Monday, May 18, 2015

"Don't intern at Goldman Sachs. Travel"

This brief CNN Money article discusses the benefits (both personal and profession) of taking a gap   year either before entering college or after.  I found this article interesting, because we're all in the same general boat with graduation lurking right around the corner being less than a month away.

The author cites hedge fund owner Michael Novogratz, as he states: 

"We interview a lot of kids, and they always want an internship at Goldman Sachs (GS), an internship at McKinsey." He continues, "Go do something different. Get on a motorcycle and travel through India and take photographs. Create a story where you learn something...I'm a big fan of the gap year."

Moreover, the article cites a Middlebury College study, which revealed that their gap year students had a higher average GPA than their non-gap year students.  Last, the article states that traveling breeds rich experiences and can cultivate entrepreneurship, and references a new and successful shoe company (BucketFeet), as the founding couple met and was inspired during their travels in Argentina.  

What are your thoughts on taking a gap year?  How beneficial do you think a gap year can be? 












7 comments:

  1. My academic adviser and many other professors and professionals have highly recommended taking a gap year before continuing on in my studies. Everyone I've talk to says that it is really draining to just keep at it without giving yourself a break and that people who did go straight through thought the education would have been more meaningful to them later if they had taken a break. I think it's a great idea!

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  2. If you're going back to school, I don't really see anything wrong with taking a gap year, but I've actually talked to several employers about the gap year, and a few of them actually see it negatively. They feel that this demonstrates a lack of interest of getting yourself out in the workforce. I can certainly understand the benefits of taking a gap year, but I'm personally excited to get into the professional world and getting my career in gear.

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  3. Personally I'm a big fan of gap year. Either it's before or after college, because it's a great way to reflect on yourself, figure out what you really want, and explore what's else out there. But I do agree with Aleks that some employers do see it negatively. I think that as long as you REALLY do something meaningful in that gap year, and be able to show it to them, the right employers will see it. If it's just simply taking a year off, I don't think it's worth it.

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  4. I agree with both Hang and Aleks that taking a gap year before continuing on in education is very smart for the reasons that Taylor listed. In terms of the way employers see gap years, I think it is much more on a case by case basis. I thought it was interesting that the article talked about traveling and having other life experiences during a gap year. Many of my friends that are taking what they consider to be a gap year are working in research labs before they apply to medical school or master's programs in biology. Something else to consider when thinking about a gap year would be student loans. A gap year of traveling isn't possible for students needing to pay off student loans and make a living.

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  5. I also have been advised to take a "gap year" by both people, who took a gap year and those who didn't. I agree with Bronte that despite all the advantages that come with a gap year, many of us just can't afford to take it because of factors such us students debt, low or zero income and so on...

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  6. I completely agree with Hang on the topic of gap years: gap years are only meaningful if you can do something productive during that time off. I also agree with Aleksis that employers may find the gap year negatively since it may be thought of as a lack of interest to join the workforce if not a lack of interest in the subjects studied. Furthermore, the concept of traveling seems nice only if the travels direct a person to their life or career goals emerges from the travels.

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  7. I agree competely with comments people have made above of how positive a gap year can be after graduation. Especially, for educational purposes taking a break from the grind of college is a great idea to help you refocus as well as gain valuable experience in the real world outside of a classroom. Going off Bronte's point that I agree employers look at it on a case by case basis, but she makes a great point that most students who are taking on student loans to go to college cannot afford to go off and travel for a year.

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