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Gap Year Personal Statement Examples

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Your Gap Year

When it comes to taking a gap year you have two options – to take it before you begin university, or to take it during your time at university. Luckily, whichever option you choose will look good on paper.

Universities like to see that their students have life experience outside of their academic career and a gap year is the perfect chance to pick up new skills, take part in different activities, and see a little bit more of life. 

Gap years prove to universities that you’re ready for a new adventure and like to take on a challenge. These are positive personal attributes for potential university students and can make you stand out from the crowd.

However, there are some definite dos and don’ts when talking about your gap year in your personal statement. The admissions tutors will want to hear either about what you did during your gap year, or what you intend to do if you haven’t already taken it.

You don’t have to focus your personal statement on your gap year but a few sentences or a short paragraph near the end of your application outlining your plans will show the reader that you’ve thought about what you’ll be doing.

It doesn’t matter if you’re going to be spending the time working to gain relevant experience in your subject or whether you’re travelling, as long as you show the admissions tutor that you have a plan and know what you will gain from taking the time out of education.

What you do on your gap year is completely up to you but most universities would warn you off wasting your time. Lying on a beach for an entire year might sound like a great reward for all your hard work at school, but you won’t gain anything from it.

It’s important to have a break but taking the time to volunteer for a community project, learn a new skill or language, and gaining valuable vocational experience will get you ahead of the game when the time comes to apply for/or return to university. 

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The Voice of Wilkinson

Beyond the Classroom: Crafting Your Gap Year Career Corner

March 28, 2024

Erin Berthon, MA Career Manager, Wilkinson College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, at Chapman University

Are you considering graduate studies? The idea of diving straight into several more years of education may not be enticing, whether due to other aspirations or simply feeling drained. Taking a gap year (or years) before graduate school can provide a refreshing change of pace. It’s an opportunity for students to venture beyond the confines of the classroom, explore, learn, and mature before embarking on the next phase of their academic journey. Moreover, you can leverage your gap year experiences to enhance your future career, and to carefully consider what you want to study in graduate school

A gap year can encompass many different paths, and there is no shortage of what to do during your time.  Before making a decision, it’s crucial to recognize what you hope to achieve during a gap year. Consider how you intend to allocate your time and what you aim to gain from the experience. Additionally, factor in practical considerations, like finances, to determine whether you’ll need to work or save up for your gap year adventures.

Now, the pivotal question: what activities can you engage in during your gap year? Fortunately, the options are abundant, promising not only personal growth but also professional development.

Work and/or Work Abroad

Working in a job that aligns with long-term goals during a gap year before grad school can provide practical experience and insights that enhance academic and professional pursuits. Whether gaining industry-specific skills, expanding professional networks, or accruing financial resources for graduate studies, working in a relevant job can offer numerous benefits. Hands-on experience in a related field, or even going abroad for a year,  can provide clarity and direction. A job that aligns with your grad school goals will offer valuable insights and will enrich your grad school experience.

Volunteering during a gap year before graduate school offers a unique chance to contribute to meaningful causes while honing essential skills. Engaging in volunteer work allows individuals to develop leadership, teamwork, and problem-solving abilities in real-world settings. Volunteering fosters a sense of social responsibility and empathy, qualities highly valued in academic communities and professional settings. Volunteer experiences can provide valuable insights into real-life issues, inspire research interests, and help create a great personal statement.

During a gap year preceding graduate school, traveling can be invaluable for personal and academic growth. Experiencing different cultures, languages, and ways of life broadens perspectives and fosters adaptability, qualities essential for success in academia and beyond. Exposure to diverse environments cultivates empathy and enhances communication skills, which are invaluable assets in graduate studies and future career endeavors. Traveling provides opportunities for self-discovery and reflection, aiding in the clarification of academic and professional aspirations. See the world and document it; the world is your oyster!

Ensure a thorough understanding of your decision-making process, experiences, and lessons learned during your gap year. Reflect on both expected and unexpected outcomes as they contribute to significant personal growth that resonates with your professional aspirations. Communicate this growth effectively in your personal statement for grad school, and emphasize the relevance of your gap year experiences to your career aspirations. Whether highlighting it on your resume, elaborating in a cover letter, or discussing it in an interview, showcasing your gap year can set you apart and underscore your readiness for real-world challenges.

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What to include in a Personal Statement

Personal Statement Tips

Need some help with your personal statement? Then this is the guide for you!

Writing a personal statement is never easy and it can take a long time to perfect, but if you take a look at our UCAS personal statement tips, then you'll see exactly what you should (and what you shouldn't) include in your personal statement.

Write for the degree course you want to study

There is no simple formula to write a personal statement for two unrelated degree courses. However, if the courses are similar, such as a Banking degree course, and an Accounting degree course , you can adjust your writing to suit both of these subjects.

