Opinion: Putting off graduate school for a year or more is a good way to get experience and learn about yourself before jumping back in
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Before beginning my undergraduate career, I’d already planned on getting my master’s degree. I wanted to go straight from my first college degree to my second with no time off. That was my plan, until the fall term of senior year when my workload rarely allowed me a day off to rot in bed. My schedule stressed me out and occupied my life from waking hours to 10 p.m. After consulting professors, peers and advisors, I finally made the choice to put graduate school off a year.
Although the decision was originally due to my lack of time to complete applications, I started to realize that the time between degrees would be useful to get hands-on experience outside of a classroom. Many graduate schools require professional experience, which I have little of. Taking one year — or many — to work, learn and relax has started sounding like the wiser option.
Pierce Baugh, a student in the University of Oregon’s journalism master’s program, spent four years working and traveling after he completed his undergraduate degree before starting at UO.
“When I graduated undergraduate, I just didn’t really know what I wanted to do,” Baugh said. “It was good for me to have that time to figure it out.”
Between 2018 and March 2022, Baugh racked up a list of wide-ranging experiences, including a year in AmeriCorps, a job at a car part factory and nearly two years of teaching English in South Korea and Taiwan. The variety in his experience gave him the perspectives and memories he would never have had if he went straight into a master’s program.
The advice Baugh gave aligns with the typical reasons people give for delaying graduate school. It can be more cost-effective while working and saving money or spending less on living by staying in hostels while traveling. I have heard dozens of stories of people backpacking through Europe after graduation and thought it impossible or too expensive. But it seems more realistic with a job, cheap food and housing.
“Even if it means living at home with your parents, I just think that taking time off to travel the world is one of the best things you can do for yourself,” Baugh said. “You get a lot of stories, which, I think, is one of the best things in life.”
After almost 18 years straight of school, you deserve a break. In many cases, it is possible to pause your education after undergraduate and come back to it when you feel ready. Some majors or career paths might be different, such as medical school, but even future doctors can take a rest year.
Stepping away from school also gives you something I hadn’t thought possible: a chance to miss it.
“When you’re out of school for a while, it makes you appreciate school more,” Baugh said. Taking a little or a lot of time before a master’s or doctorate can make the return to school more meaningful.
A gap year, or multiple years, can be the best way to prepare for more education. I thought I needed to rush into a master’s program or else I would lose motivation and never follow through. But in Baugh’s life, he found that the time to himself in his 20s helped him become confident, resilient and mature.
“Give yourself the opportunity to change,” Baugh said.
A break, whether one year or several, does not have to revolve around work experiences. Time to yourself can expose you to opportunities and interests you hadn’t planned on.