A student who goes into college straight out of high school may not gain as much work experience opposed to a student who takes a year off before attending college. Besides work experience looking good on a resume, but a student who spent the year volunteering or working on unique projects can build an even more outstanding resume. A typical student has not done much beyond school and being a student. If a student were to go straight into a university, nothing will really change. A gap year will allow a student to spend a year doing something else, helping them to gain new perspective on other big things in life. It will provide new opportunities, including academic opportunities or ones that will help a student academically. One example being this; imagine how much more meaningful a Spanish History class can be if a student had actually spent time in a Spanish speaking country and learned about the Spanish culture during their gap year and experienced it themselves (OSEC).
Another example could be this; how different a psychology class will be if a student spent a year getting to know a variety of different people and different cultural backgrounds. Two of the three highest rated outcomes of the gap year is that "it provided me with additional skills and knowledge that contributed to my career or academic major" and "it gave me a better understanding of other countries, people, cultures, and ways of living." (Haigler & Nelson, 2015.) Students who attend college without taking a year off may not always have these opportunities. Most students coming out of high school aren't prepared enough for their start to an adult life. A big part of that being that they haven't fully matured yet. During the first year of college, or this particular age group 17-19 years old, students may have many new experiences and go through many different changes. They are faced with new cognitive, social, and emotional challenges due to the changes going on in their brain (Dartmouth College Office of Public Affairs or DCOPA, 2006).