taking time off from college -- Virtually Advising Q+A

The Q: I am now finishing up my first year and am considering taking a Planned Educational Leave next year. My grades have been poor and I lack any motivation to do well. There may be a number of reasons, like not getting into my top choice school last year, or not wanting to commit to a major (and consequently, a career). I really didn't feel ready to jump into college right after high school, but the pressure to do so was definitely there.

I have grown a lot as a person since being at school and do not feel my time here has been in vain, but I don't want to waste my time and my parent's money in the future, since I don't feel I have any acedemic direction at this moment. I am considering graduate/med school and am afraid I might dig myself too deep a hole unless I take this leave. I have gotten very involved on my campus and will have to temporarily sever some ties and drop committments to take a year off.

Lastly, I'm not exactly sure how I could better use my time away from school. I believe my parents would support this idea as long as I have an alternative to education for this year. Obviously, I have been weighing this in my head and could use some advice. Thank you!

The A: Your thinking seems pretty sound to me; you've got some pretty convincing pros and cons for taking the next year off. On the pro side, you've got:

you've had a tough first year
you're having trouble finding a good reason to motivate yourself to improve
you're not at all sure what you'd like to do with your time in college
you might still feel some resentment at 1) not making it into your first-choice school and 2) being pushed into college before you may have been ready for it, both of which make it a lot tougher for you to fully commit to your studies and your current school
you're concerned about the impact your poor performance, if it continues, might have on your grad/med-school chances -- but without that solid feeling of academic direction you're worried that poor performance will continue
you'll have the support of your parents no matter what you decide to do

On the con side, meanwhile, you've got:

the disorientation of leaving campus for a whole year and then trying to pick up where you left off (with all your ex-classmates now a year ahead, for instance, an many of your previous ties to campus organizations potentially broken)
uncertainty about what you'll do with that year off -- and how you'll do it
no guarantee that you'll have a better idea of your academic and personal direction when you return (taking a different set of courses, studying abroad for part of a semester or during a break, or getting involved in other activities could, potentially, help you figure things out just as much as time off from school could)

So it's not an easy decision you're facing, and I can't say for sure whether taking a year off is the best move for you to make. I agree with you, though, that maintaining the status quo just doesn't seem like it's going to work: you've either got to do some serious rethinking of your priorities and your mindset over the summer break (so you can start your soph year with a fresh outlook), or take some time off this fall/spring so you can give yourself the time and space you need to get that rethinking done. And if, come July or August, you find yourself looking toward the fall semester with a sense of increasing dread, I think it'll be pretty clear which path you've got to take.

And if you do decide to take that year (or just a semester) off, there are all sorts of things you could do with your time that would not only make your parents happy, but -- far more importantly -- would make you feel like you're doing something productive with your time, something that'll help you discover just where it is you'd like your education to head once you eventually come back to school. You could volunteer for nonprofit organizations -- both inside the U.S. and outside of it. You could go backpacking through Europe, or Asia, or Africa, or all of the above, perhaps with friends or with a group. You could temporarily enroll at another school -- one that offers a selection of classes that's completely different from those offered at your current school. You could take the time to follow some passion that's long lived within you, dying to get out -- maybe spending a week with a family in rural France, or driving to Alaska, or camping out for a month in Yellowstone. What does your heart tell you? You're potentially in a situation here where you'll have anywhere from a few months to an entire year to do absolutely anything you want. What's on that list of things you really wish you could do?

At any rate, I think the time off could do you a lot of good. But keep in mind that an extremely high number of college students finish their frosh years with no idea what they want to do, either. I didn't make up my mind about a major until the end of my sophomore year, and even then I only declared because it was required. Anahid, our chief advisor and now an extremely talented (and tenured) media-studies professor, changed her major some five times or so before she graduated, and turned out just fine.

Always remember that you don't have to discover your purpose in life in college; you don't need to graduate with a clear vision of where you want your future to lead and what specific career you'd like to pursue. College is there to help you discover your strengths, your weaknesses, your loves and your hates, and the kinds of things you enjoy spending your time doing. It helps you develop a better sense of yourself and your priorities, to hone your natural (and not-so-natural) abilities, and to put you in the best position you can be in to make the most of it all.

Does college always succeed in doing all that? No, not really -- and there are many other ways you can do it. It's up to you to decide if, at this point in time, you're better off regaining your perspective somewhere else. If you think so, then by all means, take some time off! Your college, your professors, your classes and your parents will all still be here when you get back.

Best of luck -- I'd love to know what you decide! And if you do decide to travel, be sure to send us a postcard. :)

—Myles Helfand, General Advisor