Making the Most Out of a Gap Year

[jetleigh]

So after an relatively unsuccessful application season, I am currently meditating on how to best spend a gap year. I'm confident with my GRE and Subject Test scores so I won't be retaking those, but I do want to polish my BA Thesis for use in the next application cycle as well as writing a whole new paper for those schools that require two writing samples.

I can't afford to take extra classes, so I was thinking I would do research on my own and look at online resources (been wanting to watch some of the Harvard youtube classes in full). Unfortunately, I don't know how successful my research will be without access to a library and databases that I rely on so much now. I was also thinking about tutoring high school students or some other kind of teaching work (I've already missed the deadline for teaching abroad and Teach For America I think).

So basically I'm at a total loss. Has anyone had a really successful gap year? Any suggestions for options for work (paid or volunteer) that will show that I'm not just wasting the year off?

[FeetInTheSky]

I took two years off and it was the best choice I could have possibly made. I've peddled this advice elsewhere, but I'd recommend getting a job at a university, especially the one at which you're currently studying. You have access to the academic community, which is invaluable. I got lunch with a dean (met him through my job in admissions) just to pick his brain on grad school, and he was the one who told me about rhet/comp. You also have access to guest lectures and special sessions and classes at a reduced tuition rate, probably. Some of this might be helpful toward you actually working on your application, but being part of the culture of a university is something I found important in keeping my brain limber. You also also have access to a library and all of its online resources, which was so key to me when polishing up my SOP and Writing Sample. 

(If you work at a school, you can also turn that into a professionalized angle on an SOP -- that you're used to the way that universities function, insight which is invaluable to a budding scholar... or some such talk.)

Lots of jobs (especially ones at large universities) can be easily done by a recent undergraduate; I'm not sure what you've been involved with on-campus, but maybe some offices related to whatever that may be is hiring (again, that's how I got my job). 

If you want to chat about this more, feel free to snootz a PM in my direction. 

Yes, "snootz." 

Edited March 10, 2017 by FeetInTheSky

[SophieHatter]

@jetleigh, I've been a bit of a lurker here, but I've definitely been where you are and remember how horrible it was, so wanted to give you a response. 

I had a fairly successful gap year teaching English in Poland. I learned a lot and got to travel a ton, and teaching in a country with a really low cost of living allowed me to save up a fair bit of cash that helped with moving costs to my current Master's program.  I had applied to both PhD and Master's programs and been shut out of all 10 PhD programs, so I decided to defer admission at a Master's program and rethink my life choices while I taught abroad.  I'm really glad I took the year off--a year abroad both allowed me a bit of a breather before diving back into academia, and gave me a lot of new perspectives (and time to grow up) that have really contributed to my current research. I've been dreading this application season for literally years, but I surprised myself by getting into arguably the two top programs in the country for my field (I'm at 4a/1w/1r/3tbd), and I think my year teaching abroad contributed just as much to my success as earning a Master's degree. I wouldn't have been as successful in my Master's degree without it. I'm also much less tired, for lack of a better word, than the people in my cohort who went straight from undergrad to grad. Everyone who did that's still interested in going on to the PhD is taking a gap year now instead.

I know you said you've missed deadlines for teaching abroad, but it may be worth looking into more Southeast Asian countries. One of my roommates (applying to MFA programs this year) taught in South Korea, and had a similarly good experience. I personally couldn't teach in that part of the world so I don't know details (I have a peanut allergy that would sadly make living there too dangerous--although it sounds melodramatic when I type it out...), but living and teaching abroad definitely made my gap year the most successful it could be. 

But anyway, no matter what you do, keep the faith! Your next application cycle can absolutely be better! 

[yanicus]

I think you're perhaps approaching the idea not entirely in the best mindset. There are lots of things you could be doing that aren't "wasting the year off" that aren't strictly academic or academic-adjacent things. I'm sure you've heard by now that you shouldn't treat grad school in English as strictly a pre-professional endeavor, given the job market and such. Why, then, treat applying to grad school as a strictly pre-professional endeavor? There may be lots of job which would broaden your horizons and help you develop your skills that aren't just "English" or "academic" jobs that you could do for a year while working on applications and reading.

