Transcript

In the U. S, turning 18 comes with an unspoken schedule. Senior year ends in June and for many people orientation for college starts in August. Recent survey data on American high schools found that only 2 to 3% of graduates take a gap year before college. Immediate enrollment isn't just common here, it's the norm. It's the default setting. But that is not true across the world. So let's start with the baseline. Across O e. C. D. Countries, it's common for new university entrance to take at least one gap year between high school and college. The average is 44% of students. Some countries it's much higher. Denmark comes out at 55% of new entrance. So in these countries, the American idea of just going straight on to college is definitely not the norm. Then there are other countries with mandatory military service. Let's say Israel. A 2,015 o. E. C. D. Study found Israeli students at the oldest median age earning a first degree of any country starting at 27 years old. So you can see there are a lot of differences around the world. And then the question is what do people do with this time? Right there? There's this image. I don't know if you've ever seen it, this idea that Australians spend a year, a gap year, they buy a plane ticket, they travel around the world, they find themselves. That's the image. What's interesting is that formal research on Australian gap takers finds That only 9% of university entrants take a formal gap year and of that group only 3% this travel is their main activity. So that stereotype is actually not necessarily true. 40% actually spend a year working and a third do further study and training. So the question about all this stuff what would matter what country you come from is what is it pay off? Is there a is there something to it to taking a gap year? So there is a gap year association and there was an alumni survey and the results said that 60% of respondents said that their gap year either confirmed their major that they already had in mind what they wanted to study or they pointed them to a different one entirely. So that's actually really interesting. It gives you a chance and maybe try out some things to have your interests coalesce into something that you're actually motivated and interested in studying. And what's particularly interesting to me about that is that the US government data on first time college students finds that only 30% change their major finds that about 30% change their major at least once during their three years, often paying for coursework that they abandoned. So there could be some benefits that year of clarity or more before actually starting college. So but there is a case for going straight to college. There is research that suggests from Australia saying that students who took a gap year Finish with slightly lower completion rates in college, in lower grades and students who went straight through. And I think it probably, it's probably very personal thing. What would be most beneficial to you, what you need the most? How about you? I'd be very curious. So what country do you come from? What's the norm in your country? And most importantly, what are you doing or what have you done and what's your opinion of it? I think others would love to hear that and I certainly would love to hear that too.