The trick is to not mention the subject(s) by name if you are applying for different ones. The same can be said for universities, don’t talk about the institution if you are applying to separate universities.

Choose your biggest passion

Although if the courses are totally unrelated – you find that you have two passions, media and music and are waiting for A-Level results day to make a decision – it can be impossible to write about both subjects well.

If this is the case, then you will need to look at your predicted grades, your degree courses and career aspirations if you have them. Once you have chosen a degree course that you prefer over the other, then write about that one in your personal statement.

The most important thing to remember is to ensure your statement suits its purpose; to impress the university, to answer questions, and to represent yourself.

Check your notes

Hopefully, you will have a structured plan before you start writing and this could be in the form of bullet points or an entire page of notes. Regardless of your planning style, the crucial factor is that you have thought about your personal statement before sitting down to write it!

Within your notes, you can decide what language you want to use, the style, and goals of your statement. Once you begin writing don’t forget to check back to your notes! Some students produce a weak statement because they don’t remember to re-read their initial goals. Referring to your plan will also help you if you find that you go off-topic, or lose inspiration during writing.

Think about the structure of the personal statement

Our next tips for writing a personal statement, is about how your personal statement looks and reads and how important it is to universities. It shows admission tutors that you understand how to write effectively and to follow instructions. Remember to address the aims of a personal statement – why you should be accepted on to the degree course, at that university, and why you are a good fit for the subject.

The language that you use will also be judged. Avoid text or messenger style of writing and the use of slang, because let’s be fair, that’s not what universities are looking for in a personal statement.

Never write your statement on the UCAS personal statement page

Next up is one of the most important university personal statement tips. Students should write their personal statement within a word document where they can check spelling and grammar as well as being able to use a programme they understand. However, after each paragraph, you should then copy your statement back into the UCAS page to see how many lines or characters you have used.

Remember you are only allowed to have 47 lines or 4000 characters worth of space. This is different to a word count and can be easily misunderstood. One scenario that can make you panic is that you write this amazing statement and check the line count before submission to find out you are extremely over the limit!

The ending of your personal statement is another key element to keep in mind. There is no right or wrong way to end your personal statement, however, we recommend two key elements: Make it personal and reinforce the key messages you've made earlier in the statement. These are the fundamental tenents to a good personal statement conclusion and will ensure that you sign off the statement in a meaningful way.

Be positive

There is no need to feel that you have to explain any shortfalls or negative aspects of your application – especially if the university won’t pick up on this!

Try to be positive and interesting to the admission tutor, tell them about any side projects you’ve done if this will seem more relevant and worthwhile than how you completed your coursework.

Look at the university prospectus

Most of our tips for writing UCAS personal statement might seem pretty obvious, but this one is often overlooked by students.

Before writing your personal statement actually read the university website and prospectus. In most cases, institutions will describe the type of students they are looking for, whether that be innovative, creative or those with academic excellence. You need to look at these prospectus as thoroughly as possible because these will yield more information than you think.

Talk about you

It seems like one of the more obvious personal statement writing tips, but it’s the most important one. The purpose of the personal statement is for universities to find out about you because the basic information within the application won’t tell them this.

Try to include the following: what you like to do in your free time, subjects you study that maybe won’t be graded, sport and leisure activities, hobbies, musical instruments, prizes you’ve won, competitions you’ve entered, languages you speak or side projects you were involved in.

You do not need to include everything, but the relevant information will help them form a decent impression about you and your personality. The vital thing is that you have a good reason for why you want to study that subject.

If you take a gap year then talk about your gap year

This too may seem like one of our more blatant tips on writing personal statements, but you’d be surprised just how many students are reticent to mention their gap year(s).

Admission tutors can see when a student has had a gap year in between college and university. They will be interested to know why you chose to have a year out and briefly explaining why will help your application. Discuss what you did during that time, why you chose to take a gap year and how it may be related to the course.

If you are considering taking a gap year or applying for a deferred place at university or if you have retaken your exams during a gap year or if you’ve been travelling during your gap year, then you can talk about this too. Write about your plans during this time and why it would benefit you in the long run.

Although there are no strict rules about discussing your gap year in your statement so if you decide not to that is okay too. You may still be asked about it during an interview with the university.

Why you want to study that degree course

This really is what the personal statement is about. Yes, you need to talk about yourself, but one of the best tips on how to write a personal statement we can give you, is talking about your deeply-held passion and love for the degree course.

The vital thing is that you have a good reason for why you want to study that subject. It doesn’t matter if it sounds silly or different to your friends’ personal statement; you can work on it later or go into more detail during the admission interview. The best part is that you’re honest. However, if your reasoning is purely due to not doing anything else at that moment then it’s best not to include that!

Take a look at some Personal Statement examples for ideas on how to effectively mention your potential degree course. Admission tutors search for enthusiastic and passionate students because they will be the best fit for the degree course.