As for some concrete suggestions: 

I would ask your alma mater's library (or other large university libraries near where you live) about guest access, either for alumni or for local residents, for free or for a nominal fee; you may not have as much traction with access to databases, but nothing is stopping you from downloading to your heart's content now and stocking up for later. If you really felt your application would be bolstered by taking courses, I would definitely look into university jobs because they may come with the ability to take courses at a discount (faculty/office assistant jobs, for example, may be something to look into). Definitely, especially if you're still living in the area as your alma mater, stay in lots of touch with your recommenders - keep going to their office hours, etc., and keep them abreast of your plans and progress.

As all our circumstances are different, I would be very happy to chat more in pm if you'd like.

[biyutefulphlower]

Just wanted to chime in quickly here.  As was said above, all of our circumstances are different, and there are a lot of diverse ways you can spend this time away from school that could be valuable to you.  I took 'gap years' between my BA & MA, as well as between my MA and (potential) PhD. Though, admittedly, these gaps were because I needed to figure out my next steps (and because living in NJ doesn't pay for itself). Each stint was about two or three years and I worked at jobs completely unrelated to academia.

It's 100% feasible to make good use of your time away from school!  I think laying out some goals/target can be very helpful, even if they're somewhat arbitrary.  (I like self imposed deadlines.)  TBH, I think that the 3 years since I graduated from my MA have been some of my most successful and productive years.  Read new things that tickle your fancy, write new things for your own benefit - who knows what gem you may stumble upon that opens your whole world?

Also, see if your alma mater offers access to online resources (like JSTOR, Muse, etc.) for their alumni - this has really been invaluable for conducing my own research.  Especially since I don't live close to either of my previous schools.  Some local schools may also offer guest access, if you live far away like I do.

Edited March 10, 2017 by biyutefulphlower

[anxiousphd]

If you are unable to find gainful employment at your university, I suggest working at a community college. I currently have a job as a tutor at a local community college, and it affords me access to the basic databases (JSTOR, MLA, Ebscohost, etc.).

[claritus]

One sort of counterintuitive piece of advice I'll give is JOIN TWITTER. There is a fantastic academic community, and it has definitely helped me keep up with changes in the field. Follow scholars, journals, departments, other organizations, etc. I've been on the platform for a few years now, and though I won't try to make some sort of causal connection between that and my acceptances, I've definitely come in contact with some great scholars, and also given access to some rad (otherwise paywalled) resources.  Some newer journals and organizations (V21, Post45, and postmedieval—for example) also solicit for papers/articles/reviews from their followers. 

I'll also say that aside from all the potential career & academic benefits, it's just enjoyable. Scholars are hilarious, human people; interacting with them in this context really shows you that. 

[Yanaka]

2 hours ago, claritus said:

One sort of counterintuitive piece of advice I'll give is JOIN TWITTER. There is a fantastic academic community, and it has definitely helped me keep up with changes in the field. Follow scholars, journals, departments, other organizations, etc. I've been on the platform for a few years now, and though I won't try to make some sort of causal connection between that and my acceptances, I've definitely come in contact with some great scholars, and also given access to some rad (otherwise paywalled) resources.  Some newer journals and organizations (V21, Post45, and postmedieval—for example) also solicit for papers/articles/reviews from their followers. 

I'll also say that aside from all the potential career & academic benefits, it's just enjoyable. Scholars are hilarious, human people; interacting with them in this context really shows you that. 

Interesting input! I'd have never thought of that before reading your post. Can we follow you?  

To answer to the topic: I don't know if I'm going to be forced into a gap year or not, but I think I'll take the time to buff up my SOP and start reading everything I can about my corpus and about questions I want to explore. I'll probably do that while interning or working in another field that I think I should experiment in case academia doesn't turn out to be my future. I also want to work on my writing skills, they're a little weird and sometimes awkward because of my 20-year long French life--but my French is often weird, too, because of my anglophone background  

Anyway, yeah--I'd work on next applications, figure out where I wanna live and move there, relax and read, work on another option in case I still don't get in next year. Have fun, be happy, do what's right for me. 

[claritus]

1 hour ago, Yanaka said:

Interesting input! I'd have never thought of that before reading your post. Can we follow you?  

