SYNTHESIZING RESEARCH ON GAP YEAR

The economic principle I researched was scarcity. Students must make decisions on which (if any) university they would like to attend; this ultimately comes with the opportunity cost of the university you don’t attend and the resources you will use like; time, energy, money, etc, or if they will attend school or decide not to, in this case the opportunity cost would be either the schooling they don’t receive or the money they are potentially losing from not working instead.

 In my 2nd blog post I really tried to get into what colleges are currently doing to recruit students to attend their university. Colleges all over the nation are really beginning to modernize their recruitment process and t’s seeing amazing results. This article in depth discussed the new techniques and explained exactly how colleges are using them currently. The article discussed QR Codes, Facebook competitions, youtube and vlogging, and so so much more that colleges are starting to participate in for incoming students.

 In my 3rd blog post the articles I used helped to convey what universities think of gap years and which ones actually encourage it. The article, published in Gap Year Association titled 20 Colleges That Encourage a Gap Year Demonstrates this economic principle because it helps to show future college applicants what universities actually support students taking a gap year. The article showcased many shocking colleges that are all for students taking a gap year, some included being Yale, Harvard, and the University of Pennsylvania. The second article I did really discussed how gap years are viewed by colleges and what their thoughts are on the concept. It stated, many colleges and universities are increasingly open to the idea of students taking gap years before entering as freshman.-some even offer financial aid shockingly. For example, Princeton has been offering need-based financial aid for gap year students participating in its Bridge Year program since 2009, while the University of North Carolina provides $7,500 for applicants through its Global Gap Year Fellowship.

 In my 4th blog post the article I did discussed the true pros and cons of taking a gap year, and in tremendous detail. This article demonstrates this economic principle because it helps to show an unbiased approach to determining if students would like to take a gap year. If students looked up information or researched gap years most articles that would pop up would be biased on one side, but bu including pros and cons it’s easier to decide. Many students choose to take a gap year before college, whether it is to get some work experience, volunteer, earn some money for their advanced education or travel the world and gain experiences that may help them during their degree. Some pros the article listed include; Time to think and figure out what you would like to do, you learn responsibility at a whole different level, you can submit a more impressive application, you can earn towards your education. On the contrary cons mentioned included; it puts you a year behind, you take the risk of losing momentum, and gap years can be extremely costly.

 In my last blog post the article I did portrayed real life people and their stories of their own gap year. The articles followed up with previously interviewed people years later to see how their gap year had ended up affecting them, their attitude, and their life all together. Those included all came from completely different backgrounds, did completely different things during their gap year, and are doing completely different things in their lives now. Those involved went onto explore fields such as environmental science, education, political campaigning, and much more. Many parents worry that if their children take a gap year, it will make them appear undisciplined and insubordinate to employers, but this article helped to show the exact opposite. Your gap year is what you make of it and what you take from it.