Taking a gap year- is it worth it?

Hey guys,

So I’m on a gap year. Going to uni September 2026, I have a concern about going to uni a “year late”. I feel like I may missing behind on my age mates and may feel left out of the younger people. Though I know uni is full of people of many different ages in each year.

Is my thinking rational, would love to hear advice!! Thank you 💞

Reply 1

seahkim

I'm not going to uni yet, but from an outsider perspective, I think that a gap year is a great idea.
Gap years are a time where you can discover yourself and take a well-deserved break. There are so many people who take gap years and start uni late, so don't worry! It's better to take a break and go into uni confident and sure rather than starting now (even if you don't feel like you're up for it) in order to "fit in" with other people. Uni has a large diversity of people -- age isn't a constraint!
Taking a gap year shouldn't make you feel like you're slowing down or getting behind -- it's a crucial time for you to figure yourself out and what you want to do before entering another stage of life.

Please take my advice with a grain of salt, and do what your heart desires. I hope I was of some assistance! 🙂

Reply 2

Scotland Yard

Universities Forum Helper

Original post

by adasblack

Hey guys,
So I’m on a gap year. Going to uni September 2026, I have a concern about going to uni a “year late”. I feel like I may missing behind on my age mates and may feel left out of the younger people. Though I know uni is full of people of many different ages in each year.
Is my thinking rational, would love to hear advice!! Thank you 💞

What do you mean, "feel left out of the younger people"? I hate to burst your bubble but you are "younger people" :smile:

No one will bat an eyelid at you being a year older, and everyone will forget about your age and you'll quickly forget about it yourself. Taken from my own personal experience being a couple of years older than most of my cohort at uni!

Reply 3

adasblack

Original post

by Scotland Yard

What do you mean, "feel left out of the younger people"? I hate to burst your bubble but you are "younger people" :smile:

Okay this is sooo true not gonna lie, I was just worried for nothing thank you so much💞

Reply 4

adasblack

Original post

by seahkim

I'm not going to uni yet, but from an outsider perspective, I think that a gap year is a great idea.
Gap years are a time where you can discover yourself and take a well-deserved break. There are so many people who take gap years and start uni late, so don't worry! It's better to take a break and go into uni confident and sure rather than starting now (even if you don't feel like you're up for it) in order to "fit in" with other people. Uni has a large diversity of people -- age isn't a constraint!
Taking a gap year shouldn't make you feel like you're slowing down or getting behind -- it's a crucial time for you to figure yourself out and what you want to do before entering another stage of life.
Please take my advice with a grain of salt, and do what your heart desires. I hope I was of some assistance! 🙂

This was a lot of help actually, thank you so much love your reply 💖

Reply 5

MaryamMajick

Hello, I'm on a gap year too and I was worried about a lot of the same things ngl but I've kind of gotten over it (especially since I'm a Scottish student going to an English uni so I'll be the same age anyway)

But since mine was a bit of an unplanned gap year (like, I only found out I'm not going to uni this year a month ago) I'm not really sure what to plan/do?

I've applied for lots of jobs and I have an interview soon. I'm also doing tutoring.

But other than that, if I don't get a job/in my free time what would be good to do 😅

Reply 6

ARUStudents

Official Rep

Original post

by adasblack

Hey guys,
So I’m on a gap year. Going to uni September 2026, I have a concern about going to uni a “year late”. I feel like I may missing behind on my age mates and may feel left out of the younger people. Though I know uni is full of people of many different ages in each year.
Is my thinking rational, would love to hear advice!! Thank you 💞

Hey there!

I'm Jacob, jumping in here as I personally took not one, but two gap years before starting my course at ARU starting at age 20 with many course mates still in their teens. Its easy and very normal to slip into that way of thinking, especially after being surrounded by people of the same age for your entire school career, but from my personal experience the age difference hasn't mattered one bit! After all, as far as your classmates are concerned, you're all in the same boat starting a new course in a new place, there will always be that level of relatability regardless of age. But in the grand scheme of things, a year really is not much time at all, if you think about it even within a school year group, theres those born in September, and those born in the later months like July/August, the age gap really isn't much more than that!
There will be people of all different ages on your course and around campus, you absolutely won't be left out! My friend group I met in first year have now become some of my closest friends, many of them are a year or two younger than me but we're all adults regardless, so you really cannot tell! Many people will overlook things like a one year age gap and will just be happy to have made a great friend!

I hope this helps give you some perspective! You're not alone in this way of thinking, you will find your people :smile:

Best of luck with everything!

•

Jacob (2nd Year BA Film & Media student, ARU Cambridge)