To answer to the topic: I don't know if I'm going to be forced into a gap year or not, but I think I'll take the time to buff up my SOP and start reading everything I can about my corpus and about questions I want to explore. I'll probably do that while interning or working in another field that I think I should experiment in case academia doesn't turn out to be my future. I also want to work on my writing skills, they're a little weird and sometimes awkward because of my 20-year long French life--but my French is often weird, too, because of my anglophone background  

Anyway, yeah--I'd work on next applications, figure out where I wanna live and move there, relax and read, work on another option in case I still don't get in next year. Have fun, be happy, do what's right for me. 

You can follow me if you can find me  I think I've probably left enough of a paper trail here... 

[rimeroyal]

I took a gap year between my BA and the MA I'm in right now, and all I did was work and save money. Honestly, even if I hadn't had to work to keep a roof over my head, I'm convinced that's the best thing I could have done with my time. Get some working experience, build friendships, figure out time management on your own, then go back to school with a better grip on how things look on the other side of the 'academy wall'.

The downside was that I had to work so much I didn't have time to do stuff that could contribute to an academic career. I'm one reply away from having another gap year, which is fine, but this time around I'm gonna make a concerted effort to get Latin and some French down and try sending out some of my existing papers to publishers. I'll have time to deal with that kind of grueling, tedious stuff then, but I don't wanna stress over publishing while I'm working on a Master's thesis. Casually keeping up contact with POIs at prospective unis is good, too. More than a few "hey I like your work, what do you think about X" conversations have turned into "hey you should apply next cycle" conversations.

[Yanaka]

11 hours ago, claritus said:

You can follow me if you can find me  I think I've probably left enough of a paper trail here... 

You overestimate my keeping track of your every move 

[clinamen]

On 3/11/2017 at 0:44 PM, claritus said:

One sort of counterintuitive piece of advice I'll give is JOIN TWITTER. There is a fantastic academic community, and it has definitely helped me keep up with changes in the field. Follow scholars, journals, departments, other organizations, etc. I've been on the platform for a few years now, and though I won't try to make some sort of causal connection between that and my acceptances, I've definitely come in contact with some great scholars, and also given access to some rad (otherwise paywalled) resources.  Some newer journals and organizations (V21, Post45, and postmedieval—for example) also solicit for papers/articles/reviews from their followers. 

I'll also say that aside from all the potential career & academic benefits, it's just enjoyable. Scholars are hilarious, human people; interacting with them in this context really shows you that. 

Thank you for this advice, I don't know why I didn't think of this sooner! 

[imogenshakes]

Dude. I love Twitter. The academic community there is fantastic, and it definitely does, as @claritus says, humanize the people that we tend to admire so much (and honestly, makes me admire them even more). I've also connected with a few of them thanks to Twitter, and met a couple in person at the Folger last summer, so that was great.

My gap year has been quite busy, I spent a LOT of time reading and writing for my SOP, researching programs for best fit, etc. I'm a first-gen, so aside from a few recommendations that colleagues and mentors suggested, I was on my own in terms of finding programs to apply to. I also got an adjunct position teaching for my university's writing program and a couple of English classes, but I know others who have tutored in the writing center or gotten adjunct positions at community college, as well. I think the diverse teaching experience was appealing to some of the programs I applied to (I know of at least one that couldn't stop gushing about the fact that I could mentor new TAs, haha), so if you have the opportunity to do so, I would definitely encourage teaching somewhere.

[Yanaka]

1 hour ago, imogenshakes said:

Dude. I love Twitter. The academic community there is fantastic, and it definitely does, as @claritus says, humanize the people that we tend to admire so much (and honestly, makes me admire them even more). I've also connected with a few of them thanks to Twitter, and met a couple in person at the Folger last summer, so that was great.

Hey, could I have a few Twitter links? I'm bad with Twitter, I wouldn't know how to research them myself!

[imogenshakes]

@Yanaka I'll message you some in a few, when I'm not on my phone! I mostly follow early modern scholars, but Twitter figures out what you like and people who seem to match your interests will pop up on occasion! ?

Edited March 14, 2017 by imogenshakes

[Yanaka]

1 minute ago, imogenshakes said:

@Yanaka I'll message you some in a few, when I'm not on my phone! I mostly follow early modern scholars, but Twitter figures out what you like and people who seem to match your interests will pop up on occasion! ?

Cool! I don't use it that much, which is why I'm not suggested anything relevant!