One of 14 paths
A planned year serving, traveling, or exploring before your next step.
It comes in three kinds: a service year, time abroad, and time to decide.
It fits if you want to serve, want time abroad, or need a break to reset.
Watch for: open time can turn into avoidance, so set a goal, a budget, and a date to move on.
A service year is a term of paid or volunteer service with a community or national program.
It fits if you want to serve and live somewhere new, usually for a year.
Each scale shows its level and the reason, and "our read" marks a judgment call.
Level: Paid a living allowance, 2 of 5 on the getting-paid side
Most AmeriCorps roles pay you a modest living allowance, and many add an education award.
Dollar signs to the left of the middle mean you're paid while you do it, and dollar signs to the right mean you pay. More of them means more money either way. The mark in the middle means free.
Level: A year or less, 1 of 5
It's a set term, usually a year.
It depends on where you go next.
Level: An application, 3 of 5
You apply, and most programs ask for a diploma or GED and a minimum age.
Level: Hard for a while, 4 of 5
If you leave a term early, you usually give up the education award.
Level: A lot new, 4 of 5
Expect to live somewhere new and carry real responsibility young.
Time abroad is a stretch in another country, sometimes working or volunteering to help pay for it.
Hostels, work-exchange, or a working-holiday job can keep it cheap.
Each scale shows its level and the reason, and "our read" marks a judgment call.
Level: You pay a fair amount, 3 of 5 on the paying side
Some routes keep it cheap, but you'll need savings and money for a ticket home.
Dollar signs to the left of the middle mean you're paid while you do it, and dollar signs to the right mean you pay. More of them means more money either way. The mark in the middle means free.
Level: A year or less, 1 of 5
Working-holiday visas let you stay up to about a year, and trips can be shorter.
It depends on where you go next.
Level: A few requirements, 2 of 5
Visas set age limits and want proof of savings, but most routes need no degree.
Level: Mostly easy, 2 of 5
It has an end date, and your plan should include money for the trip home.
Level: The most different from what you know, 5 of 5
You'll find new places, new people, and a new routine in a new country.
Time to decide is time set aside on purpose to explore and choose before you commit to a next step.
It fits if you need a break to reset, or would start the next step half-committed.
Each scale shows its level and the reason, and "our read" marks a judgment call.
It depends on what you do with the time.
Level: A year or less, 1 of 5
A gap year is a planned year between high school and your next step.
It depends on where you go next.
Level: Open to most, 1 of 5
A diploma gets you started, though deferral rules vary by school.
Level: Mostly easy, 2 of 5
It's made for changing your mind, though a deferred scholarship may not carry over.
Level: A fair amount new, 3 of 5
How new it feels depends on whether you stay home or join a structured program.
A service year can mean a full-time term with AmeriCorps VISTA or a team term with AmeriCorps NCCC. Each program lists its current length. Abroad, a working-holiday visa lets you take temporary jobs in Australia or New Zealand. Au pair placements trade help with everyday family tasks for room, board, and pocket money. Time to decide can mean working and saving, job shadowing, or a class or two.
AmeriCorps members are at least 17 when they start (16 in some programs for young people out of school), but NCCC and VISTA start at 18. Most members need a diploma or GED. There are a few exceptions, like agreeing to earn a diploma or GED before you use the education award. For conservation corps, City Year, or any other corps, check its own pay and rules. The Peace Corps requires age 18 and US citizenship. Some Peace Corps roles need a four-year degree, and many others are open to people with work experience after high school, or an associate's degree plus work experience, so for a new grad it usually comes later. Australia and New Zealand offer working-holiday visas to US citizens aged 18 to 30, and you have to show you can pay for your stay and a ticket out. Australia asks US applicants to have finished high school, and New Zealand lists no education requirement. Au pair age limits and childcare-experience rules are set by the host country, so check that country's own visa page before planning around one. Some cruise lines hire at 18, but bar and beverage jobs need 21, and some lines ask for 21 for every job. Teaching English abroad usually needs a bachelor's for the work visa, so for most teens it comes after college. Deferral rules vary by school: some review each request and don't guarantee a yes, and some don't allow classes for credit elsewhere during the year.
An AmeriCorps education award can go toward school costs or qualified student loans. It has a time limit, so check AmeriCorps for the current rules. An English government study found that gap-year takers who had already accepted a university place were at least as likely to go on to university as students who planned to go straight there. Those who hadn't were less likely, and the study can't show cause. In the Gap Year Association's 2020 alumni survey, alumni said the year built maturity and self-confidence. That survey counts only structured, intentional breaks as gap years.
If you leave a service term early, you usually give up the education award. Australia and New Zealand both set a deadline to arrive on a working-holiday visa and won't extend it. Each country's visa page has the current rules. If you deferred a college seat, a scholarship may not carry over, so get the school's terms in writing.
Pick one to try this month. Trying a thing isn't choosing it.
Put these to a program or school, or to someone who's done it.
In 1988, at 18, Matthew McConaughey went to Australia as an exchange student. He has said he was lost there, writing 16-page letters to himself, and that he turned to poetry to make sense of it.
A story like this can't tell you what's likely for you.
Ages, pay, and rules change, so check them at the source.
These three paths are close to this one, and their pages use the same scales.
It fits if you want training and support, and do well with structure and help finding work.
It fits if you want one in-demand skill fast and can stay disciplined without a campus.
It fits if you want income, or you're not ready for more school.