How does taking multiple years between undergrad and applying to grad school affect admission chances?

[hkcool]

I graduated in 2014, and immediately after, spent the summer doing an internship at a national lab. I had applied for a research fellowship through my home university and received funding to conduct an independent research project in a foreign country in 2015. So between the end of my internship and March of 2015, I took some time to travel and go backpacking. For 6 months in 2015, I did research in Europe with a well-regarded professor in my subfield (who wrote me a rec letter for my application this year), although I don't have any publication to show for it, he was impressed with my work.

My plan after that was to apply for the Fulbright scholarship, but unfortunately I didn't receive it. I hadn't applied to grad school concurrently, and wasn't sure what to do with after the rejection. For the entirety of 2016 (to present), I worked full-time in a field that is completely unrelated to what I want to study in grad school (which is a STEM field, and my job right now is non-STEM). This is listed on my resume/CV since I think it would be worse to omit it and make it seem like I was doing nothing last year.

My question is how much this gap hurts me in the admissions process. I think I can point to things (mostly research experience) in 2014 and 2015 that very positively add to my application, but compared to people that are applying right out of undergrad, I'm a bit old and don't have a lot of the material fresh in my head. I had good grades in undergrad and lots of research experience + a first author publication, but I'm not sure if that has as much of an impact since so much time has passed

[stereopticons]

Actually, a lot of people will have similar timelines. I graduated from undergrad in 2010, so you're certainly not alone. Being a little bit older could actually help your application rather than hurt it (maturity). As long as you can point to those years as productive, it's not an issue. 

[hkcool]

2 hours ago, stereopticons said:

Actually, a lot of people will have similar timelines. I graduated from undergrad in 2010, so you're certainly not alone. Being a little bit older could actually help your application rather than hurt it (maturity). As long as you can point to those years as productive, it's not an issue. 

I didn't specifically reference those years in my statement or address that I've taken some years away from academics, but I did make note of my research experience in 2015 and that my paper was published this year. 

On a personal level, I think I'm definitely more mature now and having spent some time away from school, I know that this is what I want to do. I just hope that's how the committee sees it!

[shoupista]

This is perhaps a bit too late for the OP, but I'll respond in the hopes of helping a future reader.

For what it's worth, I had multiple people advise me that not having any "real world" experience outside of academia may hurt my chances in the admissions process for doctoral programs. I've received funded acceptances at 4/5 of the programs I applied to, though, so who knows- maybe the lack of real world experience is why I didn't get that last admission. Maybe it had nothing to do with it.

On the other hand, most of the doctoral students I personally know took some time off school before starting their PhDs. And most business schools won't even consider applicants that don't have at least two years of full-time work experience (bit of a different ball game, but the point stands).

Time well spent (which you seem to have done) is an incomparable teacher. What did taking time off of school teach you about your field and your desired career? Tell the admissions committee this story. Show them that taking gap time has increased your ability to be a contributing member of their department. Make no excuses or apologies- it's a waste of precious application space (and in our current economy, working in a field outside of your undergrad major hardly merits an explanation). Instead, focus on your research.  

This is not a weakness- this is an opportunity. Be sure to grab it.