Some students prefer to take a gap year between high school and university, to work or to travel. Do the advantages of this outweigh the disadvantages?

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Traditionally, high
school
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seniors will either pursue college or enter the workforce after graduation.
However
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, these days, a third option -
gap
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year
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, where
students
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defer university enrollment to travel or work – is gaining traction.
While
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there are admittedly several benefits to
students
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, I believe that the negative influences of
this
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practice are more glaring. On the one hand, delaying tertiary education for one
year
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is advantageous to a certain extent.
First,
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a
gap
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year
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affords new graduates time to travel and immerse themselves in alien cultures, which helps them enrich their life experiences and hone practical skills.
For example
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, when living abroad,
students
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will have to adapt quickly to their independent lives and pick up new languages.
Second,
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given that most high schools provide inadequate career guidance, spending several months looking for job opportunities or attending vocational training courses will empower
students
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to identify a suitable career path.
Such
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experiences would be hardly attainable if high
school
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graduate immediately
enroll
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enrol
show examples
in university and become occupied with their intense study schedules.
On the other hand
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, I am convinced that the aforementioned advantages pale in comparison with the significant disadvantages of having a
year
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-long break prior to embarking on higher education. A major drawback is that
gap
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-
year
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takers may fall behind in their studies
as well as
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face peer pressure, which could possibly drain their self-confidence.
In addition
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to
this
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, high
school
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seniors can lose momentum, finding it hard to resume their education after a long time being away from formal schooling.
Last
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but not least, young people who decide to work
instead
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of going to college right away are unlikely to save up a lot of money or cultivate relevant job skills during their
gap
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year
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, which can be attributed to the fact that jobs available to high
school
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leaver are mainly entry-level ones that neither get rumination well nor teach them anything substantive. In conclusion,
while
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taking a
gap
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year
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is not without certain beneficiaries, I would contend that the given disadvantages do not make it a worthwhile path.
Submitted by hoangthoakinhte on

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task response
Make sure your essay directly addresses the question throughout, ensuring all paragraphs are relevant to the prompt.
coherence and cohesion
Introduce a wider range of linking words to improve the flow of your arguments and ideas.
task response
Provide more specific examples to strengthen your arguments, especially when discussing advantages and disadvantages. Real-world data or more distinct examples could enhance your task response.

Include an introduction and conclusion

A conclusion is essential for IELTS writing task 2. It is more important than most people realise. You will be penalised for missing a conclusion in your IELTS essay.

The easiest paragraph to write in an essay is the conclusion paragraph. This is because the paragraph mostly contains information that has already been presented in the essay – it is just the repetition of some information written in the introduction paragraph and supporting paragraphs.

The conclusion paragraph only has 3 sentences:

  • Summary
  • Restatement of thesis
  • Prediction or recommendation

Example:

To summarize, a robotic teacher does not have the necessary disciple to properly give instructions to students and actually works to retard the ability of a student to comprehend new lessons. Therefore, it is clear that the idea of running a classroom completely by a machine cannot be supported. After thorough analysis on this subject, it is predicted that the adverse effects of the debate over technology-driven teaching will always be greater than the positive effects, and because of this, classroom teachers will never be substituted for technology.

Start your conclusion with a linking phrase. Here are some examples:

  • In conclusion
  • To conclude
  • To summarize
  • Finally
  • In a nutshell
  • In general

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Topic Vocabulary:
  • gap year
  • real-world experience
  • personal growth
  • maturity
  • practical skills
  • CVs
  • future employment opportunities
  • broadening their horizons
  • cultural awareness
  • career goals
  • academic interests
  • academic momentum
  • rigors of study
  • financial strain
  • income source
  • personal development
  • achievements
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