply 1

Scotland Yard

Clearing and Applications Advisor, Universities Forum Helper

20

Original post by m3nace

Can anyone who took a gap year give me a guide to how they went about it? I’m worried about having to give up my current uni offers incase I don’t get any/ the ones I currently have next year. Any advice?

Sorry that your thread has gone unanswered so far!

I took a gap year and became a care worker (it was easy to get a job in the field, and it would look nice on my uni application, and I knew it would teach me a lot about being and adult and humanity. But I underestimated how much it taught me). I applied to university in October of my gap year, just a few months after results day. I then quit my job as a care worker in the summer before university and used most of the little money I saved during my gap year (I regrettably was seeing a girl at the time who was a bit of a black hole in my finances) to travel around the UK for a bit. And then I was off to uni!

The reason why I took a gap year was because I originally applied to do Medicine but the only offer I received was Biomedicine for Newcastle. I never actually intended to go to Newcastle or study Biomedicine because I didn't want to do Biomedicine, and even if I had to do it, I certainly wasn't going to go to Newcastle. So I didn't go (also taught me a valuable lesson about my poor decision-making on my original UCAS application). Then the twists and turns of life led me to apply to do Psychology instead, and here I am, studying Psychology.

You say you have university offers. If you're happy with them, it's worth reaching out to the admissions department to see if you can defer university for a year so you can take a gap year without having to worry about it! Taking a gap year and reapplying is always a risk - I think it's much better applying with achieved grades but nothing is ever guaranteed and it's a bit of a gamble if you intend to "trade up" universities. If that's your goal with taking a gap year, then I suggest you don't take one, unless you're seriously unhappy with your current university offers.

Reply 2

m3nace

OP

9

Original post by Scotland Yard

Sorry that your thread has gone unanswered so far!

I took a gap year and became a care worker (it was easy to get a job in the field, and it would look nice on my uni application, and I knew it would teach me a lot about being and adult and humanity. But I underestimated how much it taught me). I applied to university in October of my gap year, just a few months after results day. I then quit my job as a care worker in the summer before university and used most of the little money I saved during my gap year (I regrettably was seeing a girl at the time who was a bit of a black hole in my finances) to travel around the UK for a bit. And then I was off to uni!

The reason why I took a gap year was because I originally applied to do Medicine but the only offer I received was Biomedicine for Newcastle. I never actually intended to go to Newcastle or study Biomedicine because I didn't want to do Biomedicine, and even if I had to do it, I certainly wasn't going to go to Newcastle. So I didn't go (also taught me a valuable lesson about my poor decision-making on my original UCAS application). Then the twists and turns of life led me to apply to do Psychology instead, and here I am, studying Psychology.

You say you have university offers. If you're happy with them, it's worth reaching out to the admissions department to see if you can defer university for a year so you can take a gap year without having to worry about it! Taking a gap year and reapplying is always a risk - I think it's much better applying with achieved grades but nothing is ever guaranteed and it's a bit of a gamble if you intend to "trade up" universities. If that's your goal with taking a gap year, then I suggest you don't take one, unless you're seriously unhappy with your current university offers.

Thank you so much! This is really helpful advice, I think I shall wait a while before I make my final decision, to ensure I have considered all my options :smile:

Original post by m3nace

Can anyone who took a gap year give me a guide to how they went about it? I’m worried about having to give up my current uni offers incase I don’t get any/ the ones I currently have next year. Any advice?

Hi! I took a gap year and I applied to university during it. But, if you want to make sure you have a place before taking a year out, what you can do is defer your place by a year. This way, you still have your place on your course but simply a year later. It's definitely worth making use of your teachers and college now to help you write a personal statement before leaving college, and asking them for references now. I hope that helps!

Reply 4

spooky541

5

Original post by m3nace

Can anyone who took a gap year give me a guide to how they went about it? I’m worried about having to give up my current uni offers incase I don’t get any/ the ones I currently have next year. Any advice?

Hey, you can sometimes defer offers later by calling the university and asking them to defer your application. Some are more willing than others, so it really depends, but if there's a specific offer you want to accept it's definitely worth a try

Gap year

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