Talk about the subject

Write down as much as you can about the subject you want to take. There may be certain aspects or modules that really interest you, or that you understand it is the right step for your career aspirations.

All of these reasons are music to the university’s ears because it not only shows that you have done your research but that you understand why you should study the subject.

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How a Gap Year Prepares Students for College

More students are taking a year off after high school to explore their interests.

What Is a Gap Year?

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Traveling and focusing on personal development are common ways students spend their gap year.

While many students head directly to college after graduating from high school, a smaller cohort chooses an alternative: a gap year.

What may have previously been seen as an unconventional path has become more accepted in recent years, particularly since the COVID-19 pandemic. When colleges either shut down or moved to virtual learning, many students opted to defer enrollment and take a gap year, experts say.

The Gap Year Association, an Oregon-based nonprofit that helps students access gap year opportunities, estimates that on average, between 40,000 and 60,000 students take a gap year each academic year. That number rose to an estimated 130,000 students during the 2020-2021 school year, according to the organization. High school counselors, students and parents are becoming more aware of the variety of options after high school and seeing the benefits of taking a gap year, says Jennifer Sullivan, founder of Fast Forward College Counseling.

“It’s not an all-or-nothing now,” she says. “You’re not just going to college or you’re going to work. There’s a lot of in-between. There’s a lot of gray area where some students do choose to take a gap year or to take a gap semester, then decide that they’re ready.”

The Gap Year Association defines this educational interlude as "a semester or year of experiential learning , typically taken after high school and prior to career or postsecondary education, in order to deepen one's practical, professional and personal awareness." Some students elect to take a gap year in the middle of pursuing a degree.

Typically, students use this time to travel, work or volunteer and figure out what they want to study when they do eventually go to college, experts say. Some students may be experiencing burnout and are taking a break to focus on their mental health.

While experts say the concept has long been popular in Europe, it has grown in the U.S. more recently. One major boost came when former first daughter Malia Obama announced in 2016 that she would take a gap year before attending college, which caused the term to spike in Google searches that spring.

Experts suggests the move not only introduced many students to the concept but gave them social permission to pursue it.

“A gap year, if done right, can position you really strongly for college,” says Cathleen Sheils, senior associate director of college counseling at New York-based Solomon Admissions Counseling.

How Gap Year Experiences May Vary

For high school students or graduates considering a gap year, the options are plentiful and include structured programs or self-guided exploration.

The Gap Year Association, which accredits numerous programs , lists experiences with a focus on ecology, animal welfare and conservation, language studies, coding, cultural immersion and a variety of other topics.

Another option is AmeriCorps, which offers a number of service programs throughout the country for those 18 or older. Students who participate are eligible for benefits such as a living allowance and an education award that can be used to pay off loans or put toward future tuition.

Students may also elect to work during a gap year, either to make money for college or to earn college credit through an internship.

"The best gap years tend to be the ones that push students to think about who they are and their role in the world," says Joe O'Shea, associate provost and dean of undergraduate studies at Florida State University and author of "Gap Year: How Delaying College Changes People in Ways the World Needs."

O'Shea says a gap year can help motivate and inspire students and better prepare them for college. He notes that the "natural break" between high school and college is an ideal time for students to "pause and reflect" and explore options before their studies begin.

"Often you see students who struggle in higher education because they don't have a sense of purpose and direction," O'Shea says. "Gap years – because they give students a broader sense of the world and their place in it and how they can contribute – help to supply and empower students with the kind of motivation and purpose that can animate their entire college experience."

How a Gap Year Affects College Admissions

If students are considering a gap year, they should go through the college application process as a high school senior as if they're planning to attend right away, rather than waiting to apply during the gap year. It's much easier to complete college applications when students are still in school and have the help of counselors and teachers, says Colleen Paparella, founder of DC College Counseling.

O'Shea suggests that high school students considering a gap year research whether the colleges they're interested in support that effort.

Experts typically recommend that students not divulge gap year plans on their college applications or before being admitted. But students can reach out to admissions offices to find out their general policy on gap years. “We definitely tell them this is not something you want to advertise at the time that you’re applying, because that’s not going to make you a more attractive candidate,” says Paparella. “Not to say they won’t get in, but it’s just going to make things more difficult.”

After being admitted, students might want to have a formal conversation with an admissions officer about considering a gap year.

While it's rare for colleges to deny a gap year request, it's common for them to want more information about why the student is taking a gap year, and they may require paperwork, Paparella says. Some schools have policies for how students can take their gap year. They might require students to check in mid-year to make sure the plan is still on track, or they could stipulate that students can’t take classes at another institution, she says, as that could possibly change their status to a transfer student.

Generally, students can then defer enrollment, paying a deposit to retain their spot and enrolling after their gap year. Keeping in mind that the decision day for most colleges is May 1, Paparella says students should wait until they are absolutely certain about taking a gap year to fill out any forms from the school, but to still be cognizant of their timeline to allow for alternate plans to be made.

“Somebody who feels like a gap year is a great idea in September of their senior year might feel very differently eight months later,” she says. “We say just keep your options open. Don’t disclose that now, and when you’re sure you want to do it and you have schools you’ve been admitted to, you can go ahead and ask for a gap year.”

Some students, however, take a gap year because they weren't admitted to their desired school but are intent on attending that institution. A gap year is a way for those students to rebrand themselves and stand out among other applicants. Those students will reapply either during or following their gap year, says Sheils, who previously served as director of admissions at Cornell University .

Colleges expect to see more maturity and perhaps more direction from those applicants, she says, and there needs to be some connection between how students spent their gap year and their future academic goals.

“Not every gap year is created equally or is seen by admissions officers as credible,” she says. “What you’re looking for is, what did they do during that gap year to actually grow their academic profile?”

How to Know if a Gap Year Is Right for You

Students should not take a gap year simply because they're putting off their next step. Whether their plan for that year is to work, travel or recharge mentally and emotionally, students should have a specific reason for taking time off.

“They need to have a very clear idea in mind about what they’re going to do afterwards," Paparella says. "I would definitely never do this and keep it open-ended at the end. That’s not going to work.”

Some students, Sullivan says, are deterred from taking a gap year because they don't want to be behind their peers academically and socially. Some might regret missing out on certain college experiences that their friends are having.

Experts say students should determine what motivates them, what their long-term goals are, and whether or not they can make it work financially. Formal programs offering travel or internship opportunities can cost more than $50,000 on the high end, although students may pay less due to scholarships and other financial aid, O'Shea explains. And for low-income students, certain programs may be subsidized to enhance affordability.

O'Shea notes the need in higher education to support gap year students and points to scholarship funding from FSU that aims to do so through its Gap Year Fellows Program. He believes such initiatives are making the gap year concept more available to students with limited financial means. While gap years have been the domain of middle-class families and above, O'Shea thinks that is changing as enrichment programs become more affordable.

Money aside, students need to determine how a gap year will ultimately help them.

"I have worked with individuals who have taken a gap year to focus on their mental health or passions (such as art or teaching English abroad), which has helped them gain perspective, different skills, and mature emotionally before returning to academics," Lindsey Giller, a clinical psychologist with the Child Mind Institute, wrote in an email. "These individuals can then begin school with newfound confidence that may not have been possible had they gone to college straight from high school."

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Your chance of acceptance, your chancing factors, extracurriculars, how do i explain a gap year on my college applications.

I took a gap year after high school and I'm worried about how it will look on my college applications. How can I explain my gap year in a positive way so it doesn't hurt my chances of getting accepted?

It's great that you're considering how to present your gap year in a positive light on your college applications. Many students take gap years, and colleges are often open to these experiences, as long as they are framed constructively.

First, consider what you did during your gap year. If you engaged in any meaningful activities, such as volunteering, internships, or personal projects, make sure to highlight these experiences in your application. You can include them in the 'Activities' section or even write an essay about how they influenced your personal growth.

If your gap year was more focused on personal circumstances, like family commitments or health issues, it's important to be honest about this. You can briefly explain the situation in the 'Additional Information' section of your application. Just remember to focus on how you've grown and what you've learned from the experience, rather than dwelling on any negative aspects.

Good luck with your applications!

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• Careers advice

Gap year advice

There is a problem.

A gap year is not a year off. It’s a way to develop yourself and your skills before taking the next step in your education or career.

A gap year can make a big statement about you as a person and can help you get into certain careers.

Benefits of taking a gap year

A gap year can give you an advantage when you apply for jobs or courses.

Some of the advantages include the opportunity to:

• think about your career plans
• travel and experience other cultures
• earn money to support yourself in future study
• improve your CV by doing work experience
• get skills you cannot learn in a classroom
• become more mature, focussed and motivated

Activities to do on your gap year

You should choose activities to build the skills you think you’ll need in your future career. Popular skills include teamwork, leadership, problem solving and independent learning.

Depending on your circumstances you could:

• get a paid job
• volunteer or find work experience
• do a year in industry placement
• travel or work abroad
• learn a language or take online courses
• resit your exams

Improve your applications

You can enhance your personal statement or job applications by describing your gap year in the right way.

Make sure you highlight:

• the things you’ve done or experienced
• the skills you’ve learned or developed
• how you’ll apply the skills you’ve learned
• your experiences using the star method

Planning your gap year

When you’re preparing for a gap year, make sure you:

• plan ahead of time
• think about money and how you’ll support yourself
• keep your CV up to date
• make a note of application deadlines so you do not miss them

Related content

Ways to get work experience

Virtual internships

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